~snip~
I'm not completely sure, but as far as I know, at least in recent history, it has never happened that the host of the World Cup did not pass the group and not advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
However, due to the quality of their team, Qatar does not deserve to play in this World Cup and I believe that they have a minimal chance to pass the group and reach the knockout stage of the competition.
If they aren't the hosts, we certainly wouldn't be watching them at this world championship, just as we haven't seen them at previous world championships either.
I'm not completely sure, but as far as I know, at least in recent history, it has never happened that the host of the World Cup did not pass the group and not advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
However, due to the quality of their team, Qatar does not deserve to play in this World Cup and I believe that they have a minimal chance to pass the group and reach the knockout stage of the competition.
If they aren't the hosts, we certainly wouldn't be watching them at this world championship, just as we haven't seen them at previous world championships either.
Yeah, it's a huge advantage to host the world cup. But the thing is that the previous world cups have been usually held in countries in which they have a strong team to begin with, such as Brazil, Spain, Germany, England, Uruguay, and so on.
This is probably the first time that it's going to be held in a relatively weaker country. Maybe Korea-Japan 2002 could be comparable up to a point, and even then they managed to go past the first stage, which has been their all time best performance for both Korea and Japan.
We'll have to see if the boost for playing local is enough for Qatar.
I wouldn't really compare South Korea and Japan with Qatar, because Korea and Japan have a much longer football tradition, they have invested much more in football, and they have a much larger population and a much larger football base.
Just look at their results in the last world cups, Korea and Japan often make it to the knockout stages of world cups and achieving great results.
Ok, it seems that Qatar is currently achieving good results in friendly matches, but does anyone seriously think that they would have qualified for this World Cup if they did not have the direct right to participate as hosts?
I will also jump the bandwagon of people saying NO, and if I could swap them for another team then I would have gladly use it to bring back Italy. Furthermore do you’ll think that it’ll be a nice opportunity to make some quick bucks while wagering against them, and even though I’m expecting super low odds I yet feel that we can earn some good bucks on their matches if we get lucky.
I'm also sorry that Italy didn't qualify for the World Cup again. It+s really a tragedy that we will not see such a great team, the current champion of Europe, at the World Cup, and on the other hand, Qatar will play at the World Cup thanks to the fact that they are the hosts of the championship.
On the other hand, Qatar will certainly be a very interesting betting option at this world championship
