Right so where were we?
Before Qatar, before Harry Kane sending penalties into orbit and before Emiliano Martinez made himself public enemy number one in France, we were progressing with a pretty exciting Premier League season.
A young, vibrant Arsenal have been setting the pace, Manchester City have been ominously stalking them and clubs at the bottom were taking it in turns to sack managers, and now we're ready to do it all again.
The Premier League resumes on Boxing Day and is ready to get you enthralled once more, so much so that you'll forget all about the World Cup.
Now let's get down, let's get down to business.
No need to remind Arsenal of the gap
If there was one team who emphatically didn't want the World Cup to happen it was Arsenal.
The Gunners moved five points clear at the top when they beat Wolves 2-0 in their final match before the break, just hours after Manchester City had slipped up at home to Brentford.
Barely a few hours would have gone by in the past six weeks without Gunners supporters checking the top of the table, but has the break ruined their team's momentum and made them realise just what they can achieve here?
A first league title in 19 years is a very real possibility.
Opportunity knocks
"Look on the bright side Dad, did you know that the Chinese use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity?" Lisa Simpson once said to her father.
"Yes!" replies Homer. "Crisitunity!"
The injury to Gabriel Jesus is indeed a chance for Eddie Nketiah to come to the fore for the Gunners, and the one thing he is likely to bring is goals.
For all of Jesus' hard work and quality he has only struck five times this season, but if Arsenal can get Nketiah in front of goal then his absence will likely be adequately covered.
Unai Emery's Villa spark
Unai Emery only got two Premier League games in as Aston Villa manager before the break, but he oversaw two impressive wins.
Having seen the reign of Steven Gerrard go stale, Villa fans will be desperate for the experienced Emery to get the best out of what is undoubtedly a talented squad, and wins over Manchester United and Brighton were a terrific start.
Liverpool await on Boxing Day, and a win would take Villa into the top half of the table.
Can Danny Ings only get better?
Danny Ings did everything in his power to keep up his form during the break, at one stage even repeating himself.
Emery arranged four friendlies for Villa as he got to know his new team, and in one of them Ings scored twice against Brighton, just as he did in Villa's last Premier League game.
The promising form of him and Leon Bailey is something that Emery will be hoping to hang his hat on, and when he's on his game there are few more reliable Premier League goalscorers around.
Bournemouth are in new, famous hands
Having been trailed for months, Bournemouth's takeover finally went through in mid-December.
American businessman Bill Foley, owner of NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, is at the head of the new partnership, which also includes actor and People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 2020, Michael B Jordan - Adonis Creed himself.
Whether he helps the Cherries pack a punch remains to be seen.
Gary O'Neil is now permanent Bournemouth boss
It was on November 27, the day Spain drew 1-1 with Germany, that Bournemouth announced that Gary O'Neil's position at the club had been upgraded from temporary to permanent.
The former midfielder has done a decent job since replacing Scott Parker, although he'd have been relieved to reverse a worrying run of four straight league defeats with a 3-0 win over Everton just before the break.
Now 14th in the table, the Cherries are just three points above the drop zone though, and face tricky trips to Chelsea and Manchester United either side of New Year.
Ivan Toney was going to outdo himself... but now might be banned
When Ivan Toney scored twice for Brentford at Manchester City before the break all the talk was how he'd missed out the England World Cup squad, with Gareth Southgate taking Callum Wilson instead.
Now the conversation has shifted somewhat.
In November Toney was charged by the FA with 232 alleged breaches of betting rules, with 30 more then added on December 20.
If proven he could face a lengthy ban, which would be a huge shame for a player enjoying the season of his life and, with 10 goals, seemingly set to beat last season's tally of 14... if he's on the pitch.
A familiar face for Thomas Frank
There will be a new face on the Brentford bench when the Bees resume their season, but the face will be a familiar one to Thomas Frank.
With his No.2 Brian Riemer leaving to become head coach of Anderlecht, Frank has brought in someone he knows well as Claus Norgaard arrives from the Danish FA having previously worked with the Brentford boss with Denmark's youth teams and at Brondby.
The loss of assistant bosses is often something that can derail a manager (hello Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale), but that familiarity should stand Frank and Sorensen in good stead ahead of an intriguing latter part of the campaign.
Brighton's star names coming to the fore
During Graham Potter's time in charge there was a real sense that Brighton were a side where the system was the star, as opposed to the individual players.
Ultimately it was Potter himself who proved to be the biggest name to be tempted away after he took a job he couldn't refuse at Chelsea, but under the attack-minded Roberto De Zerbi it could well be that some of players find themselves in the headlines as opposed to the boss.
