Anh Đức  

It felt different having an international tournament at the end of the year rather than in the middle, but to end 2022 with the World Cup has been remarkable. This World Cup has brought hope to developing football nations that they can one day grace the stage and create memorable moments. The performance of Morocco and Asian teams has shown that the football world does not just revolve around Europe and South America and that the gap is closing. Although the expansion to 48 teams might worry some (Peter), it will create more surprises and upsets than this tournament has provided, and make the World Cup indeed "world".

Alex Reeves 

They think it's all over, well it is now. Goodbye World Cup, goodbye Qatar. As FIFA pivots from one controversy to the next we will be saying hello to the Club World Cup in 2025. Exactly what that means and how heavily it jeopardises the future of the competition we've just witnessed, we'll have to see. Football is generational, while I look back with fondness at Riquelme, Ochoa and other players while lamenting the lack of icons in the modern game there's a whole new set of fans with their own heroes. Will replicas of Morocco's kits adorned with Hakimi be trendy football throwbacks in years to come? I think so. If this World Cup has proven anything it's that the force of football engulfs everything. It is bulletproof. Nothing will stop the masses from embracing a tournament that makes and breaks careers. On to North America, where soccer goes on vacation.

Minh Nguyễn 

The 2022 World Cup has been full of unique elements right from the start, specifically the fact that it’s hosted in the winter instead of summer. But the surprises didn’t end there: there have been so many cases of underdogs defeating giants, from the group stage up until the quarter-finals. To me, the tournament has been over since my favorite team was knocked out in the earlier phase, so I haven't been too keen on watching the rest.

Nguyễn Thu Hương

Many strange or innovative (or both!) ideas were introduced for the first time. Some like the semi-automated offside technology and the recording additional time, I believe, have brought more fairness to the game.

It was also really interesting to see the gap among teams seems to be reduced significantly. We didn’t see many thrashing wins but games with more balance and more difficult to foresee the results.

Every single team had at least one goal so that their supporters could have at least a moment of celebration. And the way that black horses like Morocco or Japan shocking giants truly inspired others, given that the coming World Cup will have 48 teams to join!

Peter Cowan 

It feels like we've watched a World Cup that signals the end of a footballing era.

Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Modric and Messi will likely never grace this stage again. New stars will replace them of course, but I'm not sure if we'll see a player with the genius of Messi again in my lifetime.

Moving to a 48-team tournament from 2026 is fraught with peril for the competitive integrity of the competition and it's easy to see FIFA making poor decisions in pursuit of revenue.

Finally, now that Qatar has hosted successfully in many ways with all the controversy surrounding that decision, who knows where we could next see a World Cup.

Paul Kennedy 

So that's that for another four years, barring of course another pandemic, let's hope we don't see COVID-20 in the future. By the time this paper is printed we will have a winner for this, quite frankly, odd and unusual World Cup. 

Many eyebrows were raised at the announcement the event would be held in the middle of the domestic football season, effectively giving a winter break to teams from Europe. But what's interesting to see now is how exactly will the Premier League, a division not used to a break in December, cope with a massive pile-up of fixtures between now and the end of the season. Only time will tell. VNS