Rate the 2022 World Cup out of 10

[Baptista_8]

What did you think of it?

Solid 9/10 for me.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Baptista_8

[PMLF]

9/10 too.

Should make a poll.

[Rebs]

10, best ever for me.

[EnterUsernameHere]

At least an 8. Probably a 9.

As much as I wish it wasn't good, it was excellent.

[Baptista_8]

12 minutes ago, PMLF said:

9/10 too.

Should make a poll.

Done

[noikeee]

On the pitch I think it was probably the most entertaining international tournament all the way back since Euro 2000 or so. Tons of drama, some of the star players have really turned up (both Messi and Mbappe not only did well through the whole tournament but then go on to score multiple in the final itself - amazing), there was a healthy upsets vs favourites ratio, and there was positive football all the way across the board with very few teams trying to park the bus, even those that played defensively like Morocco did so with quality whenever they were on the ball.

Just a really positive tournament in footballing terms, unfortunately a bit overshadowed by the wider political context, and the rather uneasy feeling of watching football unfold in venues where people probably lost their lives in anonimity, building the whole thing for our entertainment.

[adhikapp]

Had a nights sleep but yea 9 seems appropriate. The only thing not making it a 10 is because I know the media will be milking this tournament for all the Messi articles they can churn. As much as I love Messi, I know it'll get annoying quick.

Also, Qatari's sportwashing has been a major success in that regard. If Qatar managed to play slightly better, than it could probably be a 10 too.

[Divinity]

3/10.

Lot of fairly dull 0-0 games, few giant upsets but the reality is that nothing that happened on the pitch should overshadow the corruption and disgrace off it.

[thomyorkessoul]

It was in Qatar. No way it can be more than 1. Glad it's finally over. Now the world can go back to ignoring all their human rights abuses.

[Bliss Seeker]

Successful sportswashing excercise, corruption and that they lied and bribed to get it aside, it was pretty decent.

For me I only managed to watch a handful of games because of the time difference and I found it fascinating to see how people here in South East Asia get obsessed by the WC, and being in bars at 3am in the morning with screaming local folk wearing other nation's shirts and supporting them like they were their own was an experience.

The brilliant final itself kicks it up a few notches too. So a solid 5.

Not enough free kicks goals though

 

[VP.]

9 for me, would only give a 10 if England were to win as that would obviously be perfect.

[oche balboa]

It was a big success and it being now has helped it be better but it must never be in November/December again. It had everything. Messi & Mbappe are the best 2 players in the world and it showed. Will PSG win the Champions League? No 

[Constantine]

I don't know about that, Oche... I thought it was weird at first too (and a logistical nightmare to deal with) but I don't think I'd mind another winter World Cup. I don't know whether I'm imagining things or not, but there's something about having fresher players, at their best, contrary to getting them at season's end, when they're physically and emotionally exhausted. Might be a recency bias but I don't think we're having as many exciting matches and comebacks in the summer.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Constantine

[GunmaN1905]

10/10 for just football on the pitch.

3/10 for refereeing.

2/10 for atmosphere other than Argentinians.

[Baptista_8]

17 minutes ago, Constantine said:

I don't know about that, Oche... I thought it was weird at first too (and a logistical nightmare to deal with) but I don't think I'd mind another winter World Cup. I don't know whether I'm imagining things or not, but there's something about having fresher players, at their best, contrary to getting them at season's end, when they're physically and emotionally exhausted. Might be a recency bias but I don't think we're having as many exciting matches and comebacks in the summer.

Plus it was kinda nice having a load of football to look forward to when the weather is depressing.

[Constantine]

13 minutes ago, Baptista_8 said:

Plus it was kinda nice having a load of football to look forward to when the weather is depressing.

That, too. I was genuinely sad this time around when 10AM games stopped. I was enjoying it massively. Putting the game on, watching them with my pet rabbit while I pretended to do some work. It was lovely.

[The_jagster]

I gave it 8, there was a lot of drama late in knockout games and the last group games but the first set of matches was a bit dull and the semis weren't brilliant either.

