3 min read

The FIFA World Cup 2022 Taught Us about Human Nature

The 2022 FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar, had, decidedly, been postponed until the winter months due to the scorching temperatures in the summers of Qatar. Aside from all the controversies concerning the bidding process to determine the location of this year's tournament, additional controversies have seemed to endlessly follow. After all, what is the World Cup, if not for a little controversy to chat about?

High-profile players, due to the prolonged wait until this year's winter World Cup, have been befallen by injuries and unable to make it to the tournament—utter disappointment.

Despite this, some of the biggest names in world football are still in attendance—Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Killian Mbappe to name a few. Even these stars are not immune to the controversy. To start off the tournament, Neymar had fallen out with an injury in Brazil's first World Cup match with hopes of returning should they make it out of their group.

Argentina, the projected winners of the 2022 FIFA World Cup fell 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening match following an atrocious offside call that would have given Messi and the Argentinians a 2-0 lead. Argentina has continued to show resilience nevertheless. These were the first among many upsets to be had at this year's competition. The Germans falling to Japan, and Belgium falling to Morocco were, likewise, two intriguing results.

So what does all this World Cup drama teach us about human nature? Well, it reminds us that humans are utterly unpredictable. As a professional in the world of psychology, the assumption is that one goal of the field is to predict human behavior.

While psychological research gives us a road map to attempt to do this and has given us much knowledge, wisdom, and insight about human motivations, there are simply too many variables to be able to predict the outcome of events. Aside from the innumerable amount of variables, there are also an innumerable amount of outliers which can even have the largest impact on our decision-making abilities.

While we cannot predict the outcome of events, we can surely enjoy the show. Just as in the World Cup, though disappointments and controversies are inevitable, we can still find joy amid the chaos within the world. In recompense for all the negative headlines surrounding the World Cup, we have a few choices.

We can choose to ignore it, dwell on it, or simply accept it. Similarly, in life, we can choose to ignore all the bad, dwell on it, or accept it as a reality, then choose the best way to move forward. This is the beauty of the human experience—unpredictability, passion, grief, disappointment, hope, joy, and ultimately, the power to choose how to respond to it all.

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About Sam Nabil

Sam Nabil is the founder of Naya Clinics and is a Cincinnati therapist and a Cincinnati Marriage Counselor.

Sam offers therapy in Cincinnati and Cincinnati Marriage Counseling for adults suffering from relationship challenges, life transitions and anxiety.

Sam was featured in many prestigious publications. Check out his interview with Aljazeera English And Cornell university , Yahoo News, USA Today, Marriage.com,