‘I expect Qatar could be my final World Cup. I often go on holidays there, to Qatar as well as Dubai. I am happy because for sure it will be my last international tournament.’
– Christiano Ronaldo, Portuguese professional footballer
After casting their votes on Nov 19 and getting over the excitement of the 15th General Election, Malaysians who love sports have something to look forward to – the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It is scheduled to take place in Qatar, an independent emirate in the Gulf Region from November 20 to December 18, 2022.
The World Cup is the first ever to be held in the Arab world and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
This year’s tournament is the last to involve 32 teams; there will be 48 teams in 2026.
The tournament will start on November 20 with a match between Qatar and Ecuador. The start date is a day earlier than originally planned after host nation, Qatar, successfully lobbied FIFA for its team to be allowed to open the tournament. Initially, the opening match was going to be between Senegal and Netherlands on November 21.
The final (and 64th match) will be played in Lusail on Qatar National Day on December 18, 2022.
While the Malaysian general election takes place every five years, the World Cup is played every four years. The host country of the World Cup, which hosts the top 32 national teams in a month-long tournament, is chosen by FIFA’s Council.
FIFA, which stands for the Federation Internationale de Football Association, has 209 members and is considered the most prestigious sports organisation in the world.
In Malaysia, football fans can watch most of the World Cup matches for free as Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) will continue as the official broadcaster for the Qatar tournament.
It has been reported that RTM will be broadcasting 41 of the 64 World Cup matches – 27 live (including the final) and 14 delayed.
The matches will be telecast on RTM2, TV Okey and Sukan RTM channels as well on the RTMKlik app.
New Straits Times reported RTM had introduced six sports presenters for the live broadcasts. It would also feature 12 guest presenters comprising former players and national coaches to comment on the matches.
Meanwhile, satellite TV provider Astro will provide full coverage of the World Cup Finals through a subscription paywall.
During the duration of the World Cup, many football fans, young and old, throughout the world, are expected to stay glued to the TV screens in their respective countries.
If the matches are played in the wee hours of the morning, don’t be surprised to see workers turning up for work looking tired that day.
Although betting is frowned upon, football fans everywhere will definitely bet heavily on the World Cup. After all, betting does make the matches more exciting.
France was the winner of the 2018 World Cup after it defeated Croatia 4-2 in one of the most thrilling World Cup finals ever.
Who will win the World Cup this year? According to the current 2022 FIFA World Cup futures, Brazil is the No.1 team in the FIFA World Rankings and are the 9-2 favourites to win it.
To rightly predict the World Cup results is not easy. I guess football pundits have a better chance of doing so if they watch all 64 World Cup matches.
Perhaps that is why Hitz FM, a Malaysian national radio station managed by Astro Radio, has urged its listeners to submit their cats for a contest to judge the World Cup results. What a clever way of promoting the World Cup to non football fans and the radio station as well.
Do you know that a few animals, ranging from a camel to an octopus, have correctly predicted the World Cup results?
I will share with you here stories of just three of the animals, namely, Archilles the Cat, Paul the Octopus and Ying Mei the Giant Panda.
Yes, during the 2018 World Cup, Archilles the Cat from Russia rose to fame after successfully predicting Russia’s win the World Cup opening match against Saudi Arabia.
The hearing-impaired male cat lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum and is one of the 50-70 cats on the museum grounds tasked with catching mice.
Meanwhile, Paul the Octopus became famous during the 2010 World Cup hosted by Germany. The resident of the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany correctly predicted Germany’s matches.
After Germany was defected in the semi-finals, Paul correctly predicted Spain’s win over the Netherlands for the 2010 World Cup title.
The octopus would predict the winners of the matches by choosing between two clear boxes containing a mollusc treat, with each box having the flag of the team competing.
Unfortunately, Paul passed away in October 2010, a few months after the World Cup ended.
In 2014, Ying Mei the Giant Panda from Jiangsu province in China was presented with three boxes of food decorated with the Brazilian and Croatian flags and a neutral one to represent a draw.
Ying Mei favoured the Brazilian box. Brazil later triumphed with a 3-1 score for the opening match of the 2014 World Cup.
I wonder which cat in Kuching will be picked by Hitz FM to judge this year’s World Cup results. But one thing’s for sure, world fame is guaranteed for the feline which can correctly predict any of the matches.
My friends, do you have a cat that can do that?
