essay on 2022 world cup

• The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Bid Words: 697
• Qatar Hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 Words: 900
• Impact of Qatar Hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 Words: 1476
• FIFA World Cup: History and Future Words: 835
• The World Cup Preparations in Qatar Words: 1377
• Environmental Issues in the Third World Countries Words: 2247
• Hosting the World Cup in the United States Words: 2270
• FIFA and Corruption Words: 621
• Nike’s Ad for Football Women’s World Cup 2019 Words: 655

The 2022 FIFA World Cup

Introduction, 2022 fifa world cup: issues of human rights, 2022 fifa world cup: political aspects, 2022 fifa world cup: environmental issues.

In 2010, Qatar won the right to host 2022 World Cup. It became a significant achievement because no Asian country has been hosting this international sporting event since 2002 when the tournament was organized by South Korea and Japan. Such events as FIFA World Cup provide many opportunities for the hosting country. First of all, they attract tourists and thus make a powerful tourism resource.

Also, World Cup contributes to the promotion of foreign relations, national branding, and increase in investment (Henderson, 2016). At the same time, international attention arises many challenges for the country and turns local peculiarities into global concerns. In the context of 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, such key concepts as human rights, social and political aspects, and environmental issues, are of particular interest. Consequently, corresponding global connections are reviewed in the media and discussed in society.

The issue of human rights in general and discrimination in particular is significant for the FIFA. During the preparation to Qatar hosting the World Cup, there are at least two important human rights problems. First of all, the community is worried by the conditions of work for migrants who are involved in the construction of the World Cup objects. Working in unfavorable weather conditions of high temperature and humidity, the health of workers is exposed to risk (Lewis, 2017). Thus, the International Labor Organization is worried by the work-related deaths in Qatar and makes attempts to interfere, but the local authorities do not support the initiative (Lewis, 2017).

Another problem that appeared in the context of 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is connected with attitudes to sexual minorities. Arab countries in general and Qatar in particular are known for intolerance to homosexual relations and homophobic policies that can become a problem for a big international event (Ali, 2014). There are discussions dedicated to the issue of LGBTQ equality in non-Western countries, but no active actions have been taken.

Political issues are the integral components of any big international event including sports. It is particularly true about the countries with specific political views or those involved in international conflicts. In case of Qatar hosting World Cup 2022, the political problem is caused by its relations, or rather no relations with Israel. In fact, Qatar does not recognize Israel as a state. Thus, Israel initiated a campaign against Qatar as the location for World Cup as a part of its interventions to isolate the activity of Hamas (Dorsey, n.d.).

The major slogans included anti-terrorist ideas and were followed by fans and Israel supporters around the world. The idea is to prevent funding terrorism claiming that Qatar plays a significant role in financing terrorist organizations and awarding 2022 FIFA World Cup to this country would mean the support of terrorism (Dorsey, n.d.). Still, despite this problem and some other aspects related to not following the FIFA code of ethics by Qatar, the preparation for the World Cup is going on (Westall, 2017).

Being one of the leading exporters of oil and natural gas in the world due to the developed energy industry, Qatar suffers from high carbon dioxide emissions. Thus, environmental issues should be a priority in general and in conditions of a big international sporting event in particular. Environmental aspects are significant for big sporting events due to the necessity of hosting many tourists as well as tournament participants.

Moreover, excessive building to meet the FIFA demands can also have negative impact on the environment. Still, the later problem is likely to be successfully addressed in Qatar. At present, the country is launching stadium designs for World Cup 2022 that do not only place thousands of spectators, but are “capable of being reassembled on another site or turned into multiple smaller venues” (FIFA, 2017). This project follows a unique innovative design and uses modular blocks in its construction. The fact that the construction is demountable is a solution of the problem of uselessness of dig arenas after the event is over. Its location also contributes to the sustainability of the project because of efficient transportation.

On the whole, the global connections identified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, are not new. They have been existing for decades and came into light due to the coming tournament. On the one hand, these issues are challenging. The problem of human rights and support of terrorism can negatively influence the image of Qatar on the international arena while their experience of interventions aimed at sustainability can be followed.

At the same time, intensive attention of international community to the mentioned problems that are related to the global concerns provides an opportunity for the solution of these issues. Thus, there is possibility to cease the conflict with Israel, improve labor policies, review homophobic laws, and continue the sustainable development of the country. Generally speaking, a country involved into such big activities should be ready to face challenges and make use of the opportunities.

Ali, L. (2014). LGBTQ criticism about the 2022 World Cup are not about protecting gays in Qatar. Muftah . Web.

Dorsey, J. (n.d.). Israel mobilizes to deprive Qatar of the World Cup . Huffington Post. 

FIFA. (2017). SC launches first ever fully demountable FIFA World Cup™ stadium . 

Henderson, J.C. (2016). Hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Opportunities and challenges for Qatar . Journal of Sport & Tourism, 3-4, 281-298. 

Lewis, A. (2017). Migrant workers subjected to heat and humidity being put at risk, says Human Rights Watch . CNN Sport +.

Westall, S. (2017). FIFA says Qatar ‘may not have’ met World Cup bid standards, but it’s still hosting it . Global News. 

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FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in numbers

The first FIFA World Cup™ to take place in the Arab world was as record-breaking as it was groundbreaking. Below are some of the official facts and figures from the greatest-ever edition of football’s biggest competition.

As Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup Trophy at the end of one of the most exhilarating games of football in living memory, it capped the end of a more-than-memorable 29 days of football. For the first time in tournament history, an African nation reached the final four – as Morocco defied the odds to go on the FIFA World Cup journey of a lifetime – and fans of all 32 teams were able to gather in one place to bond over a shared passion for the beautiful game.

In what many called the greatest FIFA World Cup final of all time, records tumbled:

Argentina captain Lionel Messi hoisted the coveted winner’s trophy for the first time in his storied career, while notching up his record 26th FIFA World Cup appearance and winning the adidas Golden Ball Award along the way.

Kylian Mbappé became only the second player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup final, while also holding his nerve to convert his spot kick in the decisive penalty shoot-out, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals and taking home the adidas Golden Boot.

Mbappé’s second-half volley to level the scores at 2-2 was clocked at 123.34km/h, making it the most powerful scoring shot in the tournament.

The six-goal final helped to make Qatar 2022 the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup ever. A total of 172 goals were scored, eclipsing the previous tournament record of 171 goals, achieved in 1998 and 2014.

The magnificent moments on the pitch were not the only remarkable thing about this FIFA World Cup.

As the impressive figures kept coming in, viewership numbers and global interest also reached peak levels, telling the story of how football successfully united the world:

3.4 million spectators

The attendance at the final pushed the cumulative total for this FIFA World Cup to over 3.4 million spectators, with an average overall attendance capacity of 96.3%.

1.8 million +

Al Bidda Park in Doha saw more than 1.8 million fans enjoy the live broadcasts of games and the vibrant entertainment on offer at the FIFA Fan Festival™.

1 million +

Over one million visitors travelled to Qatar to watch matches in person, with the top visiting nations being: Saudi Arabia, India, the USA, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

First FIFA World Cup in the Arab world

The first FIFA World Cup in the Arab world introduced much of the world to the local culture and demonstrated the passion for football held by fans in the region.

