All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Rating: 8.5/10

Starring: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch and Daniel Bruhl

Rated R for graphic war violence, blood, gore, and language

 

War. What is it good for?

That question, famously asked over and over throughout Edwin Starr’s anti-Vietnam anthem “War”, has reverberated throughout human history. Many movies and television series have posed the question, only occasionally offering some answer (freedom, redemption, etc…). But seldom has the question “what is the value of war” been asked more urgently than in the searing All Quiet on the Western Front, a new film in wide release on Netflix.

A German-made production, All Quiet is the third major film adaptation of the 1928 Erich Maria Remarque novel whose gritty, somber tone and inglorious subject matter caused it to be banned by the Nazis as they pulled their country up from the literal and figurative ashes of World War 1. Like contemporary war epics Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers and 1917, All Quiet on the Western Front shows in stark, brutal terms what front-line combat really is. Unlike some of those movies, All Quiet depicts how ideals such as glory, valor and patriotism become meaningless to those on the front lines almost immediately. Indeed, within the first 15 minutes of All Quiet, one can sense the sad sentiment expressed in Starr’s first verse”:

 War, I despise

‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives

War means tears to thousands of mothers’ eyes

When their sons go off to fight

And lose their lives

By 1917, “The Great War” had been raging for three years, and history shows that precious little had been (or would be) achieved in the mud and trenches of France’s Western Front. Those futile facts are unknown to German teen Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer), a well-educated young man full of patriotic fervor whose parents oppose the idea of him signing up to fight. Paul ultimately forges his parents’ signatures and joins the army alongside his best friends, thrilled by officers’ rousing speeches filled with stirring slogans (“for the Kaiser, God, and the Fatherland”) and promises of victory. The gleam of these fantastic sentiments vanishes, however, about as soon as Paul and his friends are dropped in the trenches, sloshing through freezing mud and cowering amidst artillery barrages. While there is camaraderie to be found within the company, Paul also finds gnawing hunger, the abject terror of engagements with the enemy, and the fading hope that he will ever see home again, or that he'll be the same if he gets there.

Occasionally interrupting this grim tableau is the quiet journey of German politician Matthias Ertzberger (Daniel Bruhl), who, horrified by the mounting, endless loss of life (the film’s stunning prologue is a fierce reminder of the cheap disposability of life in the war machine), is sent to negotiate a ceasefire with the Allied Powers. Contrasting Ertzberger’s desperate peace-seeking mission is the iron-hearted approach of Western Front commander General Friedrichs (Devid Striesow), who sees the ceasefire on the horizon but has no intention of seeing his mighty Fatherland end the war meekly.

As was surely intended, these parallel story threads convey the cavernous and inescapable gulf between the men making the war, and those fighting it. While high-minded statesmen consider history, legacy and the greatness of their homelands’ reputation, soldiers on the front lines scramble for masks amidst deadly gas attacks, steal from local farms to keep from starving, and watch their comrades – the only people who could relate to their experiences – die in muck and puddles of their own blood. The scenes with Ertzberger and Friedrichs are not showy or preachy, but All Quiet’s viewers will be so shaken by the punishing battle scenes that they will understand the ultimatum all too plainly—make peace, shelve pride, or millions of human beings with families, souls, and dreams will succumb to bullets, flames, gas, or the horrifying specter of being crushed by a tank.

I was astonished to learn that Felix Kammerer is making his film debut as Paul Baumer; his haunted visage proves a seamless portal into this darkest and most desperate of worlds. One sequence, in which Paul fatally stabs a Frenchman who goes on to live several minutes longer than Paul (or we) would expect, while Paul rides a grueling rollercoaster of emotions, from fury to angst and gut-wrenching remorse, is absolutely shattering. Supporting Kammerer is a cast short on noticeable names but high on humanity, with Aaron Hilmer playing a wisecracker who becomes another shrieking, desperate boy amidst the shells, and Bruhl expertly depicting the nearly silent struggle of a peacekeeper weighing stubborn national pride against desire for the war’s end.

My complaints are few. The movie is maybe 20 minutes too long, with a few suspense-building takes in particular padding the length unnecessarily. And, while the actors do the aforementioned admirable job, I doubt the characters will resonate, as those in Platoon and Private Ryan have.

