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On November 20, the biggest football celebration of the four years begins - the World Cup. For the first time, the championship, which starts in the fall, will take place in Qatar, where 32 national teams will compete for one goal - the World Cup.
On this occasion, the "Eurofootball.com" portal highlights eight intriguing questions.
1. How close will Thomas Müller get to World Cup records?
Thomas Muller will play in his fourth World Cup, but he can already be considered a legend of this tournament. The German, who shone in the 2010 World Cup, is quite close to two serious records. First of all, the "Bayern" striker currently has 6 assists in 3 championships, with the record belonging to the legendary Pele, who has 10 assists. In terms of goals scored (10), T. Muller can approach his former teammate Miroslav Klose, whose incredible record is 16 goals in World Cup history. In second place is Brazilian Ronaldo with 15 goals, and in third place is Thomas's namesake Gerd Muller, who scored 14 times in this tournament. It is interesting to note that T. Muller is 33 years old, so it is realistic to believe that this is not his last World Cup.
2. How will France defend their World Champions title?
France's success in this championship is intriguing. After triumphing in 2018, "Les Blues" experienced a debacle in the European Championship, but also success in the Nations League. Currently, the team's defense and midfield are the most doubtful. The team's composition includes 8 defenders, including the returning R. Varane after an injury, and only 2 true full-backs, among which B. Pavard and W. Saliba have had little practice in recent years, A. Disasi and I. Konate. Meanwhile, the 2018 midfielders N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba will not appear in this championship due to injuries. These are significant losses that will require Didier Deschamps to find solutions. Will he find a way out? Everything will depend on whether he can defend the champions' title and achieve an incredible feat not seen since 1962. There are also questions in attack: inconsistent Griezmann, not in top form Benzema, several players absent due to injuries, but at least Kylian Mbappe can confidently carry everything on his shoulders here.
...📸 France national team. 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/APrLNwlM5C
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) November 15, 2022
5. What will the attendance of the tournament be?
Football match attendance at the world's largest football tournaments has been a fairly topical issue lately. The attendance of EURO 2020 was quite unstable for understandable reasons: at that time COVID-19 regulations were stricter in some places, more lenient in others. Nevertheless, every football fan wants to watch the tournament with the highest possible attendance and a good atmosphere at the stadium. Here we can mention the example of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Several European Championship matches and the 2019 Europa League final between "Arsenal" and "Chelsea" took place at this city's Olympic stadium. The match attendance in all cases was quite poor, despite the beautiful stadium. In this case, Azerbaijan and Qatar have something in common - these are countries that are not particularly attractive by nature. We saw that more than 20,000 Argentine fans will travel to Qatar. With such fan engagement for each national team, it is hoped that the tournament attendance will be high.
6. Who will be more productive in their last World Cup: Messi or Ronaldo?
It is quite clear that for Messi and Ronaldo, two of the greatest footballers of all time, this is the last World Cup. They can be compared during this tournament like never before. The goal-scoring statistics they have accumulated throughout their careers will lead both players to aim to finish their journey with a World Cup title. Of course, team success is much more important to these footballers than their individual achievements, but being the most productive in their final WC should be a pleasant achievement for either one. Finally, the football community will surely immortalize and remember these numbers.
...Could we see Messi or Ronaldo win their first World Cup? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Jfr6Rj8WLi
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 16, 2022
7. Will K. Mbappe earn the most MOTM awards in a single tournament in the history of the championships?
In the 2014 World Cup, Argentine striker L. Messi achieved a great record - he was named the best player of the match 4 times. Will there be a player in the 2022 tournament in Qatar who can aspire to such an achievement? One of the rare candidates is French striker Kylian Mbappe. The World Champion will face Tunisia, Australia, and Denmark, which means the skilled striker can collect three such achievements in the group stage.
8. Who will win the Golden Boot?
An undying intrigue that is raised before each championship. "Eurofootball.com" predicted before the European Championship that Romelu Lukaku would be the top scorer of the Old Continent's championship.
Now it is even harder to predict the winner of this prestigious title. Naturally, after an unsuccessful European Championship, Kylian Mbappe will want to redeem himself in the planetary tournament. Harry Kane is certainly not a lesser player than he was 4 years ago when he won this prize. Mentioning Ronaldo and Messi is also serious contenders. Among the favorites, we can also highlight Neymar, Karim Benzema, Lautaro Martinez, and even Richarlison, who shines in the Brazilian national team.
