Disclaimer: I’m sure we can all agree that FIFA’s actions, not only in this World Cup, but in previous World Cups, have been unacceptable. FIFA has a long history of corruption and while I’m aware of this and I certainly do not approve of it, it does not lessen my support for the teams and players who participate in the World Cup. Today, I’m choosing to put my focus on the tournament itself as opposed to its organizers.

By the 80th minute of Spain’s first 2014 World Cup game against the Netherlands, their humiliation was complete. With devastating speed, Arjen Robben outpaced Spanish defender Sergio Ramos, before twisting around a desperate Iker Casillas. While Casillas scrambled to regain his footing, Arjen Robben fired a shot past two Spanish defenders standing on the goal-line. It was the last goal of the game, putting the final score at 5-1. Spain would go on to lose 0-2 against Chile in their second game, and the former World Cup champions would return home in disgrace. Spain’s early exit was not unusual, however. After winning the World Cup in 1998, France was booted during the group stage in 2002. Similarly, Italy took the trophy in 2006, but couldn’t make it past the group stage in 2010. However, the spectacular 5-1 defeat of the former champions at the hands of the Netherlands was, to me, the first sign that this World Cup would be special. After the start of the World Cup, I took to Facebook to express my feelings on the progression of the tournament. In a fit of passion, I announced that this was the World Cup I’d tell my grandchildren about. Now that a few weeks have passed, and I’ve had ample time to process everything, I can say with certainty that my opinion has not changed. This World Cup was unlike any in recent history. While Germany’s 7-1 victory over Brazil was astonishing (prompting the American commentator to reassure viewers that, yes, those numbers you see on the screen are real), I believe this World Cup stands apart from those before it for other reasons. Past World Cups have been largely dominated by UEFA (European) teams, such as Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, and while Germany did take the trophy in the end, the true shining stars of the stages leading up to the final were certainly not European. CONCACAF (North and South American) teams performed extraordinarily well this year. The United States broke out of the notorious “Group of Death” which included Germany, Portugal, and the team that knocked America out of the last World Cup, Ghana. The U.S. team’s performance sparked an unprecedented amount of World Cup following in the U.S. (it’s no secret that Americans tend to find soccer uninteresting and would choose the Superbowl over the World Cup any day). Furthermore, U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard broke the record for most World Cup saves in one game by blocking 16 shots while playing against Belgium. Colombia made it to the quarter finals for the first time in World Cup history alongside Costa Rica, who took the Netherlands, long considered a likely contender for the winning title, all the way to a penalty shoot-out before exiting. This World Cup also saw the rise of new stars. Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa became a hero for his nation with a series of incredible saves against Brazil and the Netherlands. 23 year-old James Rodriguez came out of virtually nowhere and stamped himself onto the World Cup scene with 6 goals for Colombia, making him this World Cup’s top goal-scorer and earning him a contract with Real Madrid almost immediately after the conclusion of the tournament. On the reverse, however, the “usual” stars we’d look for at the World Cup were not at their best. Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-term knee injury kept him from performing at his usual level, while Messi, despite winning the Golden Ball (the prize awarded at the end of the World Cup to the best player), was not quite the goal-scoring magician many imagined he would be this year. This trend even continued into the U.S. team, with America’s lead goal-scorer Landon Donovan being left at home by the new head coach, Jürgen Klinsmann. Instead, the shining stars of the U.S. team were John Brooks, who scored a fantastic header against Ghana, and DeAndre Yedlin, whose defensive prowess wowed spectators during the game against Belgium. Every World Cup has its break-out stars, but the lacklustre performances of many of who we’d consider to be the greatest, as well as the retirement of world-record goal-scorer Miroslav Klose, is indicative to me of change. I can’t be the only one who finds the fact that Klose ended his international career by being subbed off for young and up-and-coming star, Mario Götze (who went on to score the goal that won Germany the World Cup), truly symbolic of this change. In this way, this World Cup belonged, not to the seasoned-heroes or soccer powerhouse nations, but to the lesser-known: the newcomers, the young faces no one recognizes, the nations with no long lucrative history of success on the pitch. And that, I feel, is part of what makes soccer the best sport in the world. You’ll always have your David Beckhams and Cristiano Ronaldos, but there’s always room for new faces. On the soccer pitch, anything can happen, and the smallest team from the most underprivileged of places can tumble giants with the skills they’ve honed while playing in back alleys and on dirt fields. In case anyone was unable to watch the tournament, I’ll leave you with this video, to highlight some of the great things we got to witness this year, and to help tide things over until 2018. See you in four years! [embed width="650" height="500"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxGamrre1cw[/embed] This article was written by Elizabeth Cathcart. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Marjorie Wang