Student body gears up for World Cup

Tristan Gonzalez ’24, Staff Writer|December 1, 2022

Photo by Tristan Gonzalez ’24

Each Connections class made a world cup bracket, hoping to win a World Cup themed party.

Every four years a competition comes around that is commonly referred to as the number one sporting spectacle ever invented. As 32 teams compete for the most highly-coveted prize in all of sports, the whole world comes together to indulge in a month-long fiesta. As you might have already guessed, it is the famous World Cup. 

While traditionally taking place in the summer, the 2022 World Cup will take place from Nov. 20. to Dec. 18. Staples High School has a multitude of students who will be heavily-invested in this tournament, and like what happens every world cup year, will also be the center of conversation around the student body no matter if you are a soccer fan or not. 

“My favorite part of the World Cup is that so many nations come together to compete and play my favorite sport,” Elliot Galin ’25 said. “I think it’s able to bring so many people together not only because of the popularity of the sport, but also its sense of national pride to see your country compete and maybe even win.”

Although the students of Staples will most likely be watching from their homes in Westport, not all are rooting for the United States. Many Americans support other countries based on their heritage, and to many, it means a lot to support the country they originate from. 

“I’m rooting for Spain because my family is from there,” Lucas Carpi ’24 said. “I have two grandparents from Spain and my mom spent a lot of her childhood there, so I have always felt really connected to Spanish soccer and the country as a whole.”

This tournament will not only be catching the eyes of soccer fans from Staples, but also students who play other sports and usually don’t watch soccer. 

“I never really watch soccer, but every time a World Cup comes around me and my family always watch. Given that the U.S didn’t make the tournament last time, I’m really anxious to see them back in action and hopefully make it far,” Max Maurillo ’24 said. 

Something important to note about this World Cup is that, unless they are being played on the weekend, every game will be going on during school, so students are bound to face problems in their efforts to watch the games this year.

“Ever since the 2014 World Cup, I have always watched a lot of the games, but this year I don’t know what to do,” Zach Beebe ’25 said. “Everyone is going to be talking about it and I really want to watch the games, so I think it is going to be hard to prevent it from interfering with my school work.”