Is World Cup Soccer the best Sporting Event ?

[andmark]

Easily the Olympics, then The Ashes (I realise billions would disagree), then the FIFA World Cup.

[grecian]

Fave minnow moment was clearly in '82, and ultimately it gave us a reason to dislike the hun even more, bliss....

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Fair points. Even the Italians last time (the worst winners I can remember) are still Italy &, fittingly, their success was based on their defence. & the German team who made the final in 2002 were but a pale imitation of the ruthless, efficient, etc German teams of yore, but they still made the final.

Love the minnows too; one of my favourite ever sporting moments was Cameroon beating the then champions, the bastard Argentines, 1-0 in the 1990 opener. Grown men wept tears of joy openly in the street.

****s still made the final tho, but.

I remember similar emotions in my neck of the woods. Mind you, I saw a few clips from the game the other day, and some of the Cameroon, er, tackling was somewhere beyond brutal. Somehow it escaped my notice at the time.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by grecian

Fave minnow moment was clearly in '82, and ultimately it gave us a reason to dislike the hun even more, bliss....

All true.
Possibly my favourite WC fwiw. Well, once we'd reached the point where the bosh didn't actually win the bloody thing.

[Avada Kedavra]

Oympics a better event than soccer WC for me.

[benchmark00]

Olympics comfortably for mine.

[R_D]

Yeah Soccer world cup..... can't wait... hopefully most of my exams will be finished by the time the world cup starts.

[slippyslip]

People only watch the Superbowl for a bit of tit during half time.

Still prefer the Summer Olympics. While football might be the world sport the Olmypics still gets way more coverage in North America, Japan, China, India and Australia. Hmmm, more than half the world.

Only places where the World Cup really dominates the Olympics is South America, South-East Asia and Africa.

Also there so many sports at the Olympics. Some people like the swimming but might hate athletics, some might cycling but not weight lifting etc. Plus theres the opening and closing ceremonies.

[slippyslip]

People only watch the Superbowl for a bit of tit during half time.

Still prefer the Summer Olympics. While football might be the world sport the Olmypics still gets way more coverage in North America, Japan, China, India and Australia. Hmmm, more than half the world.

Only places where the World Cup really dominates the Olympics is South America, South-East Asia and Africa. World Cup is probably more popular than the Olympics in Europe but not by a huge margin.

Also there so many sports at the Olympics. Some people like the swimming but might hate athletics, some might cycling but not weight lifting etc. Plus theres the opening and closing ceremonies.

[dacostg]

I would say it's a close match between Summer Olympics and the Soccer World Cup. Both events are watched all over the world and there's also big interest in South America or Africa. The Super Bowl is really big in the USA and also gains popularity in Europe but the worldwide interest is not so big. My favorite event is the Soccer World Cup, I just love the style of the event. The soccer World Cup has just more international importance to me since the best teams of the world are participating and not only US teams like in the Super Bowl.

[Ikki]

Originally Posted by slippyslip

People only watch the Superbowl for a bit of tit during half time.

Still prefer the Summer Olympics. While football might be the world sport the Olmypics still gets way more coverage in North America, Japan, China, India and Australia. Hmmm, more than half the world.

Only places where the World Cup really dominates the Olympics is South America, South-East Asia and Africa.

Also there so many sports at the Olympics. Some people like the swimming but might hate athletics, some might cycling but not weight lifting etc. Plus theres the opening and closing ceremonies.

Notice how those countries haven't been or still aren't real competitors for the WC title? I won't say that's the only reason why they don't care as much but certainly a reason. Take, for example, last WC where Australia did well; people were glued to the event like no other sporting spectacle before. Our boys were doing us proud and we loved them for trying their hearts out.

As for the thread; when I was a kid I used to hold the Olympics in equal sway with the WC but now it's not even close. When you're a kid for some reason every school tries to push you into getting interested in the Olympics.

[Uppercut]

Originally Posted by slippyslip

Only places where the World Cup really dominates the Olympics is South America, South-East Asia and Africa.

It dominates Europe too. When England play in the World Cup the entire country shuts down. No one gives a monkey's when an Englishman's involved in the Olympics, beyond reading about it in the paper the next morning. Same applies to France and Spain, and I suspect most other European countries too.

[GIMH]

You underplay just how much we get on the bandwagon for any Olympic champions but your general point is correct. World Cup dominates like nothing else here. If we went to war during the WC it probably wouldn't make the front page!

[BoyBrumby]

Originally Posted by GeraintIsMyHero

You underplay just how much we get on the bandwagon for any Olympic champions but your general point is correct. World Cup dominates like nothing else here. If we went to war during the WC it probably wouldn't make the front page!

Fair call, but, happy as we are to win gold in the yngling (sp?) or the kirin (sp? again), no-one ever really watches us doing it.

[GIMH]

Yeah, that's where his newspaper shout is definitely true. But everyone tuned in for Kelly Holmes in 2004, or at least claims they did (I watched the 800 but not the 1500 IIRC)