These are quibbles. What one will remember about All Quiet is the nightmarish intensity of the battle scenes, the image of Kammerer’s wide eyes peering through a mud-and-grime-encrusted face, and the Oscar nominations the film could receive in a few months’ time (it’s Germany’s entrant for Best Foreign Language Film, but warrants consideration for the directing, screenplay, and technical awards as well). There’s also the ominous three-note chime that defines the musical score, chilling every time. And there’s the grimness of the war concept, shone in its bleak, ugly frankness, underlining the awfulness of our history and the heartbreaking reality that war rages in our world today, in the Ukraine and elsewhere.

Yes, some armed conflicts throughout history have freed people and nations from oppression; others have defeated evils great and small. But what the newest adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front suggests in shouts, screams, and whispers across two-plus-hours is the very answer Starr gave, again and again, in his timeless anthem:

 War! What is it good for?

 Absolutely nothing.

 

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Directed by Edward Berger

Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Patterson, and Ian Stokell

Based on the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque

Length: 2 hours, 28 minutes

Rated R

“War” by Edwin Starr was released in 1970 by Columbia Records

NORWAY: FIVE DAYS OF LOVE, THUNDER, and DISBELIEF

NORWAY: Five Days of Love, Thunder, and Disbelief

Last Thursday, July 7, 2022, Norway’s Women’s National Soccer Team played its first match of the Women’s 2022 European Championship. A talented all-star squad featuring women who play for the best teams in England and Spain shone in a comprehensive 4-1 win over Northern Ireland, at the same time kicking off a short but interesting whirlwind saga I won’t forget for some time. One that included a movie, a deliriously-giddy (if farfetched) bit of vacation planning, and one of the most unbelievable sporting events I’ve ever watched.

The first thing you need to know is that Norway’s Women’s Soccer Team holds a special place in my heart. I have been watching soccer hardcore since the Summer of 2019, the same summer the last Women’s World Cup was played. I’d never watched any women’s soccer before, let alone a major event, but, with my burgeoning interest in “the beautiful game”, I became transfixed. That summer, the U.S. Women’s National Team would roll to a second consecutive World Cup win, making headlines mostly for an almost disturbing 13-0 mauling of Thailand in their opening round match, but the team that really caught my eye was Norway.

Norway won the first match of that tournament that I got to watch in its entirety—Norway vs Nigeria, with the Scandinavians coming out on top 3-0. In that match and others, I noticed one superficial and un-sports-related thing: hey, ladies from Norway are pretty attractive! Later, I watched that team win an epic 1-1 draw, complete with decisive penalty shootout, over Australia in the tournament's Sweet Sixteen. Plus, I realized I liked the idea of Norway because of its Scandinavian/Viking roots; I’ve been a pretty big fan of the Thor movies, after all, and even have a large rubber replica of Thor’s famous hammer, Mjolnir, sitting on my windowsill.

Norway dropped out of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in their next game after that epic Australia win—a tough 3-0 loss to England in the last eight. But I followed a few of the players on Instagram, and, from then on, the whole concept of Norway resonated with me. I even tried a couple of times to write a story set in a Scandinavian-type world, complete with as many of the Norwegian surnames as I could fit in: Reiten, Engen, Mjelde, Minde, Hjelmseth…

So, fast-forward back to last Thursday (Thursday being a term originally derived from “Thor’s Day”-- no really, look it up). As Norway was kicking off its first match of the currently-ongoing European Championship tournament, I started lighting up my best friend with “oo-rah Norway”-type chats. Now, my friend doesn’t particularly care about soccer, but he does have a very strong affinity for Norse mythology. Starting when he began playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla in the winter of 2020, he became near-obsessed with Norse and Viking culture. He devoured the History Channel series Vikings, read every book he could find on the subject, ordered blankets, pillows, and coffee mugs emblazoned with ancient Viking symbols, and was delighted a few months ago when I got him a gift of a decorative plate showing an ancient Viking longboat. He even ordered an old Scandinavian dice game, Orlog, which sits prominently in our living room entertainment center—not that we’ve played it.

Anyway, as Norway’s Women’s National Team carved up Northern Ireland, I chatted my roommate up about how awesome and badass Norway is. The next day, as fate (or Internet algorithms) would have it, one of the first videos visible on my YouTube homepage was a travel video, Top 10 Places in Norway by Ryan Shirley. I have a near-manic desire to travel, so I watch a lot of YouTube videos about other countries (including the well-traveled Shirley’s), but I hadn’t watched anything Norway-related, so I don’t know how that video was advertised to me. In any case, I watched it, and was blown away by gorgeous images of mountains, rivers, fjords and little towns right out of a storybook. On a whim, I sent it to my roommate, saying he should watch if he was interested. On another whim, I half-jokingly chatted: Bro, we should go to Norway. His response: I’d be down.

