Who else is clueless when it comes to sports? It can be hard to keep up with your sport-loving, fantasy football playing friends when an event like the FIFA world cup comes around.
Even if you don’t care much for this event, this is the first time Canada has participated in the world cup since 1986, so you better show your support.
Chances are you will overhear your friends talking about it and you’ll hear it all over the news, and heck, you don’t want to look like a complete fool!
So, here’s a dummies guide to how the world cup works, coming from the biggest dummy herself.
Firs things first, what does FIFA actually stand for?
Its an acronym for the Federation of International Football Associations. It is important because it is the governing body of soccer associations around the world, and it is in charge of changing or modifying any rules in the game. And obviously, it is responsible for hosting soccer world cups as well as working with the international Olympic committee to organize championships.
Ok, now that you actually understand what FIFA is, how does this whole world cup thing actually work?
You have probably heard some confusing terms being thrown around regarding the different phases of the event, let’s break them down:
Qualifying Phase: This is the part that determines which teams will actually play in the tournament. Teams that want to participate must be members of FIFA and of one of the six continental football confederations. Once that is confirmed, they will play against other teams in a series of games.
Group Stage: This is the part of the world cup that is taking place right now. From November 20th to December 2nd the teams that have qualified will be playing against each other. They are sorted into groups, which you can see an example of in the diagram below. There are four games each day, where two members of each group will be facing off against each other. The games are spread out throughout the day so each one can be watched without any time conflicts.
Round of 16: The winning teams plus the runner-ups from the group stage will play against each other in this stage. This time, only two matches per day. This will be happening from December 3rd to December 6th.
And then we have the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, which by now I think you get the idea. Each round the number of teams gets smaller, as the winners of each match keep going forward until they eventually reach the two last teams at the finals. Whoever wins the final wins the world cup!
I hope this guide has helped you out!
Now you can understand what the heck is going on (kind of).