The likes of Leandro Trossard, Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and of course the World Cup-winning Alexis Mac Allister all have their admirers, and it might well be that transfer talk around them intensifies soon.
Europe in Seagulls' sights?
That 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa before the break was an especially damaging one for Brighton, who were leapfrogged by Liverpool as a result as they also lost ground on the European places.
Reaching such a position by the end of the season would be incredible of course, especially with Potter leaving, but with the progressive, no fear football that De Zerbi plays likely to come to the fore, it could well be that the Seagulls adopt an approach of aiming for the moon and maybe landing among the stars.
They're never going to die wondering.
Chelsea in crisis? They could be
Remove their last two Champions League group games and Chelsea are winless in their last six domestically, including defeats in each the last three in the league.
In the Roman Abramovich era that would probably place a sword hanging above the head of Graham Potter, but is Todd Boehly that much different when it comes to his ownership of the club?
Potter is his man of course, and Chelsea seem to be moving heaven and earth to attract Brighton's staff to Stamford Bridge to aid their manager, but there could be difficult questions if there are slip ups in either one of the Blues' first two games back against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
A changing of the guards in midfield
He has chopped and changed his sides on a regular basis, but the one thing that Potter will be desperate for is some stability in midfield.
Both Jorginho and N'Golo Kante are out of contract at Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, and it would be a surprise if either one stayed at this stage as their influence declines.
Potter will be desperate to find some consistency in there, and his first few selections after the break are set to be fascinating.
Ta ta to Zaha?
Bar that regrettable stint at Manchester United, the sight of Wilfried Zaha getting Selhurst Park to its feet has been an exciting constant for so long now, with this his 13th season at the club and ninth with them in the Premier League.
It looks like being the last though.
No progress has been made on a new contract for a player who turned 30 last month, and unless someone makes a move for him now Zaha seems set for a last dance at the Palace in the remainder of this season, before a lucrative free transfer in the summer.
It will be a shame to see the union between player, club and fans end.
Patrick Vieira at the double
The main issue for Zaha over the years has of course been Palace's inability - and their lack of money, frankly - to compete at the top end of the Premier League table.
They return from the break in 11th, but at just two points behind Chelsea and three off Liverpool there is certainly a chance to bloody some noses and push towards the top six.
Patrick Vieira confirmed that he has been putting his players through double sessions after a recent friendly against Valladolid, and after just two Palace players were involved at the World Cup - Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew, both of whom were out at the group stages - there could be a real chance for a fresher and fitter Palace to trouble several sides.
Everton are in crisis... again
If Arsenal were the team that didn't want the season to halt, then Everton were the opposite.
Supporters were thoroughly fed up and some turned on the team in the wake of the 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth just before the break, the second loss to the same opposition on the same ground in a week, and by a 7-1 aggregate scoreline.
Everton have lost five and drawn one of the last seven in the league, and spent the break just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
Frank Lampard needs to tap into that spirit of the Blues that got him out of trouble last season.
Cash Gordon
There is hope for Everton though, and it comes in the form of Anthony Gordon.
Having rebuffed Chelsea's moves for him in the summer, the Merseysiders are hoping that they can count on the local lad for the foreseeable future.
A lucrative new contract is said to be being prepared, with Lampard seemingly more than confident he'll sign it, and after notching a hat-trick in a curiously timed friendly in Australia in November, it is the goal output that many will be looking to in the latter half of the season.
To date Gordon has scored just seven times in his career, and he may need to double that by the end of the season if Everton are to stay out of trouble.
How many goals will Aleksandar Mitrovic score?
Only three players have scored more Premier League goals than Aleksandar Mitrovic this season, which is quite the achievement given the amount of people who doubted whether he could score any back in August.
The Serbian has been a constant threat as the focal point of a Fulham side who have spent the break in a very attractive ninth position, largely thanks to the nine goals scored by their number nine.
Keep going at that rate and it'll be Cloud Nine for the fans who love the forward so much.
Portugal's men of war
It was back home for Marco Silva during the season's hiatus, with the Fulham boss taking the squad to Portugal for some warm weather training and bonding.
During that time Silva and his staff would have had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the excellent season they've had thus far, and the chance to really build on the platform they've created for themselves after the restart.
Europe might be a little too much of a stretch, but the top half certainly isn't.
Tough for Jesse Marsch to make his mark
Just as the vultures were circling over Jesse Marsch following a run of six defeats and two draws in eight games, Leeds went and beat Liverpool at Anfield in late October.
