What it takes to win the FIFA World Cup

What it takes to win the FIFA World Cup 2022
The FIFA World Cup is a global event that takes place every four years having representatives from different countries of the continent. The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup has remained one of the most talked about tournaments with so much excitement and a constitutional rollercoaster.

Many countries are yet to win the tournament, but many more have not had a chance to play at the event since its inception in 1930. Although the world football governing body, FIFA (Federation of International Football Association) is keen on having equal representation among nations, the thin line between qualification and the proper event has always panned out to be the decisive factor.

The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is the first of its kind that is hosted in the Middle East thus, it presents them an opportunity to write their name in history since no country from the region has won the medal. However, the vastly sought-after trophy already had so many highlights and many football enthusiasts have pitched their tents in South America as well as European countries.

An insight on 7 things it takes to win the FIFA world cup taking instances from different editions of the competition.
1. Concede Fewer goals: unlike club football which has always been a marathon where a club can concede goals and still win the league, the FIFA World Cup takes about one month to execute. Only teams with low records of conceded goals win the trophy. Thus, statistics have it that teams with a solid defensive structure and an outstanding goalkeeper usually go as far as winning the tournament because of the ability to check-mate the number of goals conceded.

Below is a list of countries that won the last seven editions and the number of goals conceded during the competition
Year Winner Total goals conceded
2018 France 🇫🇷 6
2014 Germany 🇩🇪 4
2010 Spain 🇪🇸 2
2006 Italy 🇮🇹 2
2002 Brazil 🇧🇷 4
1998 France 🇫🇷 2
1994 Brazil 🇧🇷 3

2. Fierce Attack: over the years, World Cup winners always had very clinical forwards that go toe to toe with any team firing from all cylinders aside taking each game on the scorn of the neck. This implies that it takes a team that is up to speed tactically, mentally, and psychologically in the event to conquer. For instance, Spain among other winners clinched their first medal in 2010 when they had very sharp forwards like Fernando Torres, David Villa, Pedro, and Fernando Llorente at the helm of affairs up-front.

3. Oneness: countries that play as an entity rather than leaning on a stand-out player to dictate the flow of the game usually go in a pathway of champions. The winners of the last three versions of the competition are typical examples. Specifically, in a look at the 2014 tournament where Germany emerged as world champions, the structure of the team presented a crop of players that had good exploits with lots of defining moments, one of which is team spirit.

4. Last energy: 7 of the last 21 editions of the world cup have gone into extra time to decide the winner. This figure represents about 33.3%. Therefore to win the medal, teams have to offer more than they have because every country at the event comes with one objective which is to win. Hence, the extra or last energy deployed at a time when the opposition begins to wear off is a make or break.

Below is a list of countries that won the medal after regulation time.

Year Winner Runner-up Result after 90 minutes Result after extra time
1934 Italy 🇮🇹 Czechoslovakia 1-1 2-1
1966 England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 West Germany 2-2 4-2
1978 Argentina 🇦🇷 Netherlands 1-1 3-1
1994 Brazil 🇧🇷 Italy 0-0 0-0 & 3-2 on penalty
2006 Italy 🇮🇹 France 1-1 1-1 & 5-3 on penalty
2010 Spain 🇪🇸 Netherlands 0-0 1-0
2014 Germany Argentina 0-0 1-0

5. Control: in recent years, FIFA World Cup no longer follows a kick-and-row approach but has translated to a dominant and possession kind of football to produce a winner. Therefore, control here entails being flexible and conversant with the dynamics of both the game and every opposition team to know when to deploy new tactics if the former isn’t working.

6. Compact and Depth: it is not just enough to have a good starting eleven (compact) but also important to have players that can come off the bench at any point in time and still take the game by storm (depth). A close look at the event since its inception, countries that can bridge the gap between the two concepts have had success at the competition.

7. Discipline: this is a very crucial factor in tournaments of this kind because it interfaces between performance and result. A good performance without discipline could yield a rusty result. A look at the Germany 2006 World Cup finals, France missed out on the opportunity to swing to victory at the cost of extra time after their best player, Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italy’s Marco Materazzi and was sent off. Hence, discipline or professionalism is just as important as the tournament itself.

In retrospect,
The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd edition of the tournament since its inception in 1930 however, the event didn’t take place in 1942 and 1946 due to world war II.

Only Brazil have appeared in all edition of the competition and have won it five times hoping for title number 6.

Italy first created the record of winning it back-to-back in 1934 and 1938. Brazil achieved the same feat in the 1958 and 1962 editions.

Barely six countries have hosted and won the FIFA World Cup since inception
• Uruguay 1930
• Italy 1934
• England 1966
• West Germany 1974
• Argentina 1978
• France 1998

Conclusion
The FIFA World Cup is the biggest tournament in football and it remains the dream of every professional player to share history with the trophy via participation and perhaps a victory. Even though some countries have always had a good outing at the competition, other nations can also clinch the medal if they can put the right parameters in place.