World Cup
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LearningTranscript
00:00Some men in short pants and colorful shirts are waiting in a black and white line here in this lawn.
00:06And now there's another group of men who appear very interested in asking for the progress of the first World Cup.
00:31The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on Earth, bigger than the Olympics.
00:36It's got all the drama of the World Series and all the hype of March Madness.
00:41International rivalries, dramatic comebacks, and thrilling overtime showdowns.
00:47Every four years, a different country hosts the tournament.
00:52More than three million people attended the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
00:57And over three billion watched it on TV.
01:02They're called matches, not games.
01:04And it's not just a soccer match.
01:07I mean, is the Super Bowl just a game?
01:11Like in the Olympics, national teams come together to celebrate greatness in the sport
01:16and compete for the title of World Champion.
01:19And it's not just the players who travel from all over the world.
01:22Fans converge on host nations to watch the matches in person.
01:26For one month, they get to experience the sights, sounds, and taste of a place they may never get another chance to visit.
01:34And bond with millions of strangers over their shared love of the game.
01:39It's a worldwide cultural exchange as fans from every nation come together to cheer on victories.
01:46And cry over defeats.
01:49Crying in public is basically required at the World Cup.
01:53And not just for players.
01:55For diehard fans, it's not just wins and losses.
01:59It's life and death.
02:01Clearly you can relate to that.
02:04Anyway, the lead up to the World Cup starts way before the first match.
02:09FIFA, the International Soccer League, includes more than 200 member nations.
02:15Out of those, only 32 get to play in the men's tournament.
02:18For women, it's 24.
02:20In hundreds of qualifying matches over nearly three years, countries compete for one of these spots.
02:27Once the teams are set, they're divided into groups of four for the group stage.
02:32It's a round-robin tournament.
02:34Every team plays every other team in the group.
02:38Teams get points for each win or tie, which is also called a draw.
02:44The two teams with the most points from each group move on to the knockout stage.
02:50These teams play each other in a sudden-death tournament.
02:55It's just an expression, but I told you, people take this game seriously.
03:00It means if you lose, you're out.
03:03And in the knockout stage, there are no ties allowed.
03:08Tied games go into overtime, and then the ultimate tiebreakers, the penalty shootout.
03:14Each team gets five undefended shots on the goal.
03:18If they're still tied after five, they alternate one shot per team.
03:24Whoever scores the first unanswered goal wins the whole match.
03:30Winners of the knockout stage advance until they get to the ultimate showdown, the World Cup Final.
03:37For those who lose out on a trophy, it can be hard to face their fans.
03:42Each team is there to represent its country, so the stakes can be huge.
03:47A 1986 knockout match between Argentina and England was particularly tense.
03:53The two countries had been fighting a war just four years earlier.
03:57Argentina surrendered in about two months, and feelings were still raw years later.
04:03They saw the match as their chance at revenge.
04:08Yep, they got it, but the goal that put Argentina ahead was controversial.
04:14Lots of people thought it was a handball.
04:17So that didn't exactly ease tensions between fans.
04:22But even after the bitterest matches, opponents are expected to shake hands and even swap jerseys.
04:28It's a reminder that the fighting ends with the final whistle.
04:32And an example of good sportsmanship for all the fans.
04:36The World Cup offers a peaceful way for fans to express their patriotism or love a country.
04:42Because tempers can definitely flare over wins and losses.
04:47Unfortunately, the U.S. team didn't even qualify for 2018.
04:53We had one bad game.
04:56It could have happened to anyone.
04:59So, maybe I'm supporting the women's team.
05:03The Americans have dominated since the first Women's World Cup in 1991.
05:08We've won more World Championship titles than any other nation.
05:13And we're gonna crush it in 2019.
05:16The French won't know what hit them.
05:21Whoa! No offense, Voltaire.
05:25Here. No hard feelings?
05:32Voltaire, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.