It was the comeback from 3-1 down to beat Bournemouth 4-3 the following week that was probably more important though, given that it came against a side now just a point above them, and although the American is never likely to be universally popular with Leeds fans because he isn't Marcelo Bielsa, it was clear that those victories meant an awful lot to him, even if they were followed by a 4-3 loss at Tottenham before the break.
Fixtures at home to Manchester City and away at Newcastle aren't the kindest end to 2022 either, and with those last two league games and a recent 4-2 friendly defeat to Monaco showing that conceding goals is a problem, Marsch needs to tighten up his side if progress both up the table and in his job is to be achieved.
Summer loving
Having never scored for Leeds before, Crysencio Summerville netted in each of their final four games before the break, including the winners against Liverpool and Bournemouth.
The 21-year-old has yet to be capped by the Dutch at senior level, but you get the sense that that will change soon on this form, and his lively, direct style would probably have served Louis van Gaal well out in Qatar.
No longer the Brend of the road
Leicester City are 13th in the Premier League table, but they're certainly not playing like it.
The Foxes have won four of their last five in the league, with their only defeat coming in a 1-0 loss to Manchester City, and having seemingly been on the brink of the sack as enter his 'Brend of Days' period of muddled formations and unmotivated players, Brendan Rodgers has turned things around.
The top half should be reached soon enough, and with no Champions League door to knock on or European distractions, maybe one of the domestic cups is possible.
Harvey Barnes the unsung hero
There was a brief obsession with James Maddison before he went on to play zero minutes at the World Cup, Youri Tielemans seems set for an imminent move and Jamie Vardy still dominates conversations about Leicester, but maybe we're talking about the wrong Foxes player.
Harvey Barnes is having a terrific season for the Foxes, so much so that he can feel aggrieved at only having one England cap won two years ago to his name.
As they bid to climb the table, he'll be key.
The winds of change blow through Liverpool
It was during the first week of the World Cup that it was announced that Julian Ward will be stepping down as Liverpool's sporting director at the end of what will be his only season in the role.
The news has come as the latest change among many at Anfield, where Fenway Sports Group are looking to offload some or all of the club and Jurgen Klopp seeks to build his next great team.
This is starting to feel like something of a halfway house season for the Reds, but the need to ensure that it ends with Champions League qualification given everything that will entail is a very real one, and it won't be easy.
Midfield muddles
Midfield is the area that Liverpool clearly need to strengthen in, but regardless of who comes in there are still concerns over the players currently there.
Fabinho, a titan at the centre of things in recent seasons, has been well below his best for much of the season, and while there are fitness or age concerns about many of Liverpool's midfielders you can't really say either about him.
It is purely a form issue, and if he can return to his best then his side probably will too.
Manchester City are playing catch-up
Given the nature of the break we've had it is easy to think that we're actually halfway through the season, when in reality it is closer to a third.
With that mind, Manchester City won't be losing sleep over being five points behind Arsenal with 24 games left, two of which are against the Gunners, but they certainly won't want that gap to widen.
A five-game run in January and February which includes Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham twice could end up having a big say.
Erling Haaland set to make records tumble
You'd also be forgiven for thinking that we'd played more games this season because Erling Haaland has scored so many goals.
It is 18 in 13 league games (he missed one) for the Norwegian, who will have Mo Salah's 38-game season record of 32 in his sights, and then Alan Shearer and Andy Cole's overall record of 34.
It could be a question of when, not if.
Erik ten Hag emerges bolder and braver
Erik ten Hag had a good World Cup.
Having unsuccessfully tried to make Cristiano Ronaldo accept the passage of time and a new life as a squad player, the Dutchman has won his battle of wills and created space in the squad (and plenty of space in the wage budget) for a younger, more suitable replacement.
Having been in danger of being a little overawed at first, he is growing into his job.
A new star is born
One of the (many) unsavoury things about the Ronaldo episode is that news of his Piers Morgan interview first came out on the evening of the greatest day of Alejandro Garnacho's young life.
The Argentinean had just scored the winner at Fulham, but instead of glorying in their young star's promise United fans were distracted by a fading one.
Garnacho deserves the spotlight though, and we could be about to see a lot more of him.
Howe brave do Newcastle want to be?
In late August Newcastle went to Anfield and did all they could to disrupt the game and waste time, with Nick Pope doing so from the second minute right the way through to stoppage time.
In a pre-cursor to what we'd see at the World Cup, even more time was added on and Fabio Carvalho scored a 98th minute winner for Liverpool, leaving Eddie Howe raging.
