* Official World Cup 2022 Thread *

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Dre_00
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8:26a, 12/6/22
Curious to hear...which part of the World Cup do you enjoy more, the group stage or from the QF on?

I'm assuming I'm in the minority here but I think I like the group stage more. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the QFs, SFs, and Final. I enjoy them a lot. But even though the teams are usually elite they can often be games that are not as fundamentally entertaining. Finals especially. Sometimes they are just crappy games because two good teams are scared to make a mistake with the stakes at hand.

Yes the group stage is not as high stakes and includes a lot of lesser terms. But the lesser teams are still usually good enough to keep the games interesting. And the sheer volume of having 4 games a day for nearly two weeks is amazing. In my mind, the drop off in qualify from say, a QF or SF to a random group game is more than made up for by the sheer quantity of games during the group stage.
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wangus12
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8:34a, 12/6/22
AG
Definitely group stage. More non-traditional matchups. The knockout rounds are basically the same teams every time. Can only hope we get more parity in the future, but I doubt it.
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oh no
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8:37a, 12/6/22
AG
I love all of it, but I think my rank-order is these three categories:

Those four days covering the 3rd match-day for each group in the group stage are the best. For four straight days, you've got two matches at the same time, twice daily, with multiple different result scenarios playing out, changing throughout the match as goals are scored, determining the winners, 2nd place finishers, and who's going home as we go from 32 to 16. The surprises going home or making it through, the squads not knowing until the final three-whistles if they got the result they needed. Great fun to watch.

The previous 8 days covering the 1st and 2nd match-days for each group is wonderful as well, as you've got four matches per day at different times so you can watch them ALL. This world cup had 1 of those 4 each day at 4am central time here, so that was difficult. So it was only 3 matches per day that I was watching. Still, great to watch daily some of the world's stars from top leagues and clubs playing for their countries.

The first round of 16 knock out match to get to the final 8 quarter finalists, those quarter final matches, semi-final matches, and the final are just great, intense soccer with the added bonus of potentially some going 120' and maybe even PKs.
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jeffk
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9:24a, 12/6/22
AG
Group stage but specifically after the opening round of games.
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TXAggie2011
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9:38a, 12/6/22
AG
Love the group stage. Something amazing about live matches all day, every day.

The 4am matches were eaaaarlly but when I was able to get myself up, getting to the pub by 3:45 was a great time
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Dre_00
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12:18p, 12/6/22
OK, so I'm not in the minority

(EDIT: Though I should check back in a week or so just in case the run-in to the final is crazy. Because we did have a pretty crazy group stage where tons of teams still had a chance on the last day)
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aggiebird02
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1:11p, 12/6/22
Group Stage is by far more exciting…
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Rudyjax
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1:29p, 12/6/22
AG
Knoock out round is sad because it's like the end of vacation. You're enjoying yourself, but every day brings you close to the end. Group stage is the beginning. You have all this fun and time in front of you.
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aggiebird02
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In reply to Rudyjax • 1:33p, 12/6/22
Chuck Cunningham said:
Knoock out round is sad because like the end of vacation. You're enjoying yourself, but every day brings you close to the end. Group stage is the beginning. You have all this fun and time in front of you.
Well put…
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Dre_00
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4:15p, 12/6/22
I can't help but think our answers would be different if the US actually made it to the SF.
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Out in Left Field
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4:49p, 12/6/22
AG
Throwback Tuesday: 9 years ago today was the 2014 World Cup Draw where we got a particularly deathy group but were able to outlast Portugal
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Bryan98
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10:54p, 12/6/22
AG
I, too, think Group stage is best. All the teams are playing, it feels like anything can happen, and that the WC will last forever.

Now every game means one less team and there are only half as many games in each successive stage. It's like noon on Christmas Day, if your team is out - sure, you'll enjoy the rest, but the magic is fading fast.
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jeffk
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7:58p, 12/9/22
AG
Holy crap.

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PatAg
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8:00p, 12/9/22
AG
There's no way, please be a troll.
He was stupid to be wearing rainbow stuff out and around, but that doesnt mean he deserves anything bad to happen to him
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jay07ag
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8:01p, 12/9/22
AG
Man I'm hoping that's not true…but it's looking like it is
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jeffk
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8:04p, 12/9/22
AG
His last tweet was right at the end of the Arg-Ned game.

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wangus12
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In reply to jeffk • 8:06p, 12/9/22
AG
He was actively tweeting all day and just stopped suddenly. Definitely looks like something happened
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TRM
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8:10p, 12/9/22
AG

nvm old pic from the beginning of the tournament
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DeangeloVickers
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8:10p, 12/9/22
jeffk
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In reply to wangus12 • 8:15p, 12/9/22
AG
That's seems to match what his brother is relaying. Definitely a lot of unanswered questions right now.

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jeffk
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8:17p, 12/9/22
AG
Confirmed dead by NPR.

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TRM
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8:18p, 12/9/22
AG
This looks like his brother's twitter
https://twitter.com/ziplamak
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Who?mikejones!
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8:21p, 12/9/22
I didn't like the guys reporting style, but damn, that is awful.
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TRM
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8:21p, 12/9/22
AG
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Who?mikejones!
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8:22p, 12/9/22
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jeffk
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8:23p, 12/9/22
AG
US govt needs to get his body and open an investigation asap.
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jeffk
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8:26p, 12/9/22
AG
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wangus12
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8:33p, 12/9/22
AG
This was of his last article

Quote:
DOHA, Qatar They just don't care.
The Supreme Committee in charge of Qatar's World Cup doesn't care that a Filipino migrant worker died at Saudi Arabia's training resort during the group stage. He suffered a fatal blow to the head during a fall in a forklift accident (information that was kept under wraps until being broken by The Athletic's Adam Crafton).
We know the Qatari Supreme Committee doesn't care because its CEO, Nasser Al-Khater, told you all you needed to hear in an interview with the BBC that was breathtaking in its crassness.
"We're in the middle of a World Cup, and we have a successful World Cup. And this is something that you want to talk about right now?" Al-Khater said when asked about the worker's death. "I mean, death is a natural part of life, whether it's at work, whether it's in your sleep. Of course, a worker died. Our condolences go to his family. However, it's strange that this is something that you wanted to focus on as your first question."
He actually said that. But Al-Khater didn't stop there.
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cone
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8:36p, 12/9/22
AG
ricin?
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PatAg
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In reply to jeffk • 8:38p, 12/9/22
AG
jeffk said:
They gotta work on some formatting for that sort of thing
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aggiebird02
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9:55p, 12/9/22
Didn't his father play for the USMNT? I remember him having a connection to the team through his family.

Sad news…
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TRM
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In reply to aggiebird02 • 10:08p, 12/9/22
AG
From wiki:
Quote:
Wahl was born in Mission, Kansas. During his first year at Princeton University, he covered the Princeton Tigers men's soccer team, then coached by Bob Bradley, who would go on to manage Major League Soccer teams and the United States national team. Bradley provided Wahl with an opportunity to study abroad in Argentina, spending time with Boca Juniors, before returning to the United States for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Wahl cited his experiences with Bradley as having been a catalyst for his love of the sport.[3]
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TRM
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10:11p, 12/9/22
AG
https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/grant-wahl-dies-world-cup-qatar-20221209.html
Quote:
"My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you," Wahl wrote. "What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort."
Quote:
"I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I'm already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno,
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Out in Left Field
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10:25a, 12/10/22
AG
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frito
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11:00a, 12/10/22
AG
HELL YES.... MOROCCO!
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