ISSPF, 2022. (https://www.isspf.com/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022/)
The FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar last year, amid much excitement and controversy.
The tournament consisted of sixty-four scintillating matches, packed into a minuscule twenty-nine days, in five cities and eight venues. Basically, they had a lot going on. Traditionally, the World Cup takes place over 32 days in June or July, however, due to Qatar’s hot summer weather, the tournament was compacted and moved to November and December. This was particularly troublesome for many European countries, however, because their major leagues were only just finishing when the Cup started. This added pressure to the jam-packed schedule guaranteed a chaotic, edge-of-your-seat tournament.
While all teams can enter the World Cup, they must go through the qualification phase that decides which 32 teams will play in the tournament. Qatar, being the host country, is automatically in, however, this headstart didn’t really help them in the long run, seeing as they lost all three of the games they played. Regardless, it was a massive achievement in terms of hosting, as they are the first Middle Eastern country ever to host a World Cup. It created a massive boom in their tourism sector and economy, with over 3.4 million fans flocking to the stadiums to watch.
Marca, 2022. (https://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2022/06/14/62a8fcc246163fdc138b45f1.html)
88, 966 of these spectators attended the final match of Argentina vs. France, while 1.5 billion people tuned in from home – over a billion more than the Super Bowl! France was chasing down a second consecutive World Cup win, having won in 2018; Argentina was working towards their first title since 1986. So while the pressure was on France as a country, fans were speculating this would be Argentina’s Lionel Messi’s last World Cup and were expecting him to go out with a bang (as well as the trophy). As it turns out, the final was as much of a nail-biter as ever. After the teams were tied at 90 minutes, they went into 30 minutes of overtime, where they again finished with the same score. Thus, a penalty shootout was needed. After some incredible goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez, Argentina prevailed, beating France 4-2. Kylian Mbappe snagged the title of top goal scorer and was awarded the Golden Boot for his hat trick (all three of France’s goals in the World Cup Final were scored by Mbappe – talk about an MVP!)
Meissner, 2022. (https://theconversation.com/looking-back-on-the-2022-fifa-world-cup-a-tournament-of-surprises-and-controversy-194493)
While the final was underway, so was the fight for third place. An honourable mention must be made to Morrocco and Croatia for their incredible efforts in the tournament. Morocco, having ended up fourth, were the first African country in history to make the top four – an incredible feat for the players and the country.
But the 2022 FIFA World Cup cannot be discussed without, at the very least, mentioning the controversy surrounding it. FIFA was already under fire for alleged bribery within its ranks, and choosing Qatar as a host country only aggravated this. One particularly poignant problem was Qatar’s restrictive laws on homosexuality – namely, that it’s banned. FIFA dealt with this problem rather terribly. They threatened to hand yellow cards to team captains that elected to wear One Love armbands in protest of Qatar and in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community. Additionally, the German team covered their mouths in a silent protest against Qatar’s alleged human rights violations. Multiple reports alleged that many migrant workers (a large sector of Qatar’s population) died while building the stadiums that would be used in the tournament. Qatar maintained that the 6,500 alleged deaths were ordinary mortality rates, and not cause for concern. Regardless, the damage was done.
Fox News, 2022. (https://www.foxnews.com/sports/world-cup-2022-germany-responds-fifas-sanctions-threat-unique-team-photo)
Overall, the 2022 FIFA World Cup was an interesting and engaging event, with much excitement for many. It was somewhat sullied by controversy, however, this intersection of politics and sports is unavoidable. Now, the Women’s World Cup is almost underway, and soccer fans have much to look forward to!