He’d be down ?!?!?!?!

My best friend would actually potentially be interested in going with me on a trip to Norway?!

Well, it set my imagination on fire. I told myself he hadn’t committed to anything, he has a couple of vacations (the Outer Banks, Nashville) planned for the rest of this calendar year and wouldn’t have many paid days off from work available, but I still couldn’t help it: I could go to Norway, and with my best friend! BROOOO TRIIIIIP

I tried to keep it low-key, but I watched a couple of Norway travel videos and about blew apart Google checking the distances between prominent places in the Scandinavian country. There are so many tasty options for a visit. Oslo--the capital. Trondheim--a major hub that was the capital back in the viking days. Tromso—the largest city in northern Norway, well above the Arctic Circle. The Svalbard Islands—one of the northernmost human habitations on the planet, with more polar bears than people. Geirangerfjord—a huge, stunning fjord that ranks #1 in more than one online “Top Places to Visit in Norway” list. Jotenheimen National Park—a national park dominated by snow-capped peaks that derives its name from one of Norse mythology’s Nine Realms (Jotenheim = “Land of the Giants”).

Even in my feverish excitement, there were more than a few obstacles standing in the way of me and a fantasy trip to Norway. Such as—the fact that Norway is a long way from central Virginia, and a flight alone would cost a pretty penny; it’s not an English-speaking country, so I need to really have my ducks in a row before I went; a lot of the tastiest sites are not close together, so there could be the small matter of booking and taking buses or trains multiple times in a trip of any length; and, finally, the not-insignificant fact that my best friend chose not to get the COVID vaccination. I know we are, momentarily, in a world where COVID is no longer the top story and countries and airlines alike appear to be softening their travel restrictions, but, even with some research, I had difficulty confirming whether my friend would be able to fly at all, much less into a country a third of the way around the world, without the vaccine.

Saturday, as all these ideas were swirling, my friend and I went to see Thor: Love and Thunder. I’m far from the MCU’s biggest fan – I haven’t watched half of the DisneyPlus series the company has released, in addition to skipping the most recent Dr. Strange film – but Thor’s fantasy aspects have also been an intriguing addition to the superhero filmography.

I thought Thor: Love and Thunder was pretty good. It was fun, though how “fun” it is may depend on how appreciative one is of the MCU’s near constant attempts at humor. I think it was 2014’s snarky Guardians of the Galaxy that started it—these days, the MCU films can’t seem to go more than 10 seconds without some attempt at humor, be it an innuendo, a pratfall, a quip, some tongue-in-cheek commentary, or something else intended to prompt laughter. While I chuckle at my fair share of these, it does get tiresome, often rendering the dramatic moments less effective than they would be (even characters’ death scenes, if not quickly glossed over, often contain some humorous element). Poor Chris Hemsworth, a hulk of a man who’s also a good dramatic actor when given the opportunity, was reduced for 2/3 of the movie to playing a doofus who is always the dumbest and most out-of-touch person in the room.

Overall, Love and Thunder wasn’t bad. The special effects were first-rate (including a dazzling black-and-white-and-some-color action sequence straight out of Sin City), the film brought back Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster and gave her plenty to do, and gave us one of the MCU’s most intriguing villains, Gorr the God Butcher. The role of this balding, scarred, frothing megalomaniac is one I imagine the actor Christian Bale—a serious actor’s thespian well-known for his intensity and chameleonic devotion to a role—took on with some eagerness, and which he played with considerable relish.  

Nutshell: while Love and Thunder has its moments of high entertainment and may be one of the better Thor movies, there’s a sameness to the glitzy effects, easily-resolved storyline, disposable villain (Bale’s strong performance notwithstanding) and constant attempts at humor that make it just another entry in the MCU's enjoyable-but-cookie-cutter mold.

I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

So, while the newest Thor movie has little to do Norway or even Norse Mythology (outside of the constant mentions of Mjolnir and Asgard and callbacks to Loki, Odin, and Valhalla), watching it while considering a trip to Norway definitely gave me a little chill.

