= Its amazing the energy in teh stadiums. Yes, the ticket prices were too high (mostly a FIFA problem, rather than a US one), but still in the end the stadiums have been packed. I remember the jokes after the second game of the World Cup, a South Korea v Czech Republic match in Monterrey had a few open seats - so many European snobs taking to twitter about how this was a disaster. Instead, pretty much every match has been filled to the brims - colorful, regalia, loud, action packed, lovely. The fan experience seemingly has been amazing, from in the stadiums, to the various countries taking over districs in New York or Boston or so much else. The World Cup is the World's Party, truly, and I'm realizing this in ways I just never knew, or at the very least underestimated.
= I think it is fair to say the overall quality in terms of true stars or "Golden Generations" of this tournament is low, but has led to more scoring. We're on pace for a record goals per game. We've had more teams score 3-4-5 goals (even cutting it off through teh group stage, which had as many games as a 32-team world cup had in total). Truly, other than maybe i guess Argentina, or the continuation of France, there is no "Golden Generation" for one of teh top countries this time. It is truly as flat as it has ever been. Other than maybe Curacao, no team seemed unworthy of being here. The other debutantes all did reasonably well (to doing amazingly well, in Cape Verde and the DRC). It was a wonderful group stage in the base level of competitiveness of all the group stage matches has never been higher.
= The best example of this is Africa - for the last 3-4 World Cups, we've heard about the growing competitiveness of the African teams. Generally 1-2 did well, but the others underperformed. Well, nine of ten made the knockout stage. Yes, four of them through the 3rd place route, but then five made it the old fashioned way. Morocco has been as good as advertised, but the likes of Senegal, DRC, Ghana have all been quite good. And of course our old friends Cape Verde, who we should of course remember would've made it even in a 32-team World Cup. This has been the continents coming out party, a bit overdue, but better late than never.
= The 48 team thing - it is very true there were at least 16 more deserving teams that dont seem out of place. But the third place teams making it thing is difficult. From just the optics of it, to the incredible number of permutations it creates, none of which seem all that enticing. It wasn't great in the Euros either (16 of the 24 make the knockouts) and not great here either. Well, good news, because...
= It will go to 64, be it in 2034 or 2038 and I think that is a win-win - there are probably sixteen more teams of which thirteen or something will be well deserving. There's always going to be those bottome 3-5 teams or so, but because say eight of any new sixteen would go to Uefa or Comnebol, probably not. And even if tehre are a few more minnows - that is OK. There is no huge push to remove the #13-#16 seeds in March Madness, is there. And of course, the best part, of course, is we can go back to 16 groups, four teams each, and a clean top two make it.
= More fun that hosting a World Cup in home soil, is the timing of the games - specifically the night games. The fact there were three games that started midnight EST was super cool, the whole PAC-10 After Dark redux. It certainly gave some of these a March Madness or first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs type feel, with most days there being some World Cup football after midnight. Starting games at midnight was diabolically cool, though. That first game, Turkey v Australia, with "underdog" Australia winning was one of my favorite memories of the Group Stage.
= The US being good has certainly helped, but more than anything back to the first point - America likes a good time and likes visitors.
= It's been amazing to see the stories adn twitter reports of how incredible people find our stadiums - and yes they are, but we're scratching the surface. It's like Europeans didn't understand taht there were 31 NFL stadiums all around 65,000 - 85,000 people, that host a sport that makes more money than soccer. It's funny that because of various cities declining FIFA's various commands - such as Chicago or Phoenix (probably the heat there too), but even stadiums in Vegas, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Cincinnati are all lovely venues worthy of a World Cup (remember this).
= It's not just the US - the scenes in Canada, and specifically Mexico, have been excellent. The shots of Korean fans and Mexican fans signing arm in arms was wonderful. Mexico had World Cup fever showing up in the cities before the US even did, and I'm sure it has been lovely. Seeing those shots of the mountains behind the Monterrey stadium even led me to impulse book a weekend in Monterrey in teh fall after my next trip to our Mexico City office. Canada has long been a place with incredible local culture, people, sites, etc., and again just great to see them take to so many cultures.
= Finally, get ready because it seems pretty inevitable that in 2038 the World Cup is coming back here. The ridiculous South America --> Europe/Africa 2030 version didn't just lock in Saudi 2034, but locks in US 2038. Of course, FIFA could change the rules and allow Europe to host again, but unless they do, US is happening. And honestly, the US can flex and host it in cities that didn't host it this time around - hell throw in Mexico and Canada too for a city. And to me this doesn't mean just going to the B-sites - hell we can do Chicago, DC, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tampa, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Denver. Let's get to planning.
