Casting shadows

With an unprecedented eight teams competing, the Middle East casts its long shadow over this year’s World Cup; not always for the right reasons.

The shadow may not always cloud the pitch, even though several teams could spring a surprise.

Think of Tunisia in 2022 beating France, Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina, and Morocco reaching the semi-finals in the Qatar World Cup, the first African team to make it to the final four.

In this year’s tournament, imagine the United States, the first World Cup organiser to host a team from a country with which it is at war, playing Iran at some point during the tournament, or Iran encountering Qatar or Saudi Arabia, countries it has bombed during the Iran war and continues to threaten.