For the first time ever...

For the first time ever, countries from five different continents qualified for the knockout stage, with Morocco becoming the first-ever African or Arab nation to make it as far as the semi-finals.

The most compact FIFA World Cup

The most compact FIFA World Cup since the inaugural edition in 1930 also benefitted fans, teams and media representatives, who had the option of attending several matches and entertainment activities per day.

420,000 volunteer applications

A record 420,000 volunteer applications were received, of which 20,000 were chosen, including 3,000 international volunteers from 150 different nations to help support and deliver all facets of the tournament.

9.19 million trips

During the group stage, the busiest phase of the tournament, the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks notched up 9.19 million trips, with a daily average of 707,032 passengers.

Audience figures

Around five billion people engaged with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, following tournament content across an array of platforms and devices across the media universe. On social media, according to Nielsen, there were 93.6 million posts across all platforms, with a 262 billion cumulative reach and 5.95 billion engagements.

The final on TF1 attracted an average audience of 24.08 million viewers, 81% of the audience share. This was 24% greater than the audience for the France v. Croatia final in 2018 (19.38 million) and an all-time viewing record in France.

The final was aired across three channels (TV Publica, TyC Sports and DirecTV) – with a combined audience of 12.07 million viewers.

The final attracted a combined audience of almost 26 million – with the coverage on FOX being the most watched English-language broadcast of a FIFA World Cup in the USA. The final was also the most-watched match of the tournament in Spanish, with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of nine million viewers – a 65% increase compared to the 2018 final.

Pan-Middle East and North Africa

Coverage of the final aired live across the MENA region on beIN Sports. The match achieved an audience reach of 242.79 million viewers – equivalent to 67.8% of the channel’s potential television audience.

Rest of the world

The tournament as a whole attracted an overall reach in the country of 173 million – 81% of the population.

More than 36 million watched the coverage of Japan’s second group-stage match against Costa Rica on TV Asahi – achieving an audience share of 66.5% – a record in 2022.

United Kingdom

51.22 million UK viewers were reached across the entire tournament, representing 83.9% of the potential market audience.

Korea Republic

A total of 11.14 million viewers watched Korea Republic’s opening match against Uruguay – representing a 97% increase in Korean TV audience compared to the average group-stage figures at the previous FIFA World Cup.

Coverage of Portugal’s round-of-16 match against Switzerland delivered the most-watched FIFA World Cup broadcast ever recorded in Portugal, with an average of 3.89 million viewers – 71.8% of the broadcast share.

Commercial Affiliates

The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup was also hugely successful for FIFA’s Commercial Affiliates – with over five billion people reached, the platform that the tournament provides is like no other. All global and regional sponsorship packages were sold out, with the 32 Commercial Affiliates activating more than 600 special marketing programmes.

Seven FIFA Partners

Seven FIFA World Cup Sponsors

18 Regional Supporters across FIFA’s five regions

Together, these companies, along with the sponsors of other FIFA tournaments, ensured that FIFA comfortably exceeded its budget for marketing rights revenues during the 2019-2022 cycle.

The sale of licensing rights achieved excellent results in the 2019-2022 cycle, with revenues 28% higher than in the 2015-2018 cycle.

Other achievements of note:

FIFA ran its largest-ever licensing and retail programme at the FIFA World Cup, with retail revenues exceeding those from the previous edition.

As well as tournament stores, a permanent flagship FIFA Store was also opened at Hamad International Airport in Doha.

154 FIFA Store outlets were opened and operated across the eight stadiums.

FIFA also launched a major ecommerce offering – fifastore.com – featuring product ranges for the FIFA World Cup and all of FIFA’s properties.

Licensing revenues also included contracts with FIFA Branded Licensees such as Taittinger, Hublot, Louis Vuitton and Panini.

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Qatar FIFA World Cup, Essay Example

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The only sporting event that rivals the Olympics is FIFA World Cup, held every four years. Thus, it is no surprise that countries bid aggressively against each other to host FIFA World Cup because hosting the event allows them to demonstrate their economic and cultural prowess and also increases their profile and stature on the global stage. When Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, it was perceived as a historic moment because it is the first time a country in the Middle East will be home to such a high profile sports event. Hosting FIFA World Cup is a great honor for any country and it comes with certain obligations and high expectations. The recent news of hundreds of deaths among construction workers highlights the fact that Qatar has failed to fulfill the responsibilities that come with hosting a global event like FIFA World Cup, thus, the country should be stripped of the right to host the World Cup.

Mega sports events like FIFA World Cup also represent the collective progress mankind has made on social and cultural issues, thus, it is not a surprise that the deaths of construction workers has sparked a global outrage. If this had happened few hundred years ago, no soul would have been bothered by the news because different socioeconomic groups had different rights. But we have come a long way in terms of basic human rights. If organizations like FIFA choose to ignore ethical aspects in pursuit of economic interests, it sets a wrong precedent for other commercial organizations of all types. Today, organizations of all types are expected to fulfill their ethical obligations because the definition of stakeholders is much broader now.

If Qatar is allowed to keep the hosting right, it would set a wrong precedent for future hosts. By allowing Qatar to keep its right, FIFA will send the message that hosting countries can afford to ignore their ethical obligations as long as they are not exposed. And even if they are exposed, the damage could be contained with little or no consequences. FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s recent remark that there is plenty of time to deal with the issue (Gibson) only hurt’s FIFA’s ethical credentials. Stripping Qatar of hosting rights will send a strong message to future hosts that they cannot afford to ignore their social and ethical responsibilities because hosting right is not inalienable and if the situation warrants, FIFA will not hesitate from considering even the most extreme steps.

Qatar has been given the right to host World Cup in 2022 which still leaves us with nine years. Thus, FIFA cannot even hide behind the excuse of lack of time because many countries who bid against Qatar have the economical and technological prowess to complete preparations even if they are given the hosting right today. FIFA holds tremendous influence as a governing body of the most popular sport on the planet and it should display the courage to stand up to its obligations. Sports are meant to unite people and the current global sentiments against Qatar hosting the World Cup will only promote negative goodwill towards the event.

FIFA had responsibility to monitor preparations for the World Cup in Qatar and it failed so early. If the media didn’t highlight the issue, FIFA might never have taken notice. Thus, the right thing for FIFA is to make up for its failure because there is much more at stake than its economic interests or its ties with the Qatari Government. It’s still not late and FIFA may even enhance its reputation if it strips Qatar of the hosting right.

Gibson, Owen. World Cup 2022: football cannot ignore Qatar worker deaths, says Sepp Blatter. 4 October 2013. 7 October 2013 <http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/04/world-cup-2022-fifa-sepp-blatter-qatar-worker-deaths?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487>.

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The Exceptionally Weird and Wild World Cup

A host country unfit for the occasion. The American men staking their claim for 2026. And a better-than-the-movies end for Lionel Messi.