[pearcey_90]

Solid 9 for me. Group stages had some amazing drama in final round of games, but a lot of it came down to the final 15 minutes, so had to endure some boring crap for large parts, but the endings made up for it.

First round of knockouts were proper meh. Morocco win on pens was great, but that didn’t make up for some dull games. After that, things spiced up with all QFs being good. SFs lacked the drama, but that’s just because they were two uneven ties IMO, then the final delivered spectacularly thanks to Otamendi. Had he not been his usual braindead 2 minute heads gone as we’ve seen many times before, Argentina probably end up coasting to 2-0 or even 3-0 win and it’s a fitting finale for Messi but a proper awful final. That moment pivoted it from being one of the worst finals to easily the best ever  

Edited December 19, 2022 by pearcey_90

[pearcey_90]

43 minutes ago, Constantine said:

I don't know about that, Oche... I thought it was weird at first too (and a logistical nightmare to deal with) but I don't think I'd mind another winter World Cup. I don't know whether I'm imagining things or not, but there's something about having fresher players, at their best, contrary to getting them at season's end, when they're physically and emotionally exhausted. Might be a recency bias but I don't think we're having as many exciting matches and comebacks in the summer.

I think giving how successful the tournament was in terms of drama, it’s opened the door for more winter world cups. Before, you’d probably say it may be a few decades before next one, now I reckon Saudis will be going all out for 2030, and FIFA would be keen on it being winter. 

Giving how they’ve not sorted out 2026, I genuinely wouldn’t rule that out being in the winter. Stadiums that are used for NFL and it during NFL season should stop that, but FIFA might try and see what can be done. Either way, can see the 2030 one being in Winter, as even the temperatures in Uruguay/Argentina are good for it if it wasn’t to be Saudi Arabia.

[phnompenhandy]

I was utterly unenthusiastic about this World Cup. I intended to have the games on my wall-mounted TV muted as wallpaper while I faffed on my PC. But a ludicrous amount of the games turned out to be ridiculously entertaining, so I ended up enjoying it hugely despite myself.

Contra GunmaN, I rate the officiating highly. Unlike in the PL, the refs let the players kick seven hells out of each other without stopping the flow of games which resulted in a great reduction in injury antics as players soon realised they'd be ignored. We didn't have every goal checked for VAR, and we had time-wasting eliminated by adding it to the clock. I'd like to see all that introduced to England now.

[mrw072]

Before it all started I was thinking what's the point of breaking up the football season to watch the World Cup?  I was barely interested.  But I watched as much as I could as I was lucky enough to be wfh - with the sound off.  That's actually true, as I couldn't stand the commentators most of the time.  But I feel like that was the best one i've ever seen - there was so much drama yesterday too that I had to give it full marks.  

[Barry Cartman]

Horrible stuff aside, from a football entertainment POV its the best i've ever seen, and the final lived up to the hype showing off the best 2 players in the world 

African side finally made the semi finals as well 

10/10

[Mahzun_Savas]

9/10 on the pitch

1/10 off the pitch issues.

[TM]

8/10 for me, a slow start apart from the Saudi shock result but the end of the group stages were dramatic and something that needs to be kept for 2026

knockout stages were mostly good although there was a few games that went above the level for drama.  I'm going to say that at 80 minutes, that final was going nowhere near a "incredible finale" but from 80 minutes on, it was pulsating until the last kick of the ball.  One of the best periods of extra time I've seen in years as well

[kopsy101]

Football has been great. 9 for me. They certainly knew how to put a show on also, they must have spent an absolute fortune setting this all up. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

The first couple of days felt really surreal and I was worried it just going to be an odd tournament, but then it just exploded into life with the Saudis beating Argentina and Japan beating Germany and didn't stop from there. And to top it off we had one of the great finals.

BBC montage summed it up nicely

 

[silentwars]

7 hours ago, Divinity said:

3/10.

Lot of fairly dull 0-0 games, few giant upsets

Disagree, there was only one 0-0 match in the knockout stages, the tournament had more goals than any other prior World Cup. Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina was one the biggest upsets of all time and on top of that you had Germany, Denmark & Belgium getting knocked out in the group stages & a team of Morocco's standing getting all the way to the semi final.

