Maligned by controversies, only a handful could speak positively of the idea of Qatar hosting the world cup.
“It [Qatar] is too small of a country,” Blatter told Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger. “Football and the World Cup are too big for it.”
Sepp Blatter’s series of controversial comments ahead of the tournament also added to the frenzy. From stating that awarding the World Cup hosting rights was the ‘greatest decision’ of my era as FIFA President, he then made a complete u-turn with the following comment: “For me, it is clear: Qatar is a mistake. The choice was bad,” Blatter said on November 7th, 2022 to Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.
The controversy and criticism were endless. Noticeably the LGBTQ community, who were sternly warned not to promote their sexual orientation in the country, as such sexual activities are punishable in Qatar with a prison sentence and potentially even capital punishment. This prompted a larger debate as to whether countries, irrespective of their cultures, should segregate various individuals in what is meant to be an open, progressive tournament.
Moreover, much was said about the availability of alcoholic beverages in the stadium in Qatar, and it took a last-minute decision by football’s governing body FIFA to decide the fate of football fans who loved their alcohol.
In a statement posted on its Twitter page, FIFA Media said, “Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.
The ‘sticks’ the World Cup in Qatar received grew worse when FIFA announced those country captains who don the “one love” armband will receive a yellow card before their game kicks off.
‘Football bloody hell’ what more could go wrong? FIFA has surely awarded football’s most prestigious tournament to the worst country ever’ — such reactions were what trailed the endless decisions made by FIFA and the Qatari Government with the competition kicking off in a few days.
THE KICK-OFF AMIDST THE DESPAIR
Fingers were crossed and many football fans — especially those caught in the new laws set ahead of the World Cup, hoped for a terrible display at the Mundial overall. And boy were their prayers answered — the host nation (Qatar) losing to Ecuador (0-2) in the most scintillating form. A range of reactions trailed this result and a notable comment one including this parody statement;
‘Qatar are amazing! They just need to work on their short & long passing, shooting, movement off the ball, positioning, crossing, decision-making, set pieces, man-marking, dribbling, fitness, ball control, tackling, counter-attacking, overlapping, running, blocking & scoring goals.’
Gradually the competition took shape and ‘interesting became jaw-dropping’ when Saudi Arabia, in the most dramatic fashion, recorded a 2-1 comeback victory against Argentina at the Lusail Stadium.
Many were stunned, Lionel Messi couldn’t find a place to bury his head in shame —Hervé Renard’s princes had arrived in Doha in style.
England smashed an ultra-defensive Iranian side 6-2, and Spain were soaring in seventh heaven (7-0 victory) against Costa Rica.
The opening round had it all, and the despair amongst supporters started to dwindle. The 17-day run of fixtures was enough for everyone to forget about every humanitarian crisis, as all aimed at their Nation ‘avoiding the drop.’
MATCH ROUND 3 — THE FALL OF THE BIG BOYS
Staring elimination in the face, it appeared to be a win-or-bust situation for many nations. Argentina had to secure a win against Poland, Mexico had to win (and by a margin) against Saudi Arabia, Uruguay had nearly the same fate as Mexico, and favorites Belgium were not left out of this murky water.
The stage was set for what was a nicely poised match-up, and quite surprisingly every higher-ranked nation who needed to win to secure a spot in the round of 16 got eliminated with Argentina being the only exception. Despite loads of criticism coming the way of FIFA host country Qatar, one act that stood out for many was the decision to field an all-women referee team to officiate the fixture Germany vs. Costa Rica. Stephanie Frappart and her history-making team, including Karen Diaz and Neuza Back, became the first all-women referee line-up in a men’s FIFA World Cup event.
The knockout rounds kicked off in style, featuring two African Nations — Senegal and Morocco (the latter who had against all odds topped a group that included Belgium and Croatia), two South American teams (the lowest since Japan-Korea 2002 World Cup), three Asian teams, a team from North America, and eight European countries.
The knockout ties didn’t disappoint, with the major highlights being Brazil and Portugal’s dominant victories against South Korea (4-1) and Switzerland (6-1) respectively. Portugal’s new star Goncalo Ramos grabbed the headlines with a stunning hattrick after starting in place of captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
THE FURY OF MESSI AND THE TEARS OF CRISTIANO:
The quarter-final of the World Cup wasn’t without its fair share of drama. The elimination of Brazil by Croatia on penalties, the rage of Lionel Messi against the Netherlands, the costly penalty miss of Harry Kane, that all-important leap of Youssef El-Nesyri to send Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal packing. The quarter-finals in Qatar had it all. The standout moment still remains the history-making moment for the continent of Africa. A goal scored at the Al Thumama stadium in Doha sent a delirious wave through the hearts of many in Morocco and the whole of Africa, the nation finally had a semi final representative, forever to be remembered as one of the FIFA World Cup’s most iconic moments.
The semi-final was a little less cagy and there weren’t any element of surprises, as the bookmakers’ favourites (Argentina and France) marched on to the final convincingly.
THE GREATEST EVER FINAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP?
This remains a debate but for many, what was displayed by both teams in the final of the FIFA World Cup in Lusail, was the greatest World Cup final so far.
France came from two goals down in the space of 90 seconds, Kylian Mbappe sealing a hattrick, becoming the first man since Geoff Hurst’s 60-year-old record of scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final, and now tops the all-time list for goals in finals, with four.
Two goals in the second half of extra-time, Emiliano Martinez’s title-winning save in the 124th minute against Randal Kolo Muani, the final had it all.
Lionel Messi breaking Franz Beckenbauer’s record for most appearances at the World Cup (26), and also setting a new record for the first player To score In every round of a FIFA World Cup tournament. Messi scored in the group stage, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and then the final. No player had ever scored in every round of a World Cup during its current format.
Away from the records set and broken, the ‘edge of the seat frenzy’, the goosebumps, the tears and heartaches, the uncontrollable tears of every ecstatic and sad fan, the magical moments, the architectural marvel, the officiating and the World Cup itself.
‘All-encompassing’ has been the word used to express the beauty of an event the world was privileged to experience in Qatar. So much deliverable and value got from a World Cup that many nations criticized and suggested boycotting.
Just like the famous commentary of Martin Tyler — “I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again, so watch it, drink it in.” The world may not see a World Cup in this mould and fashion ever again.
