Хойд Америкт зохион байгуулагдаж буй хөлбөмбөгийн дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээний шөвгийн наймд шалгарсан багууд газарзүйн хувьд тэс өөр нөхцөл байдалтай тулгарч байна. Англи улс 10,900 миль замыг туулж хамгийн их аяласан баг болсон бол Франц ердөө 2,000 хүрэхгүй миль туулж, хамгийн таатай хуваарьтай үлджээ.
Англичууд Канзас-Ситид байрлаж, Даллас, Бостон, Нью-Йорк, Атланта, Мехико болон Майами хотуудын хооронд тасралтгүй зорчсон нь тамирчдын ядаргаанд нөлөөлөхүйц хүнд даваа боллоо. Хэдийгээр аялал ихтэй байгаа ч Томас Тухелийн удирдсан Англи ДР Конгог 2:1, Мексикийг 3:2-оор хожиж, шөвгийн наймд Норвегитой учраа таараад байна. Харин Франц улс Бостоныг түшиглэн Нью-Йорк, Филадельфи, Фоксборо хотуудын хүрээнд тоглолтуудаа хийж, Швед, Парагвай, Марокког хожиж хагас шигшээд үлдэх хамгийн өндөр магадлалтай баг хэвээр үлджээ.
Испаничууд хэсгийн шатны дараа Атланта, Гвадалахарагаас Лос-Анжелес, Даллас руу шилжин тоглож, Австри болон Португалийг хожсон бол Норвегичууд хэсгийн шатанд Бостон, Нью-Йорк, Даллас хотуудад тоглосны эцэст Бразилыг 2:1-ээр буулган авч шуугиан тарив. Швейцарийн хувьд Ванкувер хотыг түшиглэн тоглож байсан бол Аргентин улс Канзас-Ситиг гол баазаа болгон Кабо-Верде, Египетийг хүндхэн тоглолтоор хожлоо.
Бельгичууд Рентон хотод байрлаж, Сиэттл болон Ванкуверын чиглэлд тоглолтуудаа хийсэн нь аялал багатай таатай хуваарь болсон ч шөвгийн наймд Испанитай хүч үзэхээр болсон юм. Тэмцээний үлдсэн хугацаанд багууд олон мянган милийн аялал болон цагийн зөрүүтэй тэмцэлдэж, дэлхийн аварга цолыг хүртэхийн төлөөх хүндхэн сорилттой тулгарч байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A Kansas City base camp, six match cities and a distance roughly equivalent to a return flight from London to Los Angeles — England’s punishing route to the World Cup quarter-finals has already taken them almost 11,000 miles. France, meanwhile, with a place in the last four secured, have had their feet up, having travelled fewer than 2,000 miles.
At the biggest World Cup ever staged, the eight quarter-finalists have taken wildly different paths across North America, from France’s east-coast corridor to Switzerland’s “venue hopping” and Spain’s post-group-stage move from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Los Angeles, then Dallas and back again.
For some teams, the tournament has been a commute — for others, it has been a continent-sized obstacle course.
The Athletic calculated the estimated straight-line distance travelled by the quarter-finalists from the start of the tournament to their last-eight venue. Seven of the eight were confirmed by the nations, Argentina did not respond to The Athletic.
England
England are the outlier. Their 10,900-mile route is the longest confirmed distance of any quarter-finalist and almost six times that of France.
It has taken them from their Kansas City base to Dallas, Boston, New York/New Jersey, Atlanta, Mexico City and Miami, with returns to Kansas City between each match.
England beat D.R. Congo 2-1 in Atlanta and Mexico 3-2 in Mexico City to reach the last eight, where they face Norway in Miami. The air miles will be handsomely cashed in should Thomas Tuchel’s team go all the way.
June 17, Dallas — England 4 Croatia 2
June 23, Boston — England 0 Ghana 0
June 27, New York/New Jersey — England 2 Panama 0
July 1, Atlanta — England 2 DR Congo 1
July 5, Mexico City — England 3 Mexico 2
July 11, Miami — England v Norway
Morocco
Morocco’s base brought routine but mileage as they kept returning to New Jersey between matches, even as their fixture list sent them to Boston, Atlanta, Monterrey, Houston and then back to Foxborough for the quarter-final.
Morocco reached the last eight by beating the Netherlands on penalties and Canada 3-0, but their run ended against France, the team with the shortest reported journey, in a 2-0 quarter-final defeat.
June 13, New York/New Jersey — Morocco 1 Brazil 1
June 19, Boston — Morocco 1 Scotland 0
June 24, Atlanta — Morocco 4 Haiti 2
June 29, Monterrey — Morocco 1 Netherlands 1 (3-2 on penalties)
July 4, Houston — Morocco 3 Canada 0
July 9, Boston — Morocco 0 France 2
Spain
Spain’s tournament changed after the group stage. They began at their Chattanooga base, played twice in Atlanta and once in Guadalajara, then left Tennessee for good. Since then, their movements have taken them from Long Beach to Los Angeles, Dallas and back to Los Angeles, where they face Belgium.