As Lionel Messi held the ultimate trophy above his head, his jersey partially obscured by a black cloak placed on him by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, you could feel the closing of the book. Messi opened the scoring in the World Cup final with a first-half penalty. 12 minutes later, he received the ball at the halfway line and took two deft left-foot touches—one to pop it up in front of him, the other to clip it around the corner to Julian Alvarez and get the Argentines behind the French defense in a lethal counterattack. Angel Di Maria made it 2-0 with a clever finish at the end of the flowing move, a scintillating display of pinpoint passing at mach speed that surely ranks among the greatest goals ever scored in this quadrennial showpiece .

When France came storming back through two goals in two minutes from the similarly dangerous Kylian Mbappé, dragging the match into extra time, there was Messi again, on the spot to put home a rebound and edge the Argentines in front. When Mbappé secured a hat trick with two minutes remaining, sending the match to penalties, it was Messi who took the first shot and scored to send Argentina on its way. It was, in aggregate, perhaps the greatest World Cup final ever played, and the game’s greatest-ever player seized it for himself and his team. 1,003 appearances for club and country. 793 goals. 387 assists. 7 Ballon d’Or awards, honoring the world’s best player in a given year. 10 times champion of Spain with Barcelona. Four-time Champions League winner. And now, as of Sunday, a champion of the world.

For all the fairy tales, though, it should be noted this was an exceptionally weird scene befitting an exceptionally weird tournament, and we’re not just talking about Emiliano Martinez’s celebration on winning the Golden Glove . For all the benefits of cultural exchange, the Bisht placed on Messi just before he was set to raise the trophy felt like a neat encapsulation of Qatar’s aims with this tournament—to not so much open themselves to the world as associate their country with things into which people pour their whole hearts, things from which they cannot detach themselves. A branding exercise, then, culminating with an attachment to Messi’s crowning achievement. His famous albiceleste number 10 jersey, the Argentina of it all, was shrouded at that moment of a thousand pictures. It was not enough for the tournament to be played in Qatar. Even its most indelible image will be claimed, in part, by the hosts.

Once I knew I’d be going to the tournament, I must confess I was not eager to fling criticism at the host nation, at least until I’d left the jurisdiction. For one thing, there seemed to be a sufficient number of people raising objections to Qatar’s human rights record, its treatment of women and LGBT people and migrant workers, and the process by which FIFA placed the tournament there. Qatar has no soccer tradition, and it’s so hot in summer that the tournament had to be moved to winter, disrupting the European club season. But I also genuinely feared a regime with this kind of thirst for control—over people, over narratives—even before soccer journalist Grant Wahl died, seemingly out of nowhere, a few days before my flight to Doha. He’d been strident in his criticisms of the hosts even while setting up shop in their country for a month, surely tempting retaliation, though his family has since said there was no foul play.

In the end, the tournament represented Qatar aptly. Arriving at Hamad International Airport, you’re met with a stunning network of sleek silver terminals, squeaky clean and seemingly brand-new even at eight years old. The place is the work of some of the world’s best architecture firms, the best money can buy, and so is the crowded skyline of downtown Doha. I was a fanatical SimCity player as a kid, and the whole place felt like the creation of someone playing the game on sandbox mode. Sweeping skyscrapers packed in together like sardines, holding some untold number of offices with a similarly untold occupancy rate. Mile after mile of four-lane highways that served as avenues, on and off ramps at uniform intervals. Terraformed islands and peninsulas, etched into the landscape where the sands of the Arabian desert meet the pale blue water of the Persian Gulf. It was the work of a people—well, some small slice of the population—who’ve pulled enough oil and gas from the ground beneath them to make anything possible.

At the National Museum of Qatar, another architectural work of art, you can trace the story of how a bedouin people who roamed across the desert from season to season first discovered that beneath the shimmering surface of the sea next door lay one of the world’s most bountiful pearlbeds, the fruits of which they’d harvest and sell to European nobles and maharajas to the East. And then they discovered what lay under the desert sand. Near the Lusail Iconic Stadium, the site of Messi’s heroics in the final and the semifinal before it, there are four metallic towers in varying shapes twisting up into the sky. They are the first pillars of a new central business district for Lusail city that will soon be created out of whole cloth. At night, they gleam purple and blackish gray against the horizon, a monument of mortal creation in the endless desert.

When I walked out the doors of the airport terminal and into the morning outside, the moon hung in the blue-orange sky through a layer of haze. It seems to blanket the air wherever you go, along with the feeling that something is keeping your feet on the ground and your head down. This is not a place where you express yourself, not really, and that was reflected in the atmosphere outside the stadiums. Some women visiting chose to wear a headscarf out in public, others did not. Drinking is prohibited, except in the hotels and restaurants where it is not. Before a World Cup semifinal where Argentina fans showed up in force, there was next to nothing of the party atmosphere you might have found in, say, Rio 2014. A festival-like DJ stage blasted EDM to a sparse crowd in the parking lot. The Moroccan fans built a party for themselves the following night, and they and the Argentines produced some massive noise inside the arenas. But any tournament where not a single England fan gets arrested is one where people are on their very best behavior—and not just because there wasn’t any Budweiser. Nobody was much interested in risking a look at the inner workings of the Qatari judicial system, not when a sign outside a stadium bathroom promised anyone caught vaping would be subject to a fine and “lengthy court proceedings.”

If not for, well, everything, it might have gone so differently for the Qataris. Surely they thought it would. They brought their unlimited resources and taste for fine architecture to bear on the stadiums, with air conditioning in open-air facilities and the offsetting eco-triumph of a whole arena—Stadium 974—that will now be broken down into shipping containers and reused. Lusail Iconic Stadium, home to a semifinal and the final, is a sweeping 89,000-seat masterpiece that claims to have zero carbon footprint—though it does, in my direct experience, feature stairwells with no emergency exits across seven stories. (That’s how, if anything goes wrong, you get a crush.) And then there was Al Bayt, site of that meeting between Morocco and France, which is built to resemble a bedouin tent: black and white horizontal stripes on the outside with the pitched silhouette, brilliant red and brown cross-hatch patterns on the interior walls and ceiling that evoke life in Qatar before the oil and the pearls.

These were grand stages made for the grandest event, and in the end, perhaps the ruling authorities will see this all as a success. It could be worth all those billions of dollars, just as it will be worth it to the Emiratis and the Saudis to sink all that money into Manchester City and Newcastle United. Sportswashing works. It connects your national brand to things that thrill and delight, to sport’s power to deliver the unexpected—the literally unpredictable—and the promise that the future really is unwritten. We came into this tournament with expectations of Brazilian balletic dominance, only to see them erased by a Croatian team with steel and experience and a bit of cynicism. Morocco shocked the world as they became the first African team to reach the semifinals, sending the Iberian titans of Spain and Portugal packing in the knockout rounds having seen off Belgium in Group F. Japan beat Spain and Germany to send the latter packing at the group stage. Even Argentina dropped its opening match. Team USA arrived with a core group representing a young generation of American footballers unlike any that has come before , staking their claim as an outfit to watch this decade. After all, it’s coming home in 2026.

