The Fifa World Cup is being held in Qatar this year. Usually the World Cups are held in the summer, however it’s warmer in the winter in Qatar.

There are a total of eight stadiums in Qatar that will hold all these games;

• Al Bayt Stadium (which held the first match)
• Al Janoub Stadium
• Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium
• Khalifa International Stadium
• Education City Stadium
• Stadium 974
• Al Thumama Stadium
• Lusail Stadium (which holds the title match)

All the teams in the world are competing to get a spot in this World Cup and play in front of thousands of people.

In total there are 32 teams who qualify for the World Cup. Each team is split up into eight groups of four which is called the group stage.

Each team in the group will play each other and the top two teams who have the most points will advance into the very first round. If you win a game, that’s three points, if you tie it’s one point and if you lose you get none.

Only 16 teams will advance from here into normal tournament rules with the bracket. If you lose, you are out.

The air is always thick when it comes to the final score of every game, however there is this new technology to call offsides, which has affected every game so far.

Adidas has made special soccer balls for this technology and there are a bunch of cameras getting every angle.

Every goal that is scored gets checked and most of them have been ruled back to no goal because it has been offsides, even if it is a centimeter of your elbow.

From this, the World Cup has been a surprise to everyone with the low scoring games.

Senior, Ashelyn Hatch explains why she enjoys watching soccer so much while being a soccer player herself.

“Even with all the offside calls that are really annoying I still love watching soccer. Soccer is super interesting and when you watch the pros you can try to study them and get inspired to up your game. The intensity is also super high when you’re watching a close game to see who’s going to get knocked out or win the whole thing,” spoke Hatch.

Our very own country, the United States, has had some unfortunate games that ended with low finals.

Senior, Conner Schwerin explains why he is watching soccer after so long.

“If I’m honest, I haven’t watched a second of soccer in eight years, but the United States has qualified this year so I have to support my country,” states Schwerin.

Senior, Nathan Osentoski talks about why he watched the United States play in the World Cup.

“I love supporting my country and I felt very patriotic while watching it. I have to support my boys so they can advance and do well in this World Cup,” explains Osentoski.

The World Cup is a fun thing to watch worldwide and everyone enjoys it.

No matter what age you are there is always something to enjoy about watching soccer!