But the travel has not hugely impacted their energy levels and Spain beat Austria 3-0 in the round of 32 and Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16. The Athletic’s forecast gives them a 21 per cent chance of winning the World Cup — second only to France.
June 15, Atlanta — Spain 0 Cape Verde 0
June 21, Atlanta — Spain 4 Saudi Arabia 0
June 26, Guadalajara — Spain 1 Uruguay 0
July 2, Los Angeles — Spain 3 Austria 0
July 6, Dallas — Spain 1 Portugal 0
July 10, Atlanta — Spain v Belgium
Norway
Norway’s route splits into two parts. During the group stage, they returned to their Greensboro, North Carolina base after matches in Boston and New York/New Jersey.
After their round-of-32 match in Dallas, that stopped and they moved on to New York/New Jersey, then Miami.
Norway — in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament — beat Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16, having seen off Ivory Coast by the same scoreline in the first knockout round. Can they beat England too? The Athletic’s forecast gives them just a three per cent chance of winning the World Cup.
June 16, Boston — Iraq 1 Norway 4
June 22, New York/New Jersey — Norway 3 Senegal 2
June 26, Boston — Norway 1 France 4
June 30, Dallas — Norway 2 Ivory Coast 1
July 5, New York/New Jersey — Norway 2 Brazil 1
July 11, Dallas — Norway v England
Switzerland
The Swiss FA called it “venue hopping”. Switzerland used their San Diego base during the group stage, travelling to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Before the knockouts, they stopped returning to California and stayed in Vancouver for their round-of-32 and round-of-16 matches.
They have travelled around 6,087 miles to reach Kansas City, where they face Argentina. Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0, then Colombia on penalties, but remain the longest shot among the teams still alive, with a one per cent chance of winning the tournament.
June 13, San Francisco — Switzerland 1 Qatar 1
June 18, Los Angeles — Switzerland 4 Bosnia & Herzegovina 1
June 24, Vancouver — Switzerland 2 Canada 1
July 2, Vancouver — Switzerland 2 Algeria 0
July 7, Vancouver — Switzerland 0 Colombia 0 (4-3 on penalties)
July 11, Kansas City — Switzerland v Argentina
Argentina
Their route has been built around a Kansas City base, where they have also played twice, Dallas twice, Miami and Atlanta. The quarter-final is back in Kansas City against Switzerland.
Argentina have come through two tight knockout games, beating Cape Verde 3-2 and a controversial 3-2 win over Egypt, and are given an 18 per cent chance of retaining their crown.
June 16, Kansas City — Argentina 3 Kansas City 0
June 22, Dallas — Argentina 2 Austria 0
June 27, Dallas — Argentina 3 Jordan 1
July 3, Miami — Argentina 3 Cape Verde 2 (AET)
July 7, Atlanta — Argentina 3 Egypt 2
July 11, Kansas City — Argentina v Switzerland
Belgium
Belgium have had one of the more compact routes as their base in Renton, Washington, has kept them close to three Seattle matches and one in Vancouver.
Their two longer trips have been to Los Angeles, including the quarter-final draw against Spain. The Belgian FA confirmed they trained at LA Galaxy before their first match in Los Angeles.
The lighter travel has not made them one of the strongest favourites. Belgium beat Senegal 3-2 and the United States 4-1 in the knockouts, but The Athletic gives them a four per cent chance of winning the World Cup.
June 15, Seattle — Belgium 1 Egypt 1
June 21, Los Angeles — Belgium 0 Iran 0
June 26, Vancouver — Belgium 5 New Zealand 1
July 1, Seattle — Belgium 3 Senegal 2 (AET)
July 6, Seattle — Belgium 4 USA 1
July 10, Los Angeles — Belgium v Spain
France
With the shortest route to the quarter-final, France’s hotel base has been in Boston, with training at Bentley University in Waltham.
Their fixtures have stayed almost entirely within the same corridor with New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia and Foxborough in the group stage, then New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia and Foxborough again in the knockouts.
They beat Sweden 3-0, Paraguay 1-0 and Morocco 2-0, and are The Athletic’s favourites to win the World Cup. They will now receive a shock, though… they have to leave the East Coast for their semi-final in Dallas.
June 16, New York/New Jersey — France 3 Senegal 1
June 22, Philadelphia — France 3 Iraq 0
June 26, Boston — France 4 Norway 1
June 30, New York/New Jersey — France 3 Sweden 0
July 4, Philadelphia — France 1 Paraguay 0
July 9, Boston — France 2 Morocco 0
