Students predict World Cup team progression

The FIFA World Cup is an international tournament where countries bring their national teams to compete to determine which team is the best. The tournament occurs once every four years, always in a new location.

The games will begin on Nov. 20 in the group stage of the tournament. The tournament is set up with eight groups of four national teams. The teams play in a round-robin format where each team plays in other teams in the group

With the date approaching, fans worldwide look forward to the games. 

Andrew Scully, senior and Fresno Christian soccer player, is invested in this World Cup, and his insight about the sport has led him to make some conclusions about the tournament.

“The number one game I am looking forward to is USA vs. England,” Scully said. “they are both really young, really talented squads. Many people don’t think the USA has a chance, but I think we have a chance not because of the coach but the rivalry and the passion that goes along with it.”

Jack Rieker, senior and Fresno Christian soccer team captain, is also looking forward to the World Cup. Playing soccer from a very young age, he has his own observations and predictions about the upcoming World Cup.

“I wanna watch the USA and England game; I wanna watch Croatia and Belgium in Group F, along with Germany and Spain,” Rieker said. “I think anything can happen during this world cup; there are a lot of young squads, this is going to be a young World Cup, and new styles of play are coming out.”

According to Rieker, this will be the last World Cup that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the current superstars, will play in. Both Scully and Rieker believe that there are a lot of young talented players in this tournament, notably Jamal Musiala, who is on the German national team, and Giovanni Ryna, a midfielder for the US national team.

Scully believes that group A is going to be the most entertaining; Rieker believes group B will be the most enjoyable.

“Qatar as a team is not as bad as people think they are because they have beaten some good teams,” Scully said. “they went to the gold cup and did pretty decent; they got good results from good teams.”

“I think group B will be the most enjoyable to watch because of the nationalism,” Rieker said. “If you are in the United States, you’re playing against Iran and England, they go back historically and politically; the US has not been in a world cup in a while.”

Both Scully and Rieker believe the tournament is anyone’s game, yet they believe that Argentina has the upper hand – that Lionel Messi will return home with a trophy.

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