The Americans came up short against the Dutch, who then rekindled their decades-long blood feud with Argentina in the next round. They could not match the South American champions, though, not when Messi went into his old bag of tricks to create that opening goal . He produced another almost incomprehensible assist in the following round , as Argentina continually made it difficult for themselves but never faltered. They played with fire in their bones, history in their sights, and delivered glory to themselves and their nation and their talismanic leader. Perhaps, someday, the specifics will fall away when it comes to the stage on which the little man did one last great thing. It was only one of many grand stages he has graced, in truth. He has vanquished the mighty French, the defending champions, and settled every debate. This is the age of Lionel Messi and no one else, the time of the greatest footballer who ever lived.

Jack Holmes is a senior staff writer at Esquire, where he covers politics and sports. He also hosts Unapocalypse , a show about solutions to the climate crisis. 

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By Philip Whiteside, international news reporter

The football World Cup in Qatar is shaping up to be an event unlike any other.

Organisers say it offers the chance to watch two matches on the same day - at brand new stadiums with inbuilt cooling technology - while still having time to take in some culture and spend a few hours at the beach.

It offers the spectator unbridled luxury, while watching the most popular sport on the planet, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

But has all this come at a price beyond the billions spent on its construction?

This article looks at just how much Qatar 2022 might have cost...

The World Cup in Qatar takes place at eight stadia in November and December next year. Seven are new and one underwent a huge redevelopment to bring it up to capacity.

Ever since Qatar was controversially awarded the event by world football governing body FIFA in December 2010, the country has been developing an infrastructure that will be able to accommodate an anticipated 1.5 million visitors.

The headline figure of exactly how much money was spent on this varies depending on exactly what is being included.

Qatari officials have offered various figures, for the cost of the stadia and the cost of Qatar's infrastructure development in the years leading up to the event.

Previous estimates of the total cost - including all the hotels, roads, public spaces and transport, as well as the stadia, have put the figure at around $220bn, but the latest total to come from a Qatari official was around $200bn. That was according to the country's ambassador to Russia in October, as quoted by Russia's Tass newsagency.

In any event, that would put the amount many, many times higher than that spent on any similar sporting event, like a previous World Cup or Olympics.

Likewise, the reported cost of the stadia alone has also varied over the years, depending on who has been quoted and when.

The latest figure, from Fatma Al Nuaimi, the Communications Executive Director at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy of the World Cup, was that the eight stadia cost $6.5bn. He was quoted in the same October Tass report.

But that figure is significantly down from the $8bn-$10bn the committee's secretary general Hassan Al Thawadi put forward when he was asked at the Chatham House Policy Institute in London in 2016.

Whatever the stadia actually cost, the figure appears to be significantly more than the $4bn earmarked for what was initially going to be 12 grounds in the original bid.

Qatar maintains that, while much of the infrastructure included in the $200bn figure will be used during the tournament, its construction would have taken place regardless of whether the cup was being held there, so it should not be viewed as the total cost.

What is not clear is how much of that infrastructure would have been finished if Qatar had not been the host country by November 2022 - a timeframe that has placed developers, and potentially their workers, under a strict deadline.

The human toll

It is that pressure to build - and build quickly - that some NGOs say has led to the deaths of a number of migrant labourers and tradespeople working on the projects.

Again, an exact figure is hard to find. They range from a projected figure from the International Trade Union Confederation of 7,000 migrant worker deaths by the first kick off, to three work-related fatalities and 39 non-work-related fatalities in the past 10 years from the Qatari authorities.

Again, what is not clear is what the Qatari figures include. Other figures have put the number of migrant worker deaths so far at 6,000, but this appears to include all deaths - from any cause - and not just those in the construction industry.

Figures registered with the World Health Organisation indicate that Qatar recorded a total of about 1,900-2,200 deaths a year from 2010-17, for a population that has risen in that time from 1.8-2.7 million, according to the World Bank, as hundreds of thousands of migrants moved there for work.

In 2010, the WHO crude death rate from injuries in Qatar was 23/100,000 people and in 2015, it was 15/100,000, with injuries accounting for about a fifth of deaths, and non-communicable disease (such as cancer and heart disease), accounting for about half.

Thousands of migrant workers have been employed constructing stadium sites like the Khalifa International Stadium, pictured here in 2014

Sky News analysis found that in 2019, out of the 3,334 recorded deaths in Qatar in that year (which includes non-work related deaths), according to WHO figures published in The Lancet , the biggest cause of injury-related deaths was from road accidents (673 - some of which may be workplace related), with self-harm second (120). In that year, 97 died from falls and 76 died from exposure to mechanical forces - two causes of death also likely to occur on construction sites.

But on 18 November, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) published figures for work-related death in 2020, as collected by the Qatari authorities, and found 50 people had died from occupational injuries across the whole of Qatar (not just construction sites at stadia), 506 had suffered severe injuries in the course of their work and 37,601 had received minor injuries. It found about a quarter of those deaths were from falls and a quarter from road accidents.

NGOs have said that many other deaths have not been attributed to the construction industry when they are in fact linked. There were reports in The Sunday Times in early November of Nepali migrant workers suffering from long-term kidney disease, and sometimes death, from working long hours in high temperatures.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, has claimed that Qatari authorities routinely issue death certificates for migrant workers without conducting adequate investigations - instead attributing deaths to "natural causes" or "vaguely-defined" cardiac failures. It is not normal practice to conduct post-mortems and there is no public inquest system to determine cause of death, as there is in the UK.

In 2021, after years of coverage of the conditions in which migrant workers were expected to toil in temperatures above 40C, Qatar brought in measures to protect workers from heat stress, but Amnesty was among organisations that said the measures did not go far enough.

Chief executive of the tournament Nasser al Khater says many of the numbers published "do not reflect the reality for construction workers on World Cup sites".

Significant attention was paid worldwide to the situation of migrant workers in Qatar, like that by these members of the Swiss workers union UNIA

He told Sky News in November : "We have been unfairly treated... it is publicly available information," as he reiterated the figure of the three work-related fatalities in 10 years at World Cup sites.

Qatar's government rejected Amnesty's findings.

Mr Al Khater told Association Press: "There's work that needs to be done. There is, however, a lot of progress but unfortunately that has not been captured in reports such as Amnesty, Human Rights Watch."

Here are the eight stadiums that have been built or redeveloped for the tournament:

Outside Doha

Al bayt stadium.

Location: Al Khor, 40km from Doha centre Capacity: 60,000 Reported cost: $847m Work started: 2014 Opened: 2020

Lusail Stadium

Location: Lusail City, 15km from Doha centre Capacity: 80,000 Reported cost: $767m Work started: 2017 Opened: Expected 2022

Ahmed bin Ali Stadium

Location: Al Rayyan, 18km from Doha centre Aka: Al Rayyan Stadium Capacity: 40,000 Reported cost: $360m Work started: 2016 Opened: 2020

Al Janoub Stadium

Location: Al Wakrah, 14km from Doha centre Capacity: 40,000 Reported cost: €587m Work started: 2014 Opened: 2019

The architectural showpiece of the tournament will be the Lusail Stadium , in the new city of Lusail, about a 30-minute drive north of Downtown Doha. It will host the final.

Designed by British architects Foster + Partners, the concave exterior of the stadium was inspired by the sails of a traditional dhow boat and the roof is designed in the shape of a saddle.

Addressing concerns of temperatures rising above 30C - which occurs even in December - the east-west orientation of the stadium is aimed at making sure the entire pitch is shaded, helping the air conditioning keep spectators and players cool.

