2022 FIFA World Cup: BYU livestreams USA vs. Iran game in Wilkinson Center
BYU livestreamed the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup USA vs. Iran game Nov. 29 at the Wilkinson Student Center in room 3380.
The World Cup is an international soccer tournament held every four years that includes the senior men’s national teams that are part of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
BYU alumnus Ethan Lui served a mission in England and said the joy of the World Cup is seeing all the players from across the world come together for their nation to win.
Lui also said because USA’s football players are so young and new to the European football scene, it is an exciting time to see the development of these young players.
Pulisic puts it away!
— U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) November 29, 2022» @FOXSoccer
pic.twitter.com/HPId4hsu4a
Lui said the future is bright for the U.S. team. According to him, the World Cup is a good starting place to demonstrate the players’ talent and see how they can improve in four years — especially because USA, Canada and Mexico are hosting the 2026 World Cup.
“I think it’s important, at least for the USA, for the future of soccer here,” Lui said. “USA is geographically so big we can have more development of this sport and really hold our own in the future, and I feel like every step now counts towards that.”
Lui said even friends that he knows who do not really care about soccer have posted the U.S. Men’s National Team’s win and have spoken to him about the game. He said the World Cup is a time to discover friends who have similar interests and for the popularity of soccer to grow, but also for the country to come together and cheer for their nation.
BYU statistics major Adam Gao said because the World Cup is international and happens every four years, it’s more special and there comes a sense of pride. He said scoring in the World Cup means a lot more because the stakes are higher and particularly in the USA, they are not a country the world associates to challenge for titles unlike the European nations.
“I like team USA because I’m in the U.S. and like they don’t win that much in the World Cup,” Gao said. “It’s kind of surprising to actually see them advance in the next round because it rarely ever happens.”
Gao went to watch the USA vs Iran game at the WSC in room 3380 with his friend Vivine Chen. Chen said she did not realize there were so many students at BYU who watched the World Cup because the room was “packed.” She said it was a small auditorium and people were standing on the side and even sitting down on the ground.
BYU Global Supply Chain major Paul Sadar Babcock also went to watch the game at the WSC with his friends. Babcock said he didn’t watch too much soccer before, but he said the World Cup brings people from all across the world together and is a great opportunity to watch countries compete.
“I think, especially in the United States, a lot of US citizens are not the biggest football fans — they’re American football fans but not as much soccer — so definitely the World Cup gets a lot more people watching who usually don’t watch,” Babcock said.
He said he hopes the World Cup Final can be live streamed at the Wilkinson Garden Court surrounded by all the flags there.
Alex Lee, biology major from South Korea, is a long-time soccer fan and said the World Cup is a tournament where he can see all the greatest players he admires play in the same field. Lee said he grew up in South Korea playing soccer, and up until 6th grade, he would play with his classmates after lunch time.
On the topic about South Korean footballer Cho Guesung going viral for his looks, Lee said he is grateful for him playing for their country and being the leading scorer in the South Korea vs Ghana game.
Cho made history as the first Korean national team player who scored two goals in a single World Cup game, proving to the world he is not just a pretty face. Starting with a little over 30,000 followers, he has amassed over 1.6 million followers on Instagram and #choguesung has garnered over 180 million views on TikTok in the past few weeks.
Lee said he feels energized when he sees his country doing well, and he hopes Cho can get good offers from other teams after this tournament.
Students can livestream the World Cup matches on Fox Sports and keep up with the scores on FIFA.