The World Cup final in Qatar sparked common enthusiasm in Poland. Indeed it’s hard to deny that the France-Argentina match to win first place abounded with what fans like most. It was exciting and both teams showed real football mastery.

Nonetheless on can get the impression that the complaining from before the tournament sank into oblivion. While it has been so recent.

It would be enough to remind the disapproval due to fact the football world cup had been to be held in November & December (whoever heard to organize a tournament which previously had been took place on the turn of spring and summer?). The host got an earful from the media for corrupting FIFA and breaching what, in the West liberal jargon is called human rights.

Meanwhile since the opening of the games all these matters, day by day, were slowly put aside. At the same time admiration for the sportsmanship of the World Cup has multiplied, and this is regardless of the refereeing mishaps during some matches. And although at a certain point there was a buzz about a scandal in the European Parliament, regarding lobbying Qatar’s having the right to hold the tournament, the affair did not overshadow the game.

Now voices arise that the event by the Persian Gulf was the best World Cup in history And Lionel Messi, hailed to the best player of the contest (awarded the Golden Ball), the captain of the Argentina national team, is surrounded with a real cult.

I don’t share enthusiasm for the Qatar event. Admittedly the World Cup wasn’t short of excellent matches and Messi is an outstanding footballer. But it’s not enough to go from one extreme to the other.

When it comes to the quality of the game, the Argentina national team certainly deserved the championship title. The thing is, bad apples have been added to this barrel too.

Let’s take, for instance, Messi’s behaviour, not only his talent. Let us remember for example the Argentina-Poland match from the group stage. Awarding the Argentinians a penalty kick after what was acknowledged by the referee as a foul against Messi in the Polish penalty box was a decision at least very controversial.

Before the decision was made, the Argentina captain started exercising pressure on the referee in such a manner that was an insult to fair play rules. Messi didn’t even argue with the referee but, with an arrogance typical of conceited prima donnas, immediately placed the ball at the “11th meter” even though penalty wasn’t yet awarded.

Another issue is the distinction of the tournament’s best goalkeeper (Golden Glove). The Argentinian Emilian Martínez was honored in this competition. It’s true that the player played brilliantly. However, he did not save as many shots as the goalkeeper of the Croatian national team, Dominik Livaković managed to parry. In general, the statistics speak in favor of the Croatian footballer. And they are easy to prepare, if only because both players played the same number of matches – seven each – at the World Cup.

Let us also take into consideration that Martínez made an offensive gesture after receiving the Golden Glove statuette. With this foolishness, willy-nilly, he only confirmed that him being awarded was a misunderstanding.

Why am I writing about all this? Because I’m wondering if also in football we don’t have to do with something we know very well from politics, that is to say with historical determinism. The Argentinian team was to win the world championship and it did.

If anyone concludes from this that I am talking about some sort of match-fixing, I must immediately deny it. It’s about something else.

Here is a computer game producer EA has been simulating the course of the tournament for several World Cups. When it comes to betting on the world champion – there has been no mistake so far. Thus, before the Qatar event, the Argentine team was indicated as its winner.

But there is more to that. In the EA simulation, it turned out that the best player of the World Cup will be Messi, and the competition for the title of the best goalkeeper of the World Cup will be played by Martínez and Livaković, Portuguese Rui Patrício and Brazilian Allison.

On the other hand, Polish fans may be fascinated by the forecasts regarding the performances of the white and red team in Qatar. According to EA’s simulation, the Polish national team were to play four matches (and thus end their participation in the tournament in the half-quarter final), and Robert Lewandowski was to score two goals throughout the event. And that’s exactly what happened.

But what fun is it when sports decisions can be predicted in advance, even on the basis of a lot of data? I don't understand how you can get excited about the successes of a team that is the absolute favorite of the tournament.

I think there is a group of people In Poland who bow to the high and might of this world. Which refers both to politics and football. Currently I’m following the Twitter activity of a certain journalist (though it would be more accurate to call him a political agitator) who thoughtlessly praises the liberal establishment in European countries and the US, being at that a fan of Real Madrid (the most awarded European football club) and of Messi. And I somehow wasn’t surprised when, in his tweets, I read about a great joy that the Argentina team caused him by winning the world championship.

Meanwhile the situation where the political scene turns out to be petrified behind the façade of democratic procedure is pathological. And it is so when non-establishment forces enjoying social support (of course we’re not talking about those which push for power by totalitarian methods) are surrounded with a cordon sanitaire of mainstream parties and thus there is no alternative to liberal elite. SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE In football, a certain analogy with this state of things may be the fact of winning most prestigious tournaments by the same few or over a dozen teams. Therefore I like football surprises. Naturally, on condition that the teams making them impress me with the quality of football and not because they are pushed through by the referees.

I’m thinking back to the past and there come to my mind world cups where the round of four was sensationally joined by the national teams of: Bulgaria (1994), Croatia (1998, 2018), Turkey (2002). In Qatar that happened to Morocco. I don’t mention Croatia here, in the context of this years’ event, as they are already a football power and they defend the vice-championship. And although this time they took “only” third place, so summa summarum they didn’t do as well as four years ago, they didn’t lack humbleness to enjoy even that.

To bottom line this, the historical determinism is a curse in many dimensions or aspects of reality. It guards all kind of impossibilism. That’s why in many fields of life – not only in football – it’s the black horses that fill me with hope (though I don’t support every one of them). Their success means that everything is possible.

– Filip Memches
– Translated by Dominik Szczęsny-Kostanecki

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists