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Looking back through football history, it’s clear to see that big talking points from each World Cup tend to go down as big pieces of overall football history.
In my lifetime I remember the Zinedine Zidane headbutt on 2006, I remember the sheer anger from Luis Suarez's handball in 2010 and the drama of the penalty shootout between France and eventual champions Italy in 2006.
The bottom line is that the biggest talking points from any World Cup often don't revolve around the best goal scorer or the best players involved.
Throughout this article, I am going to break down and analyse the 3 biggest talking points of the 2018 FIFA World Cup to date, and discuss what impact either positive or negative these points could have on the future of the beautiful game.
#3 Diving
In every other sport on the planet, a player writhing around on the ground screaming in agony is enough to make the hearts of people in the stadium or watching on TV skip a beat.
It's horrible, your mind skips to what surely could be a career-ending injury, or at minimum a cruel year on the sideline rehabbing and getting back to full strength for that poor player.
This is not the case in football and I don't understand it. Far too often in this World Cup, we have seen players rolling around on the ground clutching their leg as though they have snapped their tibia or grabbing their head as though they have fractured their skull.
The issue is they haven’t even received any contact at all in most cases. Whilst it is good to see players back running around 30 seconds after they have gone down, it's an absolute disgrace to see the theatrics they have used to try to win a free kick.
The worst part is it's the best players in the world doing this. Neymar, Ronaldo, Suarez are worse than anyone else. These guys are role models to millions of kids. These kids look up to them and spend hours at a time trying to copy their every move.
If they continue to behave like this, diving in football is only going to be more present at future World Cups. I don't have an issue with players falling to the ground. I understand that it is necessary to show the referee that there has been contact off the ball.
But when a player does 10 rolls or lies motionless for 30 seconds only to be back to 100 percent 2 minutes later, it completely ruins the credibility of the player, team, and competition its self.
Football is a beautiful game. The skill level involved at the top level is astounding. Therefore, it is a worrying sign when a player such as Neymar is being mentioned more for his theatrics on the ground, than the magic he produces with his feet.
#2 VAR
Looking at the Statistics produced at this World Cup, you could make a case that VAR has had a positive impact. The number of red cards per game at this World Cup (0.06) is the lowest it’s been since the year 1986 when there hadn’t been a single red card given out at this stage of the tournament.
The average number of off-sides per game has also hit an all-time low. The 2.81 average off-sides per game at this World Cup is the lowest average in FIFA World Cup history. The previous lowest average was 3.13 which was set at the 1966 World Cup.
The percentage of goals scored from a set piece is also considerably higher than the last World Cup. 55.3% of goals at the 2018 FIFA World Cup have come from a set piece. This is up 25% when compared to the World Cup 4 years ago.
While these stats may be viewed as a positive, there are some potential negative statistics surrounding VAR. The number of penalties per game is at its highest since the World Cup in 1966. The 0.56 penalties handed out per game at this World Cup is an astronomical jump from the previous 2 World Cups where penalties per game averaged a mere 0.06.
Despite these statistics, I feel the biggest impact of VAR cannot be measured with numbers. The greatest thing in sport is a late winner in a football match. The sheer ecstasy a stoppage-time goal creates cannot be topped by anything else in the sport.
This is where I disagree with the use of VAR. In this World Cup, instead of letting emotion take over from the site of the ball at the back of the net everyone must wait. Celebrations must be contained until VAR has its say. In my opinion, VAR is ruining the greatest part of football. Is VAR here to stay in world football? Who knows.
#1 The failure of the three powerhouses of world football to reach the quarterfinals
Germany, Spain, Argentina. One month ago, it would have been inconceivable to suggest that none of these teams would make it past the round of 16 in this year’s FIFA World Cup. In fact, you would have been taken more seriously if you had suggested that these would all be semi-finalists. In my opinion, despite being tough for these team’s supporters, overall it is a great result for world football.
Football quite rightly markets itself as the biggest, most global sport in the World. Without a doubt that is correct. I don’t believe that in any other sport in the world you would have 3 of the best teams in the tournament failing to make it to the quarterfinals.
Germany was the biggest let down of these teams. The current World Cup holders barely fired a shot in this World Cup and deserved to go home early. Their worst performance was no doubt against South Korea. Despite 28 shots Germany failed to even get on the score sheet. They went down 2-0 in a game where a win would have been enough to see them advance to the next round.
There’s something about World Cups that does not sit well with Argentina. Despite an embarrassing early draw with semi-pro team Iceland, Argentina scrapped their way to the round of 16. However, it was here that they produced one of the most lacklustre performances in recent memory.
Argentina let through 4 goals to the French side that struggled to get past minnows Australia in the group stage. Conceding 9 goals in 4 games is never going to produce a formula good enough to challenge for a World Cup title.
Lastly come the Spanish. Despite playing an attractive brand of football, Spain won't be contending for the title of world champions this year. Despite making it through the group stages with results that included a win over Iran, and a draw with Portugal in the game of the World Cup so far, Spain was disappointing. Their 1-1 score that resulted in a penalty shootout loss to the hosts Russia summed things up for them really.
Yes, these results have been controversial. However, I believe that for the growth of world football, seeing these teams get knocked out gives other nations hope that truly anyone can go deep into the FIFA World Cup.