Post-movie, I was left mulling over the possibilities of a Norway trip, while also remaining befuddled (despite constant research) as to whether my friend could even get on a plane out of the US given his vaccination status.

Well, about mid-morning today, Monday, my friend approached me and told me he would pass “for now” on a Norway trip. He said the last few days had “planted the seed”, but he had a busy fall ahead of him, with limited free vacation time, and said that if he was to go to Norway, he would want to “really go” (a sentiment I appreciate). I wasn’t surprised by his decision and, frankly, it saved me some hand-wringing and pressurized planning.

Norway’s on the list, though. And now at least I have a framework for what I’d want to base a trip around!

Lastly, this afternoon, Norway’s Women’s National Team had their 2^nd game of the 2022 European Championship, against England. This was widely predicted to be a must-watch affair, with a large crowd cheering on tournament hosts England, who had some questions to be answered after squeaking out a1-0 win over Austria in their tournament opener. Given the talent Norway boosted and the class they’d showed against Northern Ireland, it was thought that this could-be classic encounter, a too-close-to-call clash and possibly a preview of how things could go for two of the tournaments betting favorites.

Then England scored six goals in the first half.

You may know this: soccer is a low-scoring game. The field is big, the ball is small, the nets are protected by goalies, not a lot of goals are scored.

Sometimes, when two teams of relatively equal talent are involved, there are few or no goals. And yes, outside of winner-take-all tournament games, it is possible for a 90-minute soccer game to end 0-0. 

So, six goals in one half by one team is almost unheard of. If a team scores three goals in a half and the other scores none, it’s generally thought that the losing team is on life support. Four goals pretty much means you’ve lost. Five, yeah, there are a couple of famous soccer games in recent years where a team was up 5-0 in the first half (one game where a team had lost a man to a red card and played with a numerical disadvantage, and then there was Brazil’s meltdown on home soil in the 2014 World Cup semis).

But six?!

As big of a sports fan as I am, I’ve seen plenty of ridiculously one-sided blowouts. From NCAA Tournament Round of 64 affairs where blue chip teams like Duke and Kentucky play “small school squads” that are just happy to be there, to the Seattle Seahawks full-bore mauling of Peyton Manning's Broncos in the 2013 Super Bowl, to that UFC pay-per-view 3 summers ago where Jorge Masival knocked out Ben Askren with a flying knee to the face about 5 seconds in…I’ve seen some blowouts. 

I’ve seen some blowouts. But those are usually in matches that clearly lopsided going in (for instance, no one thought Thailand was going to lay a finger on Team USA back in 2019, and they didn’t). Or there’s some other major development early, like one team loses a player to a red card so one team has a numerical advantage—a big difference in a game with such a large field.

But this was nuts.

I guess England were favored going into the game, since it’s soccer and it’s England and they were playing in front of a large crowd in England. But they’d only won their first game 1-0, and Norway had won theirs 4-1. This was supposed to be a stiff test. And England destroyed them; they beat them like they weren’t there! England’s attackers raced through defense that offered no more resistance than T-shirts hanging on a clothesline. Every time they hit a ball into the box, it was a goal! It was already a 3-0, can-you-believe-this scoreline, then England scored three goals in seven minutes near the end of the half! The Norwegian players looked so shocked, so overwhelmed, that they looked like they barely knew they were playing in a game.

And, for me, this guy who had rooted for them in 2019 and who had, for a short time, been plotting a trip to their country, this was bad. In many of the blowouts I mentioned, I was either a casual fan or didn’t care about the outcome. This time, I cared, and I can’t remember if I’ve ever actually watched a more shocking, awful performance by a team I was rooting for. I really can’t.

Norway were better in the second half. They didn’t come back. They didn’t make it close. They didn’t score any goals. But—hey!—at least they only gave up two goals in the second half; they only lost 8-0 when there was a real question whether they were going to get humiliated by double digits in soccer.

It was a record-breaking performance. Delirium and delight for England, with their biggest-ever win in a European Championship tournament, and abject dismay for Norway, their worst-ever loss. This is a team full of star players, who have won the European Championship twice before (England have won it exactly 0 times).

During this game, I went on a wild emotional journey. From optimistic to tense to disappointed to really disappointed to shocked, awed, horrified, disbelieving, dismayed and darkly, darkly amused (I swore so many times I’m not proud of it, and I joked with myself on more than one occasion that Norway could sense that I wasn’t going to visit their country soon after all, and it had taken the wind out of their sails).

