The best moments from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, both on and off the field, will live on forever.
Qatar effectively fulfilled its commitment to host the best-ever edition of the world tournament, delivering everything from thrilling matches to organizational brilliance.
A fitting conclusion to the historic competition, which was held for the first time in the Middle East and the Arab world, was delivered by Lionel Messi, who had the support of fans all over the world, lifting the World Cup trophy in his fifth and last attempt.
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Argentina and France arguably played the most thrilling World Cup final at Lusail Stadium giving chills to almost 90,000 spectators at the iconic venue and billions around the world with La Albiceleste winning 4-2 on penalties after a pulsating 3-3 draw.
The six-goal final helped make Qatar 2022 the highest-scoring World Cup ever. A total of 172 goals were scored, eclipsing the previous tournament record of 171 goals, achieved in 1998 and 2014.
The dramatic finale was the pinnacle of action-packed 29 days with thrilling action starting right from the group stage where underdogs stunned higher-ranked opponents several times.
The eventual champions Argentina too became victims of a shock defeat in the group stage, losing to Saudi Arabia in their opening game. Asian giants Japan brought more stunning results defeating four-time winners Germany and 2010 champions Spain while Tunisia’s win over defending champions France was also recorded as one of the major World Cup upsets.
Such results brought the race to knockout phase down to the wire when teams were separated in last moments before the last 16 stage. The successful group stage in Qatar prompted FIFA to “re-discuss” a change in format for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the US, which will see an increase of number of teams in the finals from 32 to 48.
“Here [in Qatar], the groups of four have been absolutely incredible in the sense that until the last minute of the last match, you wouldn’t know who goes through. We will have to revisit or at least re-discuss the format – whether we go for 16 groups of three or 12 groups of four. This is something that will certainly be on the agenda in the next meetings,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told reporters recently.
Morocco scripts fairytale
Qatar 2022 marked the first time ever that nations from five different continents qualified for the knockout stage.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco took two steps further beating Spain and Portugal to become the first African and Arab side to reach the World Cup semi-finals, adding colours to Qatar 2022.
The Atlas Lions, who also defeated second-ranked Belgium in the group stage, raised hopes of a bright future for the underdogs in general and African teams in particular with Regragui predicting a World Cup title for a side from his continent in “15 to 20 years”.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with teammates after winning the World Cup. REUTERS
The North Africans reached home yesterday receiving a hero’s welcome on their return after their history-making run in Qatar.
Organisational excellence
Qatar set new benchmarks by staging an amazing World Cup what was the most compact version of the tournament in modern history.
From hosting the spectacular opening ceremony to an impressive closing show before the nerve-wrecking final, the country hosted a flawless tournament with eight state-of-art stadiums operating at full capacity throughout 64 matches.
The country welcomed 1.4 million touring fans who returned with a positive picture of the Arab world despite the negative propaganda after receiving great hospitality in Qatar.
While players, coaches and officials were highly impressed with Qatar’s world-class facilities for the teams, multiple fans appearing on the social media platforms thanked Qatar for hosting them with open arms.
A vast array of entertainment activities across the country continued to amuse the visitors on the sidelines of matches. The FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park, which welcomed more than 1.8 million visitors and the Corniche Activation emerged as most popular stops for the fans.
The tourist attractions all provided an opportunity for fans to celebrate their shared love of football in what proved a beautiful exchange of cultures from across the globe.
“For me the World Cup has been a real incredible success on all fronts. The main one — bringing people together, meeting the Arab world, is very important for the future of all of us. But also when it comes to the matches. It has been the best World Cup ever,” said Infantino.
“For all the fans, whether they’ve been here in Qatar following the World Cup, following the matches, or following them from home, I think everyone around the world has really embraced this World Cup,” he said.
“And we have seen how football unites the world. Fans from 32 countries in Qatar and all over the world, peacefully and joyfully together,” Infantino added.
Off the field, we have used the power of football and the World Cup’s projection to combat discrimination, promote sustainability, motivate people to be more active, ensure that our children are safeguarded, and ensure that they have access to school, he said.
Teams from every continent have made it to the FIFA World Cup knockout stage for the first time in history, which raises the bar of competition, according to Infantino. “So, it appears that football is actually becoming a global sport.”