Construction started in 2017, using a joint venture of Qatari firm HBK Contracting Company and China Railway Construction Corporation. Organisers say it is finished, but will not officially open until next year. No work related deaths at the stadium have been officially reported, but photos from inside the stadium of workers' progress regularly feature in the media.

How much do Qatar's migrant workers get paid? The Doha News, reporting on the experience of migrant workers in 2015, found one Indian worker at the Khalifa International Stadium was paid $467 a month, for a six day week. The ITUC, in its 2015 report Qatar: Profit and Loss, citing the Doha News report, said workers usually work 13 hours a day - an hourly rate of $1.50. Other reports have found that workers were being paid as little as 750 riyals a month (at the time £190). In 2020, Qatar said all workers would be paid a monthly minimum wage of 1,000 riyals (at the time US$275). The move was hailed by the ILO as the first time a country "in the region" had introduced "a non-discriminatory minimum wage".

The Al Bayt Stadium , another of the flagship grounds and where one of the semi-finals will be held, is possibly as striking as the Lusail - appearing from the outside as a vast desert tent, but with a retractable roof.

The Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, which has since been colloquially dubbed Al Rayyan Stadium, is on the edge of the Qatari desert and has been recycled partly from a stadium that occupied the site previously.

Its undulating facade and curved surrounding structures are designed to reflect the dunes nearby.

Finally, the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah to the south of Doha, was developed by the practice of Zaha Hadid, the late Iraqi-British architect.

The exterior was designed to reflect Al Wakrah's origin as a pearling village and its connection to the sea.

Below are the stadia in Doha:

Education City Stadium

Location: Al Rayyan district of Doha, 10km from the centre Capacity: 40,000 Cost: $700m Work started: 2016 Opened: 2020

Stadium 974

Location: Doha waterfront, about 4km from the centre Aka: Ras Abu Aboud Stadium Capacity: 40,000 Cost: Unknown Work started: 2017 Opened: 2021

Khalifa International Stadium

Location: Baaya district of Doha, about 8km from the centre Capacity: 45,416 Reported cost: varies from £70m to £280m+ Originally opened: 1976 Redevelopment started: 2014 Reopened: 2017

Al Thumama Stadium

Location: Al Thumama district of Doha, about 5.5km from the centre Capacity: 40,000 Reported cost: $342.5m Work started: 2017 Opened: 2021

The geometric Education City Stadium , in the Doha suburb of Al Rayyan, is designed to reflect the facets of a cut diamond and sits in the middle of several universities where it is destined to serve the student body after it is reshaped at the end of the tournament.

According to architects BDP, it is the first stadium to be awarded five stars under the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), with at least 55% of the materials coming from sustainable sources and 28% of materials recycled. BDP says it is destined also to become a centre for women's football after 2022.

Can't workers just go home if they are unhappy? The ITUC claimed that many workers were indentured to work in Qatar, often unable to leave poor pay and conditions because of something called the kafala system, which the Council on Foreign Relations says gives private citizens and companies in most Arab Gulf countries almost total control over migrant workers' employment and immigration status. Often, workers get into debt in order to travel to Qatar to work - a debt they have to repay before they can return. The ITUC said it found recruitment agencies in the workers' home countries often charge fees on top of the airfare, insurance and welfare fund contributions, of between $335 and $670.

Stadium 974 is another designed and built with sustainability in mind, made partially out of used and refashioned shipping containers, also reflecting Qatar's maritime history.

It was renamed from the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium ahead of it being unveiled in November, with 974 being Qatar's international dialling code and the number of shipping containers used in it.

The waterfront stadium also includes removable seats and other modular elements that will allow it to be dismantled at the end of the tournament and repurposed.

The Khalifa International Stadium started life as a smaller athletics and football arena where it hosted a number of major events and matches featuring the national side.

It was extensively redeveloped ahead of being reopened in 2017, after which it held the 2019 World Athletics Championships and a number of FIFA-associated tournaments.

The Al Thumama Stadium was designed by Qatari architect Ibrahim Jaidah to look like a traditional Arabic hat, the gahfiya, worn by men and boys across the Middle East.

It was also named after a native tree found growing in the area.

As well as the stadia, these are some of the other major infrastructure projects Qatar has been working on. Some may be home to accommodation for fans. The others will transport them from venue to venue:

Lusail City

Location: About 16km north of central Doha What's there: Currently, a huge construction site. Being built are hotel complexes, golf courses, a theme park and marinas Cost: $45bn

Location: Doha, approx 10km from the centre What's there: Wide range of accommodation, including private 'islands', villas, apartments and hotels Cost: $15bn+

Downtown Doha

Location: 0km from central Doha What's there: Closely packed skyscrapers and the country's central business district Cost: Unknown

Location: Doha, stretching along 76km of track What it is: A surface-based metropolitan rail project with three lines and 37 stations Cost: $36bn

Lusail City - the emerging home of the Lusail Stadium - must vie to be one of the biggest construction projects in the world.

When built, the new city will reportedly contain 19 districts, 22 hotels, two golf courses, a theme park, a lagoon, and two marinas, across 38 sq km, with enough housing for 200,000 residents - just less than the population of Wolverhampton - and room for 170,000 workers and 50,000 visitors.

The project has even created - out of the desert - several islands, on which non-Qataris will be able to own property. Many of the districts of Lusail will be linked by a new tram network.

Among the futuristic constructions already taking shape is the Katara Towers - two curved tower blocks sweeping up from Lusail's corniche waterfront. They are designed to resemble traditional Qatari swords.

The seahorse-shaped artificial island called The Pearl has been emerging off the coast of north Doha for at least 17 years, having been designed to be the first place where non-Qataris can own land freehold.

The Pearl's Qanat Quarter is modelled partly on Venice. Pic: Google Streetview/Nizam Hindi

While it is intended to be home for about 45,000 people when complete, the two huge luxury marinas and array of beachside hotels already built on the island, together with accommodation being rented out privately, will make it a major draw for visiting football fans next year.

The other area packed with major hotels likely to be heavily used by visitors to Qatar 2022 is the Downtown area, with its pincushion of skyscrapers soaring into the sky.

The skyline of Downtown Doha is packed with skyscrapers

Although high-rise hotels have been sprouting continuously since the FIFA announcement in 2010, analysts say there is still a risk of an accommodation shortfall come next November.

Organisers have said they expect to be able to offer up to 130,000 rooms in total, but, according to estimates by Qatar Tourism, the hotel stock will provide fewer than 50,000 of them.

Accor, Europe's largest hotel operator, has been taken on to manage accommodation and is expected to make up some of the difference with two cruise ships - one still under construction in France - and shared villas and apartments. This, together with private rentals is anticipated to add another 64,000 or so rooms.

The Medinatna complex of apartments is being built in a patch of desert several kilometres inland. Pic: Google Streetview/Abdulrahman Al-Mohammad

Less glamorous than The Pearl or Lusail will be Madinatna (Our City), where another two dozen hotels are springing up, which has a completion target of spring. The complex is capable of housing up to 27,000 fans in shared apartments, but is surrounded by a series of multi-lane motorways and a large expanse of desert 25km (15 miles) from Doha's centre.

