Traditional heavy in the face of unprecedented competition in 2022 World Cup

The 2022 Qatar World Cup witnessed some of the most stunning surprises in football history, where the traditional heavyweights met an unexpected level of competition from the opposition.

The group stage featured surprises from teams like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Japan, and others who, with no disregard for their quality, do not have a trophy room as decorated as some European and South American giants.

Through generations of football, the world has known the big teams to always compete for the final spots after the group stage, and has always been a stroll in the park for most heavyweights like Brazil or France.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup saw a completely different scenario where, unexpectedly, some teams from Africa and Asia performed and were equally contesting against the world’s leading teams.

There were plenty of World Cup shocks over the years, but this year’s edition has seen more than most. In fact, this World Cup is only the fourth edition in the tournament’s 92-year history where no team won all its group games, and the first since 1994.

FIFA’s chief of global football development, Arsene Wenger described the group stage as it “reflects football’s increased competitiveness.”

Before the time when scouting became outsourced to the different corners of the world, the knowledge about opposition teams, their philosophy, tactics and individualities, was objectively harder to obtain, as a team’s scouting department would have access to reports that do not go beyond territorial borders.

This proves to be a key aspect that hinders some countries’ access to resources required for analysis, development and growth. All would change though as the game’s reach and importance became more global, and the methodology of growth for a nation’s footballing project is more accessible to federations.

The former Arsenal head coach “The outcome of the group stage shows the extent to which more countries have acquired the tools to compete at the highest level,”

Morocco’s project for example, has been a ghost of its past until the current President of the Royal Federation of Football Fouzi Lekjaa was appointed, applying many reforms and effectively drafting a long term roadmap to establish a footballing environment of the highest standards for professionals, and for the passionate, up and coming talents. A method that proves to require time, though the group stage is testament to the country’s development.

The Former Arsenal coach describes it as “the result of better preparation and analysis of the opponents, which is also a reflection of a more equal access to technology. It is very much in line with FIFA’s efforts to increase football’s competitiveness on a global scale.”

This does not fully guarantee a final spot for these countries in the final rounds, as the European and South American giants will still hold the world’s best players, but the group stage proves the milestone that “lesser” footballing nations reached.

Other factors can be taken into account, such as this year’s edition being in the Middle-East is a first, as well as the first time in the middle of the european football calendar.

To put this into context, because of FIFA’s decision to move the World Cup from its traditional home in July and August due to the temperature in Qatar during those months, most teams have had little over a week’s preparation for what is international football’s grand competition.