World Cup Conversation Questions

Warm-up Question:

What's your favorite sport to play and your favorite sport to watch? Discuss with your partner or group.

Discussion Questions:

1. Where is the next FIFA World Cup? Will your country be there?
2. Do you call it soccer or football? Do you care which name is used?
3. Have you played soccer? How good were you? How good are you now?
4. Which country has the best soccer players? Why do some countries produce so many great players?
5. Soccer, or football, is the most popular sport in the world. Why is it so popular?
6. Some people complain that soccer games end in a draw too often. Can a drawn game be fun to watch?
7. Are you interested in visiting the host country of the World Cup? What fun things would you do there? What might be interesting, apart from soccer?
8. Soccer players sometimes act injured to get a penalty call from the referees. What do you think about this behavior?
9. Which country do you think will win the next World Cup? What makes you think so?

10. Tickets to World Cup games are expensive. What is the highest amount you would be willing to pay for a ticket to the World Cup Final? Why is it worth this amount to see the game in person?
11. Who is the greatest soccer player of all time?
12. In some countries, players and coaches who do poorly receive criticism or punishment from the fans or the government. What's your opinion of this?
13. Why is soccer sometimes called 'the beautiful game'?
14. In 2014, goal line technology was used for the first time in a FIFA World Cup. Is it good to rely on technology to know whether the ball has passed the goal line? Or is it better to rely on human judgement?
15. World Cup preparations cost a lot of money, yet many people still live in poverty. Do you think this is a problem? Is there a better way to use the money?
16. The World Cup Final is always among the most watched television events in the world. Does this kind of mass participation make you feel a sense of a global community?
17. How do you behave when you or your team loses? Are you a sore loser or a good sport?
18. If your own team is not playing in a game, how do you choose who to support? Do you support the underdog? Or do you like to back the expected winner?