Theoretically, most of the main world cup sites are linked by the Doha Metro , a 76km-long, 38 station above-ground local rail project, which was opened in 2019 after being built in just six years. Qatar 2022 organisers hail the construction of the Metro as part of a sustainable public transport network that will "help fans travel seamlessly between hotels, stadiums and tourist attractions".

The Doha Metro operates three interconnecting lines, with another planned in coming years

Not all the grounds are covered, however, with Al Bayt still only accessible by road. Al Janoub is a 5km walk/drive from Al Wakrah station and Al Thumama is also some distance away from the nearest station.

And it depends on where you are staying. If you are in Madinatna, the nearest station is 3km.

Other controversies

Immediately after Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010, there was alarm among many in the football world.

Some asked how was it that a nation three-times smaller than the previous smallest country to host the cup - Switzerland in 1954 - and one with a questionable human rights record and one where summer temperatures are regularly well into the 40s (Celsius), could be given the largest sporting event in the world?

Then FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces in 2010 that Qatar has won the right to host the 2022 World Cup

That vote - in Qatar's favour by 14 to 8 over the US - was rapidly mired in corruption allegations.

A FIFA-commissioned investigation into Qatar's methods to win the vote raised concerns at what had happened but concluded there was no "evidence of any improper activity by the bid team".

However, US lawyer Michael Garcia, whose name was on the report, did find that some of Qatar's conduct "may not have met the standards" required by FIFA.

Former US Attorney Michael Garcia, pictured here in 2007, led a FIFA probe into corruption allegations

It came after Qatar's representative on FIFA's 24-man executive committee between 1996 to 2011, Mohamed bin Hammam, was banned for life from all football related activities by the FIFA Ethics Committee. The ban was subsequently annulled due to lack of evidence but in December 2012, he was given a second life ban due to "conflicts of interest". Then, in 2014, The Sunday Times published leaked email documents which appeared to show bin Hammam paid members of other nations' Football Associations in the run up to his FIFA presidential election campaign and ahead of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup decision in December 2010.

Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam was accused of corrupt payments to officials

Mr Garcia, in his report, which was handed to FIFA in 2014 but not made public until 2017, accepted the repeatedly stated position of the official Qatar 2022 bid that any payments Hammam made were not in any way connected to the Qatari bid itself - but were connected to his own bid to be FIFA president.

With the FBI and US prosecutors involved, as well as Swiss officials, numerous arrests were made and there was a period when several commentators were saying Qatar should lose to cup and a revote should take place. But no allegations were ever proved.

The matter went quiet until fresh allegations of wrongdoing surfaced last year when American prosecutors in Brooklyn revealed new details of alleged bribes paid by Qatar for votes.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

On 21 November, Mr Al Khater told AP: "All of these investigations have shown us that Qatar has been vindicated of all the allegations made against it."

When asked about the claims that emerged in the US District Court in Brooklyn, he added: "Whatever you’re referring to, I deny categorically."

Yet, on 23 November, AP claimed in an article published on its newsfeed that a former CIA officer has spied on top soccer officials for years while working for Qatar.

It said an investigation had found Qatar sought to maintain an edge over rivals like the United States and Australia by, among other activities, having someone pose as a photojournalist to keep tabs on a rival nation's bid; deploying a Facebook honeypot, in which someone posed online as an attractive woman to get close to a target; and seeking mobile phone call logs of at least one top FIFA official ahead of the 2010 vote.

One document from the company employed said the proposed budget for the "spy" operation was $387m over nine years. It was unclear how much the Qataris ultimately paid the company.

The ex-CIA agent said in a statement he and his companies would not "ever engage in illegal surveillance".

Qatari government officials did not respond to AP's requests for comment. FIFA also declined to comment.

As well as investigating allegations of corruption, FIFA examined whether the heat of a Qatari summer might affect the tournament. In 2015, it confirmed the tournament would start on 21 November, with the final on Sunday 18 December. In doing so, it would be a shortened tournament over 28 days instead of the usual 32.

The proposal to move the tournament to the winter, thereby avoiding the intense heat of June and July, has also proved particularly controversial because of the potential impact on European leagues, with then chief executive of the Premier League Richard Scudamore threating to sue FIFA - a move that is yet to happen.

However, after nearly a decade of controversy, the world's gaze will remain on Qatar and, with less than a year to go, spectators will be readying themselves for a spectacle set to go down in the sporting annuls for generations.

Words and digital production: Philip Whiteside, international news reporter

Graphics: Vivek Mehta, designer

Pictures: AP; Reuters; Google Streetview; Wikicommons; Asianchamp2

• 2022 world cup

Messi’s World Cup Win May Have Finally Crowned Him the GOAT

W hen it comes to men’s soccer, every generation has its contenders for the best ever to play the game. Before, there was Pelé , then Diego Maradona . For the last two decades, it’s been Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Messi was included in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2011 , French legend and former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry described the Argentinian as a “god of the field.” When Ronaldo was on the same list in 2014 , Pelé praised the Portuguese player’s “competitive mindset” and “elegance and creativity” on the pitch, adding that he “would have loved having a teammate like Cristiano.”

The two, who are notable not just for their talent but also for their longevity, have broken countless records and won the most prestigious accolades, both as individuals as well as with their respective teams. They have ticked off nearly every accomplishment possible in the sport—aside from one glaring exception: neither had won the World Cup.

Until now, that is.

For Ronaldo, “the dream ended,” as he said on social media , hinting at his likely international retirement, after Portugal lost to Morocco on December 10 in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar .

Messi, on the other hand, may have finally tipped the scales in the “greatest of all time” debate when he lifted the trophy that had long eluded him on Sunday after Argentina defeated France on penalties in the breathtaking final. Messi, who had said this would be his last World Cup , expertly steered his team to glory, netting seven goals in seven matches and being named player of the tournament.

While the two are not hanging up their boots just yet as professional soccer players, it’s worth looking back on the amazing heights reached by both Messi and Ronaldo. At the twilight of their era of domination, here are some metrics to compare the superstars.

Statistics: Too Close to Call

At the senior club level, Ronaldo debuted in September 2002 for the Portuguese professional team Sporting. He went on to play for English, Spanish, and Italian giants Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus, respectively, before returning to Manchester United in August 2021 for a second stint, which just ended. At 37, he’s currently a free agent.

At 35, Messi is a few years younger than Ronaldo. He’s spent most of his time in Spain at Barcelona, where he made his senior competitive debut in October 2003 and left in August 2021 to join his current team Paris Saint-Germain in France.

By the numbers, both have had exceptionally impressive careers. Below, a selection of their stats (excluding youth-level soccer, club friendlies, and penalty shootouts) from messivsronaldo.app :

When it comes to goalscoring, Ronaldo holds the overall record (for goals that meet International Federation of Football History & Statistics criteria) as well as the records for most club goals of all time and most international goals of all time.

At the international level, Messi and Ronaldo have each played in a record-tying five World Cups. At those tournaments, Messi has scored 13 times and has had 8 assists in 26 appearances, while Ronaldo has scored 8 times with 2 assists in 22 appearances. Ronaldo is the only player ever to score in five different World Cups, and Messi is the only player ever to have at least one assist in five different World Cups. And in this latest World Cup, Messi became the first ever to score in every round of the tournament, from the group stage to the final.

