The Qatar FIFA World Cup - A World Cup for the ages?

 

The FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, sporting events. It never fails to attract a large number of fans from all around the world. This was the 22nd edition of the World Cup ever since it started back in 1930.

Now, as we all know (unless you have been living under a rock), the 2022 Fifa World Cup was held in Qatar. Qatar! A country that had never even played in a World Cup before! This decision by FIFA raised many eyebrows. Was the bidding process fair?? Qatar beating bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea and the USA, countries that still had some footballing pedigree, sounded insane. Football fans throughout the world were shocked at this decision by FIFA.

So.. why wasn't Qatar considered to be the right choice for such a sporting extravaganza??

• For starters, Qatar actually doesn't have any real football history, hence new stadiums needed to be built, especially for the World Cup. Being a relatively small nation, accommodating hordes of football fans that who come to witness the World cup seemed to be an issue.

Some stadiums

• The human rights situation in Qatar has always been debatable. Hosting a World cup, that would require construction under such hot and humid conditions was considered a major roadblock.

• The football World cup is inherently a summer event. But moving it to Qatar necessitated that it be held in the winters, thus disrupting the football league schedule in all major football leagues of Europe. A winter World Cup!!! Sounds iffy!

• For most fans, this meant watching a game of soccer without alcohol, which is considered essential for the wholesome footballing experience everywhere in Europe. The alcohol ban in the conservative middle eastern nation would a big deterrent for many.

What the Qatar world cup eventually gave us.....

The Fan villages might have left something more to desire, but the Qatar world cup turned out to be a huge success, being touted by some as the BEST FIFA WORLD CUP EVER!

• The small size of the nation actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as fans could watch numerous matches in a day, thanks to all stadiums being within a 55km radius.

• The construction of new stadiums and hotels provided jobs for over a million people.

• Some stadiums such as the stadium 974 could be dismantled and shipped to lesser developed nations requiring footballing infrastructure.

• Bringing the World Cup to the Arab world led to the growth in the popularity of football in the area.

• The World Cup opened up people from all around the world to witness the vibrant culture of Qatar.

A World Cup of first (and lasts)

• This world cup was the first to take place in the Arab world.

• This was the first World cup to have 26 man squads instead of 23 and allow 5 substitutions in a game per team.

• Thanks to new technology, such as the semi-automated offside technology and a match ball that contains microchips and sensors, referees were able to make faster and more accurate decisions. Semi-Automated Offside technology & the smart ball

• It was the first FIFA Men's World Cup to have female referees with Yamashita Yoshimi, Salima Mukansanga and Stephanie Frappart.

• Morocco became the first African nation ever to reach the semi-final stage of the World cup.

The record-breaking Moroccan team

• Nico Williams and Inaki Williams became the first siblings to play for different countries in a World Cup, playing for Spain and Ghana respectively.

Record breaking performances

• This became the highest scoring world cup ever with 142 goals scored.

• In the Quarter final match between Argentina and Netherlands, a record breaking 18 yellow cards were handed out.

• After Kylian Mbappe's historic hat-trick during the final, he became the player with the most goals in finals with 4, having already scored a goal in the 2018 World Cup Final when France lifted the trophy.

• Lionel Messi became the player with the most World cup appearances, surpassing the previous record during the final.

Messi lifting the trophy

• Messi also became the first player to score in all stages of the world cup.

• Cristiano Ronaldo became the player to score in the most World Cups, having scored in 5.

• Outside of football, Messi's picture lifting the trophy became the most liked photo on Instagram.

From the first kick on 20th November, as Ecuador faced Qatar, to the night of 18th December, as Argentina lifted the trophy, it turned out to be a great world cup! Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and many other football greats' last one. It was indeed, a World Cup for the ages!

I know that all diehard football fans out there are probably already looking for tickets for the next World Cup in North America in 2026. (If you are one of them, slow down! Bookings begin in '25!)

Bibliography:

https://www.democracylab.uwo.ca/Archives/2017_2018_research/construction_in_qatar/fifa_2022_the_benefits_for_qatar_and_potential_risks.html

https://olympics.com/en/news/fifa-world-cup-2022-records-and-stats

https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/soccer/news/fifa-world-cup-schedule-2022-match-dates-times-team-fixtures/rikum04od4igad8n0o8yanoo

https://www.dohaguides.com/stadium-food-menu-and-prices/

https://www.foottheball.com/explainer/what-is-semi-automated-offside-technology-fifa-world-cup-champions-league/

https://www.archdaily.com/974453/explore-the-full-list-of-football-stadiums-ahead-of-2022-fifa-world-cup-in-qatar

https://people.com/sports/lionel-messis-instagram-picture-showing-him-holding-world-cup-trophy-is-most-liked-post-ever/

https://www.timeoutjeddah.com/sport-wellbeing/records-broken-qatar-2022-world-cup

https://egyptianstreets.com/2022/12/19/moroccos-best-moments-in-the-2022-world-cup/