This summer, the World Cup will be under way in Russia and there are many things that will make the tournament a very unique one. The US men’s national team did not qualify a long with the Italian national team, and Egypt has qualified for the first time in 26 years.
Here are the set groups for Russia 2018:
| World Cup 2018 | ||||||||
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H | |
| Russia | Portugal | France | Argentina | Brazil | Germany | Belgium | Poland | |
| Saudi Arabia | Spain | Australia | Iceland | Switzerland | Mexico | Panama | Senegal | |
| Egypt | Morocco | Peru | Croatia | Costa Rica | Sweden | Tunisia | Colombia | |
| Uruguay | Iran | Denmark | Nigeria | Serbia | South Korea | England | Japan | |
The US team lost to Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 in their final chance to qualify.
On Sportscenter, ex National team player, Taylor Twellman said this, “If this failure does not wake up, everyone from US Soccer to Major League Soccer, from pay to play to broadcasters to everything, then we’re all insane.”
The Italian national team also failed to qualify after drawing in the second leg with Sweden and failing to gain a point. Italy has been in every World Cup for the past 60 years and Gianluigi Buffon, Goalkeeper and Captain, will be sitting at home watching the tournament.
“I am sorry that my last match decided we didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” Buffon stated this in an interview with Rai Italia as he fought back tears after the second leg had finished.
While many big countries did not qualify for the tournament, there were a few nations who made waves during qualifying. One nation in particular was Egypt who have been powered by the phenomenon of Mohamed Salah who is the Premier League’s top scorer for Liverpool.
“Mo Salah is a great player who can make a difference in the World Cup,” Neymar Jr. said this in an interview with Red Bull.
This coming from a top three player in the world could mean lots if Salah has a good international outing this summer.
Although the United States will be viewing from the sidelines, the two biggest names in soccer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, will be duking it out on the world stage once again.
Messi has big pressure upon his shoulders to win the elusive World Cup trophy for Argentina, a feet that his predecessor, Diego Maradona has achieved before.
Messi will have Cristiano nipping at his heels as his Portugal side is coming off a Euro 2016 tournament win. Who will be the Player of the tournament this year?
For all your information on matches, players, groups, and teams in the tournament, visit: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html