Individual Achievements: Advantage Messi

The most-celebrated individual award in soccer is the Ballon d’Or, given annually since 1956 by a French magazine to the best male player of the year as voted by sports journalists. Messi holds the record for winning it the most times, while Ronaldo holds the record for being shortlisted the most times.

The two have earned many other honors—too many to list—but notable ones include the Puskas Award, given annually since 2009 to the scorer (male or female) of the “most beautiful” goal of the year. Until 2018 it was determined by fan votes online, and since then it’s been decided by FIFA-selected pundits from fan-voted nominations.

The European Golden Shoe is given each year to the scorer of the most goals in a first division club league in Europe. Golden boot awards are given at international tournaments to the top goalscorer, while golden ball awards are given to the top player. (Messi was one goal short of the Golden Boot in Qatar, but he earned the Golden Ball.)

And each year, FIFPRO , the association of unions representing more than 66,000 professional soccer players around the world, has its members vote on an 11-person team of the year. Messi and Ronaldo share the record for the most appearances.

Ballon d’Or Awards

Messi: 7 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021) Ronaldo: 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)

Ballon d’Or Silver or Bronze Balls (Second/Third Place)

Messi: 6 (2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) Ronaldo: 7 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019)

Ballon d’Or Shortlists

Messi: 15 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) Ronaldo: 18 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)

FIFA Puskas Awards

Messi: 0 Ronaldo: 1 ( 2009 )

FIFA Puskas Nominations

Messi: 7 ( 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2015 , 2016 , 2018 , 2019 ) Ronaldo: 2 ( 2009 , 2018 )

European Golden Shoes

Messi: 6 (2009-2010 with 34 goals, 2011-2012 with 50 goals, 2012-2013 with 46 goals, 2016-2017 with 37 goals, 2017-2018 with 34 goals, 2018-2019 with 36 goals) Ronaldo: 4 (2007-2008 with 31 goals, 2010-2011 with 40 goals, 2013-2014 with 31 goals, 2014-2015 with 48 goals)

Domestic League Player of the Season Awards

Messi: 9 (La Liga: 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019) Ronaldo: 5 (Premier League: 2006-2007, 2007-2008; La Liga: 2013-2014; Serie A: 2018-2019, 2019-2020)

International Golden Boots

Messi: 1 (2021 Copa América) Ronaldo: 2 (2019 UEFA Nations League, 2020 European Championship)

International Golden Balls

Messi: 4 (2014 World Cup, 2015 Copa América, 2021 Copa América, 2022 World Cup) Ronaldo: 0

FIFPRO World XI Appearances

Messi: 15 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) Ronaldo: 15 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)

Team Trophies: Advantage Messi

With their clubs, Messi and Ronaldo have each lifted numerous trophies, the most renowned being the Champions League, an annual tournament of the best teams in European professional soccer. Ronaldo, who holds the record for most Champions League goals of all time (141), leads Messi by one on that trophy count. Messi, meanwhile, has a greater number of domestic cups and league titles.

The biggest factor setting the two apart is now their international success: they’d both sought a World Cup for so long, each winning regional tournaments with their countries but repeatedly falling short of the top prize. In the eyes of many soccer watchers, Messi’s victorious last dance on the global stage will surely cement his superiority in the history books.

UEFA Champions League Titles

Messi: 4 (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015 with Barcelona) Ronaldo: 5 (2008 with Manchester United; 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 with Real Madrid)

UEFA Super Cups

Messi: 3 (2009, 2011, 2015 with Barcelona) Ronaldo: 4 (2008 with Manchester United; 2014, 2016, 2017 with Real Madrid)

FIFA Club World Cups

Domestic League Titles

Messi: 11 (La Liga in 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2017-2018, 2018-2019; Ligue 1 in 2021-2022) Ronaldo: 7 (Premier League in 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009; La Liga in 2011-2012, 2016-2017; Serie A in 2018-2019, 2019-2020)

Domestic Cups

Messi: 16 (Supercopa de España in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018; Copa del Rey in 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021; Trophée des Champions in 2022) Ronaldo: 13 (Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in 2002; FA Cup in 2004; EFL Cup in 2006, 2009; FA Community Shield in 2007, 2008; Copa del Rey in 2011, 2014; Supercopa de España in 2012, 2017; Supercoppa Italiana in 2019, 2021; Coppa Italia in 2021)

Senior International Tournaments Besides the World Cup

Messi: 2 (2021 Copa América, 2022 CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions) Ronaldo: 2 (2016 European Championship, 2019 UEFA Nations League)

FIFA World Cups

Messi: 1 (2022) Ronaldo: 0

Icons on the field and off it (they’re the two most-followed Instagram accounts in the world), Messi and Ronaldo are both arguably better than any men’s soccer player to have come before them.

But as they each prepare to leave the stage in the coming years, there’s an ascendant generation—from 23-year-old French phenom Kylian Mbappé , the world’s highest-paid soccer player who already has a World Cup trophy under his belt and scored thrice in the final on Sunday to almost win his second, to 22-year-old Erling Haaland, Manchester City’s Norwegian rising star who in the last four years has scored 159 goals in 156 games for clubs and country—vying to take their places at the perch of the world’s most popular sport.

Yet until the youngsters prove that they, too, can compete at the highest level—not just for a few seasons but consistently over decades—Ronaldo and Messi will jointly remain in a league of their own, undoubtedly among the GOAT.

Between the two, however, Messi just made his legacy that much stronger.

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World Cup 2022 review: Lionel Messi's football fairytale ends a controversial tournament in Qatar

After Argentina and France produced arguably the greatest World Cup final of all time, Sky Sports News ' Rob Dorsett reviews Qatar 2022 and discusses what the winter tournament will ultimately be remembered for...

Senior Reporter, Sky Sports News @RobDorsettSky

Tuesday 20 December 2022 19:03, UK

The first World Cup in the Middle East, the first in a Muslim country, the first in mid-winter, the first to be alcohol-free in stadiums, the first to see no arrests of any UK citizens. This World Cup has been unique.

The showpiece final was possibly the greatest showpiece of them all. An extravaganza of footballing drama that went all the way, lurching sometimes towards France, sometimes towards Argentina.

And a fairytale finish for Messi the maestro, whose place in footballing folklore is assured.

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Human rights issues under the spotlight

But, off the pitch, as we've seen with many big tournaments in the past, this World Cup has been far from immune from world politics.

There was a very short build-up to the tournament. Instead of a warm-weather training camp and a couple of friendly matches, England had five training days before their opening group B game against Iran.

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Nevertheless, the build-up to the first game - and in truth, beyond that too - saw a news agenda dominated as much by human rights as it was the formation that Gareth Southgate might adopt for the opening game.

For months - in fact, several years - before the event in Qatar started, column inches were being written and questions were being asked about the huge numbers of migrant workers who had died whilst building the stadiums and tournament infrastructure.

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Estimates of the true number of deaths varied - from 15,000 according to Amnesty , 6,500 from the Guardian , and the three work-related deaths according to the Supreme Committee who organised this tournament.

