With a stunning 78% of votes, Qatar 2022 has been selected as the best FIFA World Cup of this century in a BBC Sport poll. The 2002 World Cup (Japan/South Korea) stood second with only 6% of the vote, followed by 2014 (Brazil) with 5%, 2006 (Germany) and 2018 (Russia), which tied for fourth place with 4% each, and 2010 (South Africa) received 3%.
Not many could have predicted this outcome on December 2, 2010, when it was announced that Qatar would host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After beating the United States and Australia in the bidding race, it became the first Arab state and the smallest nation to host the mega event.
Against the run of play
But it turned out to be a World Cup where the element of surprise was always just a few kicks away. Saudi Arabia stunned eventual champions Argentina in what has been described as the biggest shock in the tournament’s long history. Morocco beat world no. 2 Belgium and Australia defeated Denmark to assure its qualification to the knockout stages. Japan beat both Germany and Spain to top its group. Germany got kicked out, having struggled to beat Costa Rica. The tournament had it all: moments of magic and madness, agony and ecstasy, rising stars and falling idols, courage and cowardice, youth and experience, fairness and foul play.
Before and during the tournament, FIFA and the Qatari regime were under the spotlight for a variety of reasons: the stance against the LGBTQ+ community, the records about deaths of migrant workers, the corruption allegations, the curbs on alcohol, and the ‘controversial’ draping of a Bisht onto Lionel Messi before he lifted the trophy were some of them.
The Doha dough
Qatar had gone ahead full throttle and poured mountains of money to host the World Cup, vowing to set it apart from all previous editions. About $220 billion was spent by the country since winning the hosting rights, compared to the $14 billion allocated by Russia in 2018.
Qatar built seven new football stadiums and now sections of these structures will be deconstructed and donated to other countries and the buildings repurposed into community space for schools, shops, cafes, sporting facilities, health clinics, etc. One venue, Stadium 974, was built using recycled shipping containers and will be entirely dismantled and removed. It is the first temporary venue in FIFA World Cup History.
This edition’s total prize pool was $440 million, $40 million greater than the prize pool of the previous tournament.
‘First’ impressions
For the first time, female referees officiated in men’s World Cup matches. France’s Stéphanie Frappart, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan became the first female referees to be appointed to a men’s World Cup and were among 36 referees at the tournament.
The World Cup, the first one to be played in the winter, also used the ‘semi-automated offside technology’ for the first time, which detects the position of the ball with an ‘inertial measurement unit sensor’ inside it. This also collects and tracks the player position during a possible offside chance.
The tournament featured new substitution rules whereby teams could make up to five substitutions in normal time and an additional substitution in extra time. It was also the first World Cup to feature concussion substitutions, as each team was permitted to use a maximum of one concussion substitute during a match. A concussion substitution did not count towards a team’s quota of regular substitutions.
Also, for the first time, the Quran was recited as part of the opening ceremony.
Goals achieved
Prior to hosting what is arguably the best final in history, Qatar 2022 saw a number of other firsts. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty in Portugal’s 3-2 victory over Group H rival Ghana to become the first player to score at five different FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022). Upsets by smaller teams, goals aplenty, and comeback mayhem characterised the historic tournament.
The Atlas Lions of Morocco may have fallen short of a podium finish but, in reaching the last four, they went farther than any African nation had ever managed and won the hearts of millions across the world. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, and a number of other prominent figures in sports declared the tournament to be the finest ever owing to the game’s inclusion and diversity.
Lionel Messi finally won the one prize that had eluded him in his illustrious career after Argentina’s exciting penalty shootout victory over the defending champions France. French forward Kylian Mbappé became the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final, and won the Golden Boot as he scored the most goals (eight) during the tournament.
Messi scored from the penalty spot in the final match to become the first player to score in each of the knockout stages since Mexico 1986, when the round of 16 was originally introduced. He also equalled Lothar Matthaus’s record of 25 World Cup appearances by a player during the semifinal against Croatia before surpassing it in the final. Messi also set a record for the oldest player to score five goals in a single World Cup.
With 52 goals, Olivier Giroud surpassed Michel Platini as France’s all-time greatest scorer. He later took that to 53 with his headed goal against England in the quarterfinal.
This tournament was the last with 32 participating teams, as the number is being increased to 48 for the 2026 edition. With 172 goals, Qatar 2022 set a new record for the highest number of goals scored with the 32-team format.
(With agency inputs)
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