[thomyorkessoul]

Saudi Arabia upsetting Argentina amounted to nothing though. They couldn't capitalize on it by progressing, and the referees made sure Argentina made it all the way afterwards. Messi's World Cup should have ended with him being sent off against Netherlands for multiple cautionable offenses. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

11 minutes ago, thomyorkessoul said:

Saudi Arabia upsetting Argentina amounted to nothing though. 

Sometimes life is about the journey not the destination. It was a fantastic match and moment.

[Baptista_8]

1 minute ago, thomyorkessoul said:

Saudi Arabia upsetting Argentina amounted to nothing though. They couldn't capitalize on it by progressing, and the referees made sure Argentina made it all the way afterwards.

Was a shame as I thought they were really unlucky against Poland.

[thomyorkessoul]

1 minute ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

Sometimes life is about the journey not the destination. It was a fantastic match and moment.

I suppose, but I just feel nothing now. At the time it was hilarious, now it just seems utterly inconsequential. I'll leave it though, because I'm well aware I'm in the minority on this.

[VamPook]

Yeah, end of the day, the players will always have that moment where they beat the WC champions 

Edited December 19, 2022 by VamPook

[gunnerfan]

For me, it started with England v USA, and being from the USA, I was naturally rooting hard. And yet, when it ended, I turned to my son and said, "You know, I almost prefer it this way. After a match like that, it would have been a shame for either team to lose." And he agreed. It helped my outlook (and my appreciation for the tournament in general) that this US team wasn't put together with any expectations for advancing deep into the knockout stage. This was all preparatory for 2026, when matches will be played in front of home crowds for whom the only metric will be winning/losing. It will likely be my only metric, too, but I'm glad it wasn't for this one. I'd have missed so much: the discipline of the Morocco defense, the rise and fall of Spain's attack, the morality play of Portugal's petulant Ronaldo and the triumph of Ramos, who replaced him, Richarlson's Pele-like jinga goal, the skill of the Japanese and the passionate singing of their fans. 
 

The fans! At one point, Ian Darke (my favorite soccer play-by-play announcer on the planet) noted that the fans were writing their own chapter in this tournament. My favorite was the Polish fan who crossed himself multiple times as Lewandowski prepared to take a penalty, then collapsed in grief when he missed. The Moroccan fans whistling every time an opponent touched the ball. Agony and joy and singing and booing and cheering and whistling from people with their faces painted in national colors. 

And the final? Roger Angell once wrote of the 6th game of the 1975 World Series, the game that went 12 innings before Carlton Fisk won it with a home run that became legendary, "This was Agincourt." But in my sporting history portfolio, that game now takes a lesser place to the incredible final act to this play. Argentina v France, Messi v Mbappe, blue-and-white v bleu, blanc e rouge. The first half was the most incredible aggressive control attack I've ever seen--as if everyone on the Argentine 11 had a first touch attribute of 20. It was if every ball had eyes. And then French battled back. My son and I were running when the match started, so I recorded it, and I'm glad I did, because I intend to save it for a long time, along with a few other matches I recorded along the way.

Yes, this tournament was definitely a 10.

Edited December 19, 2022 by gunnerfan

[Bunkerossian]

6/10. Human rights scandals, the dull atmosphere...but there were great upsets in the group stages. Knockouts were not as enjoyable, and the refereeing was so weird that I ended up believing in conspiracies. If it wasn't for Japan and Korea in the group stages and Croatia stunning Brazil, it would be a 2.

[Freakiie]

4/10, winter WC really didn't do it for me and I never quite got into the mood for it. Ended up skipping most of the group stage games and half eyed most of the KO stage on my second monitor with the sound off.

[Rob1981]

4 hours ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

BBC montage summed it up nicely

Great montage this.  Up there with the best of them.

[martinji]

8/10 for me, wider political issues aside.

10/10 for the drama of the matches themselves, but lost out a bit for the poor atmosphere at many of the games, which really came across flat except for games with African, South American or Middle Eastern teams. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

2 hours ago, Rob1981 said:

Great montage this.  Up there with the best of them.

