It’ll be a whole new ball game
Much has changed in four years, but Germany, Brazil still favored
MOSCOW — After raising the World Cup eight miles from Copacabana Beach four years ago, Germany hopes to lift the trophy four miles from the Kremlin on July 15 and become the first repeat champion in over half a century.
The soccer world gathers at 12 stadiums in 11 cities across the European portion of Russia starting on Thursday for a 32-day, 64-match championship.
Much has changed since the Germans humiliated host Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 semifinals, then left Rio’s Maracana Stadium with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina.
Four-time champion Italy will be watching from home for the first time since 1958, its streak of 14 consecutive appearances ended by a playoff loss to Sweden.
The Netherlands, which lost the 2010 final to Spain, missed out after slumping to third in its qualifying group. And Chile failed to qualify after consecutive Copa America titles.
Iceland and Panama are World Cup debutants and Peru is back for the first time since 1982.
Germany and Brazil are the favorites, and France’s young squad is close behind. England will try to end over five decades of frustration since winning its only major title in 1966 on home soil.
There also has been a generational change within FIFA. Many of its leaders have moved from penthouses to prisons following indictments by the US Department of Justice that revealed kickbacks to be as much a part of soccer as freekicks.
After the drug-testing scandal that engulfed the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, no Russians will be involved in collecting urine and blood samples, which will be flown to Switzerland for analysis.
VAR will be the acronym of the month, with video assistant referees reviewing replays of the action when deemed necessary.
And as soon as the final whistle of the tournament is blown at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, attention will shift to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, moved to Nov 21 through Dec 18 because of summer desert heat and compressed to 28 days because it is in the middle of the European club season.
FIFA has explored increasing the World Cup field from 32 to 48 in 2022.
Here are some of the top storylines likely to dominate play in Russia:
Messi vs Ronaldo
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have split the past 10 FIFA Player of the Year awards, and this is likely their last chance to win a World Cup.
Messi turns 31 on June 24, two days before Argentina plays its final group game against Nigeria. The diminutive superstar has lost four Cup finals with the national team, while Ronaldo, 33, helped Portugal win the 2016 European Championship.
Best of the rest
Brazil’s Neymar, England’s Harry Kane, Egypt’s Mo Salah, France’s Antoine Griezmann and Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne could lift themselves into Player of the Year contention with stellar World Cups.
Play it again
Following the first use of goal-line technology at a World Cup in 2014, FIFA has expanded off-the-field decision-making.
A video assistant ref can notify the referee of the need to reverse a decision if there is a “clear error” involving goals, penalties, straight red cards, and mistaken identity for red and yellow cards.
Tiny but tough
Iceland, at about 335,000, becomes the least-populous nation to appear in a World Cup, a mark that had been held since 2006 by Trinidad and Tobago at 1.3 million.
Missing in action
Injured players missing include Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero and midfielder Manuel Lanzini; France defender Laurent Koscielny; Brazil rightback Dani Alves; and England midfielder Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain.
Split screen?
The World Cup final starts two hours after the beginning of the Wimbledon men’s singles final.
If Spain and Rafa Nadal are playing for titles, which event will fans choose to watch?