With forty two days remaining to the eagerly awaited 2022 FIFA World Cup, excitement is building up ahead of the biggest football showpiece on the planet.
TeamKenya.co.ke takes a look at the top three biggest rivalries ahead of the tournament to be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18.
Iran versus USA
The United States and Iran have not been seeing eye to eye since the famous 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Also Read: Samuel Eto'o Issues Statement on Cameroon's Witchcraft Claims
Aside from regular diplomatic and sometimes military hostilities, the two nations are also arch-rivals when it comes to football.
They last played each other in the World Cup tournament in the 1998 edition staged in France.
USA beat Iran 2-1 in that match despite the two teams exchanging flowers and posing for a photo together before kick off despite Washington and Tehran being at loggerheads.
In Qatar, USA and Iran who have been pooled in group B alongside Wales and a star studded England side will be meeting for the second time in the history of the competition.
Ghana and Uruguay
The Ghana versus Uruguay rivalry was born at the first edition of the prestigious tournament to be staged in Africa in 2010.
The South American nation denied Ghana a chance of becoming the first African nation to qualify for the semi-final and without doubt, the feeling still hurts for many Black Stars fans.
At the edition staged in South Africa, Ghana were on the verge of progressing to the semis when former Liverpool and Barcelona goal machine Luis Suarez intentionally prevented the ball from hitting the back of the net with his hands.
Although Ghana were awarded a penalty, Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan hit the crossbar, and Uruguay went on to win the match on post-match penalties.
These two sides will renew their rivalry in Qatar since they have been pooled in Group H alongside Portugal and Korea Republic.
Germany versus Netherlands.
Their rivalry dates back to the Second World War when the Nazi regime invaded the Netherlands, resulting to slow economic development.
Also at the 1974 World Cup final, Germany defeated Netherlands 2-1 to deny them a chance of winning the prestigious tournament for the first time in the history.
Today, the painful defeat is still referred to as the “Mother of all defeats” by the Dutch citizens.
Since then, the Dutch have come close to bagging the world cup title but their efforts have not borne any fruits yet.
Although Netherlands beat Germany in the 1988 European Championships semifinal and went on to win the tournament, the 1974 defeat still lingers in their minds.
The two teams have not been pooled in the same group in Qatar, but they are likely to meet in the later stages.
Also Read: African Teams Set to Make History at the 2022 FIFA World Cup