Howe must now wish that he'd been braver that evening, Newcastle's only league defeat of the season, as it is that bravery which has served his side well all season.
A Champions League place is a very real possibility for the upwardly mobile Magpies, but only if they believe in themselves and unleash their many attacking talents.
Arsenal away on January 3 looks interesting.
Miguel Almiron has turned into the best player in the world
Miguel Almiron struck six times in October, and added one in November for good measure.
The Paraguayan's form has been key to Newcastle winning their last five Premier League games, and so as he returns to the division he is sure to be plagued by one key question: is this just a hot streak or something more?
If he can keep it up then the top four is on.
Nottingham Forest are still signing players
Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Scarpa has become the 23rd new face through the door at Nottingham Forest, joining on a free transfer from Palmeiras.
At least the break will have given the rest of the squad time to get to know each other's names, and Steve Cooper will hope that they can gel ahead of a hectic period of the season and with an escape from the bottom three just a point away.
Home will be where the heart is
Forest are unbeaten in their last four league games at the City Ground, a run which includes wins over Liverpool and Crystal Palace, and if they are to stay up you feel as though that home form is going to be key.
Leeds, Everton, Wolves and Southampton all head to NG2 before the end of the season, and those games could well decide Forest's fate.
Southampton have a new manager...
Nathan Jones came in at Southampton just in time to get in one Premier League match before the break - a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool.
Games such as that one probably aren't going to decide whether the Saints stay in the division, but a return to action against Brighton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Everton , Aston Villa, Brentford and Wolves probably will.
It is a kind run until mid-February, and Jones needs to capitalise.
... and a well rested squad
Jones will certainly have had the time to get to know his players over the past six weeks, with all but defensive duo Mohamed Salisu and Armel Bella-Kotchap available and not at the World Cup, where only Salisu got on the pitch.
The new boss will hope to instil his methods into his players quickly during that aforementioned kind run, with a 2-1 win over Lincoln in the Carabao Cup hopefully a decent warm-up.
Antonio Conte the fitness fanatic
The first part of the season featured the sad news of the death of Tottenham fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, an important figure to Antonio Conte who had worked with him throughout his career.
Indeed, Conte's obsession with getting his players as fit as possible is said to have largely come from Ventrone, and so the possibility to effectively have two pre-seasons in one campaign is sure to be one that pleases the Italian.
If Spurs aren't in top condition for Boxing Day lunchtime at Brentford then questions will be asked by the manager.
Losing the battles, but winning the war?
Spurs lost three of their last five league games before the break, but it was the fact that they were against Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool, all rivals for the top four, which was more damaging than the defeats themselves.
Despite the losses they did cling on to fourth place though, and that sight is sure to brighten mindsets and put springs in steps for the resumption of hostilities.
The come from behind wins over Bournemouth and Leeds, also in that five game run, show that the resolve is there for a fight to the finish.
West Ham are lower than you think they are
By recent standards this has been a poor season for West Ham, who look a long way from the side that so enjoyed their European adventure in 2021-22.
David Moyes has tried to shake things up a little since then, but it doesn't seem to be working, after suffering four defeats in their last five games the break probably came at the right time for them.
Arsenal away on Boxing Day isn't a kind restart though.
All eyes on Declan Rice
After his rather public plea for Champions League football during the World Cup, it will be interesting to see how Declan Rice gets on in the remainder of the season.
There can be no doubt about his commitment to the West Ham cause, but there might also be one eye on an exit that he has seemed destined to make for a long time.
He does not belong down in 16th place, after all.
Third time lucky for Wolves and Julen Lopetegui
Having first tried to lure him to Molineux back in 2016, and then again following the departure of Bruno Lage earlier this season, Wolves finally succeeded in getting Julen Lopetegui to sign on the dotted line.
The former Spain, Porto, Real Madrid and Sevilla boss brings with him a wealth of experience, and his first task might well be to make Wolves a bit more fun.
Lage turned them into a largely insipid, uninspired team a long way from the outfit that regularly worried the big boys under Nuno Espirito Santo, and those qualities need to return if they're to get off the bottom of the table.
Can Matheus Cunha fire in front of goal?
Try as they might, and to the hurtful soundtrack of Regina George in Mean Girls, Wolves just could not make Diego Costa happen.
He's likely to be shunted to the sidelines now though, with another Brazil-born forward with Atletico Madrid experience arriving in his stead.
Matheus Cunha is only 23 though, which is a bonus, and with Lopetegui looking to unlock the enormous potential that led to half the Premier League seemingly being linked with him, his arrival is as exciting as it was necessary.