All that said--and I know this is said a lot in sports--but it’s only one game. No really, it is. England qualified for the Elite Eight, the knockout stage of this tournament, by virtue of winning the game and thus capturing key points in a points-based value system I don’t have time to explain right now. Norway are left reeling (and probably crying themselves to sleep tonight), but they aren’t out of it. They have one game left to qualify for the Elite Eight, for which a lot of people had them penciled in—this Friday, they’ll have to beat Austria. And they have to win. A tie can sometimes be rewarding in soccer, but Norway just got beaten so badly, their only chance to move forward is to win.

So, to answer Jim Carrey’s famous question so you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance, yes, there is a chance.

Just as there is a chance that, one day, I will go to Norway. A strong chance. My fiancée and I are both keen, imaginative travelers, Europe is one of our main destinations, and my friend said this whole experience had “planted the seed”, didn’t he?

One day, I’ll go to Norway. A land formerly of vikings. A place where the concepts of Thor, Asgard, and Valhalla originated.  A place where you can see the Northern Lights. A place where, in places, the sun never goes down. A place where, in places, polar bears outnumber humans. A place of mountains, of fjords, of unique, exciting cities and storybook little towns. A place where they love soccer.

A place with another language, a unique cultural identity, some beautiful scenery, and where a guy like me could one day have a vacation out of his wildest dreams.

The World Cup -- A Look Back...and Ahead

 World Cup 2022--It's Getting Real

I was a fresh college graduate in the summer of 2010, sending out career applications and facing adult life, when the FIFA World Cup came along. At that time, I didn’t watch soccer. I didn’t play it, either. But my love for sports and interest in other cultures and languages drew me into watching that summer, and it had a tremendous impact on me. The packed stadiums, spine-tingling anthems, sudden-death games and monumental goals captured my imagination, all the way to the championship match where Spain defeated the Netherlands in overtime.

And thus, a love affair was born…

By 2014, I was living on my own, and I feasted on the World Cup. I watched every game I could (even at work), and dragged my best friend to Buffalo Wild Wings to spend an afternoon watching the finale in which Germany beat Argentina.

In 2018, that best friend and I were roommates, and, once again, I was obsessed, watching at every opportunity. I even hosted a watch party at our apartment that Sunday morning when France beat Croatia to win the Cup.

Heck, the following summer, I was invested as I had ever been in the big tournament—only, this time, it was the Women’s World Cup.

To be clear, I didn’t watch soccer at any point during the nine years I just chronicled…except during the World Cup. That changed a few months after USA’s powerful women’s team defeated the Netherlands in July ’19 to hoist the Cup; I caught an English Premier League game on TV by chance, started watching regularly, and it has since become one of my top sports interests—right up there with futbol americano and March Madness. These days, I could tell you almost as much about the Premier League or La Liga as I could about the NFL. 

Soccer – called “football” by most of the world – is a world unto itself, an all-consuming passion in which teenagers become adored professionals and poor kids from third-world countries end up multi-millionaires in places where they don’t even speak the language. It’s a world in which white-collar Japanese businessmen, penniless African orphans, middle-aged pub-going Brits, and college girls all recognize and celebrate one thing above all:

 

GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL

 

The World Cup comes around every four years (the women’s comes the year after the men’s in each cycle). World Cup 2022 is going to be held in Qatar—in the winter, no doubt to avoid brain-blistering summer temperatures in that region. Countries around the world have spent months gathering their most talented natural born sons – who can play for professional “club teams”, like Manchester United or LA Galaxy, anywhere in the world – and going through qualifying tournaments around the globe.

The tournament starts with eight groups containing four teams apiece. The teams in the group will all play each other, with the top two teams from each group advancing into the knockout stage of 16—in other words, a “Sweet Sixteen”. Then it will progress to eight, four, two, and, finally, one.

The group stage is where the journey to the Cup begins, though, and the qualified teams were arranged into groups yesterday. (Unfortunately, COVID and the Russia/Ukraine conflict have prevented a few final spots being filled. **Please continue to pray for the Ukraine. It’s all most of can do, but I believe that it matters.**)

World Cup 2022 is 233 days away, with the first matches set to be played on November 21. That’ll be the holiday season, yes, but I, for one, will be checking scores and catching games whenever I can. Until then, all I have are these groups, and all I can do is imagine how things will play out once the first ball is kicked…

 

GROUP A

Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Netherlands and Senegal are the favorites to advance, the former finishing second and third in 2010 and 2014, respectively, and the latter having recently been crowned champions of Africa. Ecuador could push them – smaller South American countries have had charmed runs in the tournament before – and Qatar, in its first-ever World Cup, could get a boost from the huge turnout it should have in its home country. 

