I am thrilled that Russia did an absolutely fantastic job with organizing the 2018 World Cup and I am very happy that the host team was able to exceed the expectations. I think that it’s good that the first such tournament to take place in Eastern Europe also featured a technical innovation that generally did not affect the flow of the game and arguably allowed for fairness to prevail, at least in certain situations (unfortunately, not so much in the case of the final).
I didn’t expect France to win the World Cup given that they did not impress me that much in the qualifying matches and the friendlies prior to the competition…If it wasn’t for the disappointing performances of Germany, Spain, and Argentina, I doubt that the French would have been able to go all the way. I actually rooted for Brazil against Belgium because I had the feeling that the South Americans who appeared tactically astute under Tite while still having quality individuals were the only team capable of stopping France. I am of the opinion that they were rather unlucky against Belgium (who nonetheless deserve a lot of credit for the historic third place they reached and the enjoyment they provided in their matches), though the Belgians probably felt the same after their semi-final against France.
Croatia and Iceland could be regarded as the silver linings for tournament from my standpoint. A Balkan country earning a silver medal in the company of the crème de la crème is an amazing achievement. I find it admirable that the Croats also made sure to win the last match from the group stage and never lost their focus. I prefer perfectionist teams who give it their all in every game rather than those who lack motivation and only shift up a gear when the stakes are high. I think that Iceland (even if they seemed weaker compared to two years ago) will continue to improve and inspire their loyal fans. I was also pleasantly surprised by the quality shown by Japan and England.
Regarding the victory of the France national team, I may be overreaching, but here is something that I never expected to come across. It has a bit of a bizarre twist to it. Most of you may have heard of comedian Trevor Noah – he is a South African of mixed race and very often pokes fun at Donald Trump and his policies (on the Daily Show). Even though he does not self-identify as a left-winger, virtually all of us would agree that he displays a liberal bias. However, Noah recently had this segment, during which he called France an African team and seemed genuine in his belief that being French equals being white (the reason I am saying that is because I get the impression that the opinions expressed in his sketches usually seem to reflect his own political stances and he never includes the disclaimer that only “racists” subscribe to the viewpoint that he puts forth). However, maybe Noah wanted to convince the viewers that lifting the World Cup in Russia was essentially a victory for the black race.
If you scroll down and read the comments, you will notice that Noah is getting a lot of stick (some of it from black people) and blamed for appearing to share the sentiments of Front National members and other groups considered to be right-wing.
I will leave you with a video that is a true tribute to the efforts of the Croatia national team:
