A look — from “A” to “Z” — at the 2018 World Cup, which opens Thursday in Russia.
A — is for the Atlas Lions of Morocco, who, apart from their challenges on the pitch this month, are competing with North America to host the 2026 World Cup.
B — as in the Ballon d’Or — the sport’s most prestigious individual award. Can Lionel Messi (Argentina) or Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) lock it up by leading their country to the title? Or, if healthy, can Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah put himself in the thick of it?
C— is for chomping the competition, something Uruguay’s Luis Suárez, a la Mike Tyson, has demonstrated he isn’t above with a red card in the last World Cup.
D — is for Deutschland, defending champion Germany.
E — is for Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who at age 45 is the oldest player in the field.
F — is for FIFA, Federation Internationale de Football Association, the ruling body of soccer, a cabal so corrupt it makes the mafia look upstanding.
G — is for “Group of Death” the designation given what is generally acknowledged as the toughest group. This time it could well be Group “F,” which features Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea.
H — as in the trademark “HOOOOOOOO!!!” chant and Viking thunder claps of the Iceland faithful.
I — as in Iran, whose team has one of the coolest nicknames in the tournament: The Lions of Persia.
J — is for Colombia’s James Rodriguez, who is back after six goals in five matches for Los Cafeteros earned him the Golden Boot award.
K— is for Kazan Stadium in Tartarstan, site of Friday’s Australia-France meeting, which had two swimming pools where the pitch now stands for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.
L — is for “lozhkas” the Russian spoons that are this World Cup’s answer to the Brazilian caxiroh and the South African vuvuzelas as official noisemakers of the host country.
M — is for missing in action, which Italy is as a four-time champion that is out of the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
N — is for newbies to the World Cup, Iceland and Panama, who are making their first appearances.
O — is for odds, and Brazil, a 5-to-1 pick to win now that it is no longer burdened by being a host as it was in 2014, is the favorite.
P — is for Panama, the longest of the longshots at a 5,000-to-1 pick by oddsmakers to hoist the championship.
Q — is for Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup.
R — as in red, white and blue. Well, not the U. S., which didn’t qualify, but Iceland, which has the same colors and a team that did qualify.
S — is for sanctions, imposed by the U. S. that prompted Nike to pull its shoe deal from the Iranian team in the 11th hour.
T — is for the tiniest country by population to appear in a World Cup field — Iceland, with just 335,000 residents.
U — is for Uruguay’s “garra charrua” (Charruan Claws) spirit of tenacity.
V— is for Vladimir Putin, who will never be too far from the Fox cameras.
W — is for winner’s share, with the champions splitting $38 million, a $3 million bump over 2014.
X — is for the “X” factor, Belgium’s Eden Hazard.
Y — is for the youngest team in the field, Nigeria’s Super Eagles, with an average age of 25.3 years.
Z — is for Zlatan “I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am” Ibrahimovic, who has chosen to retire from World Cup competition, thereby depriving Sweden of scoring punch and reporters of great quotes.