 

GROUP B

England, Islamic Republic of Iran, United States of America, TBD (Wales, Scotland, or Ukraine)

England should be favorite. I mean, it’s England and “football”! Plus, England reached the semifinals of the last World Cup and came achingly close to winning this past summer’s European championship (EUROs). The US Men’s National Team (USMNT) missed the 2018 tournament, but has bounced back with a promising young team boasting several world stars. Iran has proven a tough out in these tournaments before, not to mention they’re neighbors with Qatar, so its every game should be packed. Finally, the Russia/Ukraine war has prevented the final round of qualifying from reaching its conclusion. In June we should know who the fourth team will be. Wales and Scotland have recent tournament experience and would set up all-UK battles with England, and if it’s Ukraine—how could you not root for them?

 

GROUP C

Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Argentina won the South American championship this past summer, plus it could be global superstar Lionel Messi’s last hurrah. A traditional heavyweight, Argentina will be expected to top the group. Poland boasts another one of the world’s biggest stars—goal-scorer extraordinaire Robert Lewandowski. Mexico traditionally makes it out of the group stage, setting up what could be a fascinating battle for second. Saudi Arabia shouldn’t be discounted, considering this is its second-straight World Cup and it’s close enough to home that Saudi fans should be able to pour in.

GROUP D

France, Denmark, Tunisia, TBD (Australia, Peru, or United Arab Emirates) 

France won the World Cup in 2018. It’ll be keen to hang onto the trophy—and to save some face after a disappointing EUROs. It’ll be interesting to see whether the highly-touted French can charge deep into the tournament as expected. It’ll have to contend with Denmark, which reached the EURO semifinals as a celebrated underdog. These two are the clear favorites—it’ll be interesting to see whether Tunisia or any of the teams vying for the fourth place spot can challenge them.

 

GROUP E

Spain, Germany, Japan, TBD (Costa Rica or New Zealand)

Germany has won the World Cup four times, but is coming off an awful showing in 2018 and an underwhelming EUROs. If they play anything like their historical selves, though, the Germans could win the group and go a long way. Spain, Cup winner in 2010, was one of the surprise teams of the EUROs last summer, charging to the semifinals with a team of exciting up-and-comers. Japan has the capacity to surprise—it nearly made a deep run four years ago before a last-second loss to Belgium. Either Costa Rica or New Zealand will have a chance in this group—when last seen in the World Cup, Costa Rica was predicted to finish last in the group…and ended up in the quarterfinals! This group looks like two teams penciled into the next round, but you can never tell.

GROUP F

Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia 

Croatia and Belgium are heavy hitters, the two finishing second and third in the 2018 tournament, respectively. Both are loaded with stars who play in Europe’s top proving grounds. Canada hasn’t played in the World Cup since 1986, but it’s back with a young team full of exciting talent. And Morocco made its way back to the World Cup from a very competitive North African region. This group looks like Experience vs. Youth, Known vs. Unknown, and it will be very competitive.

 

GROUP G

Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Brazil is the only country that has featured in all 22 World Cups, and has won it the most times—five. It’s favored to do so again, so failure to get out of the group would be unthinkable. Switzerland is coming off a charmed run in the EUROs, so they’ll be full of confidence, but it won’t come easy, as it has a dicey history with Serbia in big tournaments. Cameroon is a traditional African powerhouse who will have its say as well. Three teams fighting for second—or so it would seem…

 

GROUP H

Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, Korea Republic

This group has everyone talking. Portugal is packed with stars, led by the great Cristiano Ronaldo. Uruguay has won the tournament twice and features several household names. Korea stunned Germany at the last World Cup and is led by one of the Premier League’s finest goalscorers. Ghana are a traditional heavyweight, and it’ll be extra motivated given that it lost one of the most famous games in World Cup history to Uruguay back in overtime in 2010. This is gonna be the popcorn group, folks. Enjoy!

 

Alas, World Cup 2022 doesn’t get underway until November 21. But, even though it’ll be the height of winter and the holiday season, I can’t wait until they let the games begin.