BBC have had a good run of them, 2014 and 2018 were decent.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Coulthard's Jaw

[themadsheep2001]

8/10 on the pitch, 0/10 off the pitch. The off the pitch scandals override it for me. It's not going to live long in my memory beyond the fact it should never have been there

[skybluedave]

I'm not convinced the knockouts were particularly exciting. But looking back at other WC's they never really are. I think the wild final cancelled out the dull semi's somewhat. The final group games were great though and Argentina/Holland was an all timer WC Classic. 

[DJ]

5/10. Most games were entertaining, there were some fantastic shocks. Would give it 9/10 based on that. But: Qatar. And: refereeing. Had this tournament played out in a proper football country that isn't incidentally a murderous dictatorship, my rating would have been much higher. 

[Weezer]

On the pitch 9 out of 10, probably the best ever World Cup, certainly the best ever final.

Off the pitch, it's almost a shame that it was so good because this will have vindicated the decision to give it to Qatar in the first place for the people that make these calls, and all those negatives will be quickly forgotten. 

[FlorianAlbert9]

5/10 

Some games are very emotional but all depends upon the very low level of defensive players. 

A level where the best offensive player is always free without needed to run off the ball and that he hai never be fouled by opponent, is the lowest level in the history of this sport. 

Or that or we have to think about something worst

[kopsy101]

2 hours ago, FlorianAlbert9 said:

5/10 

Some games are very emotional but all depends upon the very low level of defensive players. 

A level where the best offensive player is always free without needed to run off the ball and that he hai never be fouled by opponent, is the lowest level in the history of this sport. 

Or that or we have to think about something worst

I assume thats about Mbappe and Messi. They were always marked, mostly double marked. They're just that good.

[FlorianAlbert9]

16 minuti fa, kopsy101 ha scritto:

I assume thats about Mbappe and Messi. They were always marked, mostly double marked. They're just that good.

For me to stay half mile distant it is not marking. 
 

look at the semi-final. 
 

in every action, Messi is always free just walking on the grass. 
 

even when he entered in area. 
 

in the third gol action, nobody help the masked defender at the limit of area against the best player.  
 

Watch now the infamous Gentile-Maradona. 
 

or Ronaldo in semifinal of WC98 

 

 

[kopsy101]

34 minutes ago, FlorianAlbert9 said:

For me to stay half mile distant it is not marking. 
 

look at the semi-final. 
 

in every action, Messi is always free just walking on the grass. 
 

even when he entered in area. 
 

in the third gol action, nobody help the masked defender at the limit of area against the best player.  
 

Watch now the infamous Gentile-Maradona. 
 

or Ronaldo in semifinal of WC98 

 

 

They can't stop him walking, that would be obstruction  

Teams made sure he was always marked, he doesn't need space to work. Ake and De Jong were on him vs Holland and he just beat them to set up Molinas goal. 

He's barely ever free, his touch and turns are so precise and sharp that he it creates this illusion of space. You give any other player the space he gets and they're tackled. 

In regards to Mbappe, i'd be marking him from half a mile away with his speed  

Edited December 21, 2022 by kopsy101

[FlorianAlbert9]

We see different matches or we have different meaning of marking

[Orzelek]

7

 

Pluses - The final was magnificent and in general the knockout stages were great with only a few exceptions. There was a good deal surprises, but not too many like in 2002, where more or less only Brazil turned up for the tournament. 

 

Minuses - The atmosphere was extremly dull at many games, and even in the knockout stages you could see many empty seats around. And if they weren't empty, there were occupied by locals not really caring about anything else than taking a picture of the star player(s), and possibly some "fake" fans (although that was mostly a group stage phenomenon). And looking on the pitch - there was loads of exceptionally bad games in the beggining of the tournament - for the first half of the tournament we weren't talking as much about Messi, as we did about how much we dreaded the thought of 48 teams next time.

[Pedrike2021]

7.5/10 There were some great matches and upsets, but we also had questionable refereeing in some games

[Sons FC]

8/10 - a lot of great games, especially in the group stages when many of the smaller nations performed better than expected and the final!! Well, one of the best, if not the best ever.