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The World Cup is underway, and it’s already one for the historical past books. It’s anticipated that greater than 5 billion folks (greater than half the planet) will tune in and watch the crowning occasion of the attractive sport.
Whereas this historic occasion has been occurring for almost 100 years, this 12 months’s event has continued to form the sport and introduce new components by no means earlier than seen. Let’s check out a number of the firsts.
Host nation
One huge stat that stands out is that that is the primary time the World Cup has been hosted by a rustic within the Center East. Digging into the info, World Cup hosts have been concentrated in North and South America and Europe, with just a few exceptions across the globe.
A part of the rationale that there are such a lot of firsts on this World Cup is that Qatar is making a distinction in the way it’s managing it.
- Qatar can be the smallest nation to ever host the World Cup. This implies it’s the primary time followers can attain all of the venues by rail or highway; they gained’t should fly throughout the nation to get to a different stadium.
- It’s the primary time the World Cup has been hosted within the winter somewhat than the summer season. It made sense to maneuver it to a cooler season of the 12 months; summer season temperatures in Qatar can common 113 levels Fahrenheit.
- It’s additionally the primary time the World Cup has been hosted in a Muslim-majority nation.
Largest purse and equal pay
This World Cup options the most prize cash ever. The full pool is greater than $440 million, and the winner will take residence $42 million. And this World Cup is anticipated to usher in a number of billion {dollars} in income.
The $42 million first-place prize for the boys’s occasion is considerably bigger than what was paid out within the ladies’s World Cup in 2019. The profitable workforce there obtained $4 million. That’s a part of what led to the US nationwide soccer groups voting on equal pay. That is the primary time in World Cup historical past that males’s and ladies’s groups will pool and evenly break up their prize cash from their worldwide tournaments.
Stadiums
The World Cup might be performed throughout 8 stadiums, 7 of which have been constructed model new. Whereas growing new infrastructure to host a significant worldwide occasion is nothing new, Qatar made it a barely extra fascinating knowledge level than regular by constructing one stadium from transport containers that might be utterly dismantled after the World Cup. Different stadiums have already got plans in place to be partially dismantled and repurposed after the World Cup is over.
Whereas Qatar’s claims of internet hosting the primary carbon-neutral World Cup have been disputed, all 8 stadiums have obtained at the least a four-star ranking from the International Sustainability Evaluation System (GSAS).
The stadiums usually are not with out controversy. Qatar because the host nation has garnered some worldwide criticism based mostly on its monitor file with human rights. The overwhelming majority of the labor for constructing the stadiums got here from migrant staff.
Offside know-how
Soccer has been using Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in worldwide tournaments for years. However that is the primary time the know-how might be used to trace offsides on the World Cup. VAR has limb-tracking know-how that analyzes 29 knowledge factors on every participant on the sector always. It will likely be used to help referees in figuring out tight offsides calls, and the know-how can mechanically detect offsides and alert the on-field officiating crew of the penalty.
Substitutes
Previously, groups have solely been allowed to journey with 23 gamers and have three substitutes. This World Cup is totally different (sustaining expanded guidelines throughout COVID-19 play), and every workforce is allowed to carry 26 gamers with 5 subs.
Feminine referees
Right here’s a enjoyable knowledge level for you: that is the primary time the boys’s World Cup may have feminine referees. Three out of the 36 referees might be ladies, with three further ladies working as assistant referees.
Domo knowledge
It’s additionally the first time we’ve pulled collectively all of the publicly accessible historic knowledge on the World Cup and arrange a Domo dashboard. You may take a look at the info and mess around to seek out your individual insights concerning the World Cup. Use it to trace the outcomes of every sport, take a look at historic knowledge, and analyze how this World Cup compares to these previously.
What different firsts will we see? Time will inform as the sector continues to compete and the principle storylines begin to emerge.
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