Sunday, November 20, 2022 
Issue #2.1.1 "Reckoning"
[||| Mini-Updates ]

QATAR EXPECTATIONS HIGH, SHATTERED IN FIRST MATCH
Our 7th World Cup pool hits record 109 unofficial entries with South American teams favorites to win it all

VANCOUVER, BC/HOME, CA (smt) -- This 22nd FIFA World Cup has brought controversy with human-rights issues, alleged bought votes, the smallest country with a team that has never qualified for the World Cup, moving the tourney to late fall, and fan/reporter troubles leading to the opening match.  But there was hope that Qatar would keep it together and that the team, which stayed together and played entertaining matches in the Asian Cup and Gold Cup, would surprise and make people talk about success and not about all the issues.  Nope. 

Not only did A1-QAT get thoroughly outplayed in the first half against A2-Ecuador in losing 2-0, their "fans", which seemed to wear free or souvenir shirts (not the jerseys), abandoned them as well as the 2-0 halftime scoreline caused swaths of the sold-out stadium to feature empty sections in the second half.  That left the cheering of ECU fans as that is what a reckoning sounds like as QAT became the first host to lose their opening match.  This was a traditional opening match by the host that was bizarrely scheduled as the second match of the day.  Only 3 months ago, it got moved up a day so it can be, you know, the opening match.

Will there be a reckoning for the B3-USA team?  There should be little optimism for a team that only qualified directly via tiebreaker and its two most recent matches were a 2-0 loss to #24 E4-Japan and a 0-0 draw with #53 C2-Saudi Arabia.  But missing the World Cup last time means us fans are just salivating for a deep run and thrills like 2002, 2010, and 2014.  Tyler Adams was voted by the players to be captain as the USA faces B4-Wales, which is making their first World Cup since 1958.  But WAL made the Euro 2016 semis and Euro 2020 Round of 16.  Each team will be looking to get a win before facing B1-England later. 

As for our 7th HWCI World Cup pool, unofficially we shattered the 2018 record of 79 entries by 30 (109).  This WC in the Middle East will bring South America a title, according to our participants.  G1-Brazil (33), C1-Argentina (31), and H3-Uruguay (3) represent with D1-France (9) and B1-England (7) were the top European picks.  The #2 team in the world (F1-Belgium) was picked by just six.  URU's total is more than CONCACAF combined (USA 2, C3-Mexico/E2-Costa Rica/F2-Canada 0).

56 picked ECU giving those one point.  With most picking BRA/ARG, these points will be very valuable to separate from the pack.  With the compact schedule, other than Monday (3 matches), each Group Stage match day will feature 4 matches. 

The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #hwciWC hashtag (you don't need Twitter account to view) often for daily updates.  Less often will be our Facebook group page (post comments or organize viewing parties) and then these newsletters every 4 days or so.

   SIDES 'N KICKS:  Just 12 days ago, ECU kept their place in the WC as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS - same org that was involved with Olympic figure skating scandal) did not disqualify ECU but instead deducted three points for 2026 (!) for using a Colombian-born player in eight qualifying matches (Chile and Peru were hopeful for a DQ); needless to say, ECU did not select this player for the WC... only 11% of teams who lose their first game make the Round of 16 (since field expanded to 32 teams in 1998) while a win gets you in 84% of the time (59% advance after drawing their first match)... the LA Galaxy are hosting watch parties with Monday's USA-WAL match just outside Dignity Health Sports Park (Legends Plaza); MLS champ LAFC will host a watch party at Santa Monica Brew Works... while attending IEEE meetings in Vancouver, BC (not Vancouver, WA), got quite a few compliments on my Canada soccer jersey (circa 2020, with a great pattern, unlike the plain red one they will wear in the WC (okay, sleeves have some design)... but there is hardly anything about the CAN soccer team in stores/bars/airport... Kevin L (KevLo) was inquiring about watch parties (Redondo Beach area) among us so we'll see - it's a great idea... thanks to everyone as most entries were done correctly (much easier with just the top 2 and not the top 2 plus next best 4 3rd place teams like the Euros and Women's WC (though WWC will go to 32 teams in 2023))... yes, this issue's title is the title from Star Wars: Andor Episode 3, we'll see how long I can stick with the critically-acclaimed Andor titles (also have great quotes from the show I could use as well)... well, some teams are not afraid of playing Russia (who were banned from WC, WWC 2023, and Euro 2024 qualifying) as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan both played to 0-0 draws with Russia this past week (RUS's only games since the country's Ukraine invasion in February)... the FIFA re-designed website is a mess - it's like someone threw up over the pages making pictures too large, fonts too large, data too spread out; you can' t find useful information in an organized manner (rosters, pdf box scores, etc)... since FIFA's website is a mess, at least ESPN is still keeping track of VAR reviews (the 3' decision to overturn ECU's goal was done with a semi-automatic method for offside calls)...

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Is it too late to change Qatar from making Round of 16 now?...
Scott