The FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup

The upcoming FIFA men’s World Cup is promising to be one of the most unusual and newsworthy in history. There are more teams, more games and more host countries than ever before - and the presence of the US as one of the hosts (and US President Donald Trump looming large over everything) adds an extra layer of uncertainty. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll take a look at:

• How this tournament is different

• Some of the big news stories leading in

• And what we can expect on the pitch

🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice

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Squiz the Shortcut

Let’s kick things off by explaining what the men’s FIFA World Cup is…
FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which translates in English to the International Federation of Association Football. Every 4 years, they hold a tournament where 32 teams compete for the title of the best footballing (also known as soccer in Oz) country in the world. It’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world. There’s a women’s World Cup too - the next one will be held in Brazil next year.

When did the World Cup start?
It’s been running since 1930. It was first hosted by the South American country of Uruguay, who also won it that year. It’s a hard tournament to win though - only eight countries have ever won the World Cup trophy…

Who are they?
They’re Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, England, Spain, and of course Uruguay. Of the winners, Brazil is the most successful country in World Cup history - it’s won 5 of them. And it’s expected to be one of the big contenders again, but it’s got some serious competition because this year, the tournament has changed things up and there are more teams competing.

Take me through the changes…
Since 1998, 32 teams have played in the World Cup - they were sorted into 8 groups of 4, with 2 teams from each group making it through to the knockout stages. But this year, 48 teams will take part in the tournament. That means this tournament will have 12 groups of 4, with 32 of those teams going through to the knockout stages. 

Why have they made it bigger?
FIFA says a bigger tournament means more countries get to play, which helps grow the game around the world. Of course, it’s not just to get more countries involved - more countries also means more games, which means more tickets, which means more revenue. But the revamp has faced some criticism...

What are critics saying?
They reckon having more teams competing could dilute the standard of the football being played because the extra 16 countries don’t have the same quality of players and coaches on their squads. Plus, it’s an extra game for the players that make the finals - meaning a longer tournament. And it also reduces the amount of countries that could conceivably host the thing. There aren’t many countries in the world with the sporting infrastructure to host 104 football matches between 48 countries. 

Speaking of hosts, who is hosting this time?
For the first time ever, this World Cup is being co-hosted by 3 North American countries - the US, Canada and Mexico… This World Cup was all arranged a long time before Donald Trump came to power for the second time - but it’s happening against a backdrop of ongoing trade and diplomatic tensions between the host countries. Whether they’ll all be able to work together well enough for the tournament to go smoothly or not is another question. But that’s far from the only controversy swirling around this year’s tournament…

What other issues are there?
After the US and Israel launched their joint war on Iran in February, one of the side questions to that was whether Iran would still play in the World Cup - given it would be in the US. At various stages, leaders in both Iran and the US have said that might not happen - but at this point, it’s all going ahead. 

Anything else to know?
Ticket prices are another hot topic… FIFA - which it’s worth noting is a very controversial governing body at the centre of several corruption scandals over the years - is currently under investigation by the US states of New York and New Jersey for ticketing practices that are allegedly exploiting football fans.

What’s that about?
If you’ve been following news around the concert or sports industries recently - or you’ve just bought a ticket to something - you might have heard about dynamic pricing. That’s the idea that ticket prices fluctuate depending on demand, rather than just existing at a set level. Those US states are accusing FIFA of creating fake demand by pretending there were less seats available than there actually were, putting fans in worse seats than they were originally allocated, and just generally charging fans way more than the previous tournament in Qatar. 

Got it… To the on-field action - who are the big contenders this year?
The big favourites to win the whole thing are France and Spain. France were runners-up in a dramatic penalty shootout in 2022, and winners in 2018, and their captain Kylian Mbappe is one of the best players in the world. He’s also surrounded by a great team. To give you an idea of how good France are, more than one commentator says that their second team - the players that haven’t made their original squad - would be as strong a contender as their first…  

And Spain?
There’s another big name to watch there - Lamine Yamal, an 18yo winger. He was ranked second in a list of the best 100 footballers in the world last year. He’s a phenomenon in Spain, and you’ll be hearing a whole lot more about him this year… One famous name you’ll no doubt be hearing about is Lionel Messi, the 38yo superstar who led Argentina to win the last tournament in Qatar. At the time, a lot of commentators thought that might be his last tournament and that he’d go out on top, but he’s back again this year…

Any other favourites?
Argentina are expected to once again be very strong contenders, as are Germany, Brazil and Portugal - and the other dark horse you’ll hear a lot about is England. They last won a World Cup in 1966, the same year they last hosted it. The closest they’ve come since were semi-final appearances in 1990 and 2018. 

How does Australia rate?
First up, a bit of context: you might remember there was a lot of excitement and anticipation around Australia’s participation in the 2006 World Cup - it was the first time we’d managed to qualify since 1974. And we performed above expectations, narrowly and (some might say controversially) losing to Italy, the eventual winners, in the knockout stages. Since then, the Socceroos have qualified for the World Cup every time - but it was only in 2022 that they made it to the knockout stages again, being knocked out by the eventual winners in Argentina.

Tell me about our squad this year…
There’s a lot of young blood in the team - many of the players have never played at a World Cup before. But they’re being coached by Tony Popovic, who took over for Graham Arnold in 2024. He’s been a successful coach in the A-League for a long time. The buzz is around 20yo forward Nestory Irankunda who has a habit of kicking spectacular goals. Another one is Jordan Bos, the 23yo left wing-back who is considered Australia’s best player. But it’s not all youngsters - goalkeeper Mathew Ryan is going to be playing at his fourth World Cup on the trot, as is winger and midfielder Mathew Leckie…

So, what are our chances?
We’re in Group D, along with Turkey (Turkiye), Paraguay and the USA… To give you some idea of where we sit in that group - Australia is ranked 27 in the world. Turkiye is 22, USA 17, and Paraguay 40. So on rankings alone, Australia would be considered likely to come third. But the betting markets have them most likely to come fourth. So we’re the underdog, and the USA is the favourite. 

Where do we need to come in the group in order to go through to the knockout rounds?
Because 32 of the 48 teams go through, that means every team that finishes first and second will progress - and then 8 teams that finish third will progress too. It’s worked out on how many points they score, meaning every game will count this year - even what would have previously been considered dead rubbers (aka games where the score doesn’t have a bearing on the outcome of a tournament). So, because Australia has been drawn in what’s considered to be the most even group in the tournament, our chances of going through aren’t too bad… 

I’m pumped… Where can I watch the games?
Some more good news… We play Turkiye at 2pm AEST this Sunday, the USA the following Saturday at 5am AEST - that’s the tricky one, especially for West Aussie fans - and then Paraguay at midday AEST on Friday the 26th of June… You can watch all the action on SBS and SBS On Demand.

Let’s go Aussies…
Get ready to Oi, Oi, Oi… 

Onto our Recommendations

Studying: This explainer from The Guardian on all things FIFA World Cup.

Reading: And also this piece that takes a close look at Australia’s team, so you can get familiar with some of the players you’ll be hearing more about…

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