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What was clear to us as journalists working in Qatar was that the vast majority of those imported construction workers had been moved out of Doha for the duration of the World Cup.

Huge projects - including one for a massive new hotel in the luxurious Pearl area of the Doha coastline - lay dormant and noiseless while we conducted interviews with Gary Neville and other ex-footballers alongside the nearby beach.

Out of sight, out of mind. That was clearly the thinking. And when FIFA organised a 'meet-the-migrant-workers' choreographed photocall at England's team base in Al Wakrah, it was a hugely awkward and fully choreographed event.

Southgate and the whole squad turned out to do a short training session with a group of 20-or-so hand-picked and FIFA-vetted migrant workers, who were all given England shirts and top-value tickets to England versus Wales.

It felt like the FA had been duped too by this FIFA publicity stunt. These weren't penniless construction workers, made to work in incredibly high temperatures with little regard for health and safety, trying to scrape a measly wage to send back to loved ones abroad.

The one 'migrant worker' we were allowed to interview spoke glowingly of the health and safety measures in place in Doha, how much the Supreme Committee cared about the workers, and how the international media had got it all wrong.

It turned out that the interviewee was an entrepreneur, who owned a health and safety business in Saudi Arabia, who had won a contract with the Supreme Committee to oversee work practices in Doha. In short, a stooge. A fairly wealthy stooge who was delighted with his free England shirt and free tickets to a big World Cup game.

Then there was the shambles of the OneLove armband, which had been hailed as a key symbol of support for the LGBTQ+ community, by the nine European nations who were determined their captains would wear it during games in Qatar.

Determined, that is, until at the 11th hour, FIFA threatened them with possible player suspensions if they wore them.

So they all backed down. The German national team made a powerful "gagging" gesture, by putting their hands over their mouths for the team photo before their opening game defeat to Japan.

The English FA, wrong-footed and fuming at FIFA, lit the Wembley arch in rainbow colours. It seemed a very distant echo of a protest, 4,000 miles away from the tournament, and a world away from a country in which no LGBTQ+ England fans felt comfortable to travel to.

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A diverse England fanbase with no arrests

In fact, the fanbase was very different inside the Doha stadiums from any other World Cup we have seen. Accusations of 'fan actors', who'd been paid by FIFA to attend, were quickly dismissed.

Gianni Infantino called it racist (and in this he was probably correct) for people to assume that, just because the England support looked very different from the typical England travelling support, they were not 'real' fans.

Most were ex-pats or England fans that lived outside England. Many from Asia, or the Middle East. But no less England fans.

The vast majority of UK-based England fans couldn't afford to come to Qatar to watch. With hotel prices typically in excess of £500 per night, and beer prices more than £12 a bottle in the few hotels you could buy it - it seemed unaffordable and unattractive to many.

So England's 'new' fanbase created a very different atmosphere around England's games. The atmosphere was less passionate for sure, more polite. But England's support had never looked so diverse.

Only the game versus Wales felt like a 'normal' England game, similar in atmosphere to what you might have seen at previous tournaments, with many supporters travelling from the UK for that one.

But hardly any of them were drunk. I spoke regularly to senior UK police officers stationed alongside the Qatar authorities. They were almost entirely redundant, and a bit embarrassed to be here.

There was not a single arrest of a UK national throughout the whole tournament - the first time that has ever happened.

The lack of alcohol was of course a huge factor. Two days before the opening game of the World Cup, there was a complete U-turn on the alcohol policy for the tournament. For years, the plan had been communicated that Qatar would relax its strict ban on alcohol inside stadiums.

Now, at the very last minute, the Supreme Committee had flexed its muscles, and FIFA changed its mind - upsetting Budweiser, a key sponsor, who quickly deleted a tweet on its official account that said "Well, this is awkward…"

It felt, even before the World Cup had started, that maybe FIFA wasn't running its own tournament. Clearly, the Qatar authorities held a lot of the power.

By the way, alcohol was still available in corporate hospitality boxes at games. The starting price for those suites was £19,000.

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Doubts remain over most sustainable World Cup

The stadiums themselves were extraordinary and magnificent. When money is no object, you can spend extra on making each one distinct and special, and that's what Qatar did.

Let's be honest, most football stadiums in the UK are 'of a type'. We are all accustomed to the white stanchions and tiered seating. In Doha, each stadium was bespoke and beautiful. One looked like a bird's nest. Another - the Lusail Stadium, host for the final - a giant golden fruit bowl, which glows, opulent, in the dark.

Of course, every time you walked into one of the stadiums, you wondered with a leaden heart just how many workers had suffered and died in the building of it.

But you were often quickly distracted as you dodged to the side to avoid a procession of huge blacked-out limousines drive right up to the VIP entrances, or as you watched one of the many helicopters ferrying the great and the good to the game.

What of FIFA's promise that this would be the most sustainable World Cup ever? That it would be carbon-neutral? There has been plenty of doubt cast upon that claim, and with good reason.

The vast majority of England's matches were staged at the Al Bayt stadium - a huge Bedouin tent-like structure to the far north of Doha, with nothing but a McDonald's restaurant within several miles of it.

Someone described it as looking more like a shopping mall than a stadium, and that was true. A shopping mall that had air conditioning unit outlets ringed all around the top of the roof, pumping hot air from inside. But the stadium had no roof. So much of that cool air, whilst it was nice on your ankles as you sat in your seat, escaped into the atmosphere.

Next to the Al Bayt Stadium was a synthetic warm-up pitch. The huge floodlights for that were turned on before it got dark, even though it was totally unused and inaccessible by fans or officials.

Similarly, at the huge FIFA main media centre on the Doha ring road, outside lighting was on permanently, all day long, in bright sunlight and temperatures which exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.

Fans, volunteers and the media went through millions of plastic water bottles. I feel terribly guilty to admit it, but I did too. Always looking for recycling bins within the FIFA facilities and on the street, and only very rarely finding one.

Infantino's 'mind-boggling' speech

And then there was Infantino's utterly bizarre welcome speech, on the eve of the opening ceremony. It wasn't scripted, apparently. Really?

You mean, he hadn't planned each word of that rambling, mind-boggling diatribe?

"Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel gay. Today, I feel disabled. Today, I feel like a migrant worker."

At a stroke, he ostracised anyone who truly was a part of the communities he claimed to be "like". And then he said he understood what it felt like to be ostracised and alone, because he had been bullied for having ginger hair whilst at school. Whilst also slating the Western media for giving moral lessons to the world. Oh, the irony.

Despite all of this, Infantino will still be re-elected as FIFA president unopposed at the end of March.

And despite his misjudgments, there is a sense that the Qatar World Cup has changed the image of the Arab world in the West.

'A real feast of football with a fairytale ending'

Thank God the football was such a pleasant distraction from all of this. And with all the stadiums within 45 minutes drive from each other - no other World Cup before or after, will enjoy that level of accessibility.

It has been a brilliant World Cup, on the pitch. A real feast of football.

There were some amazing shocks during the group stages - Japan beating Germany; Saudi Arabia humbling Argentina; Morocco finishing off Belgium. You were reminded that there is a slow but persistent "levelling-up" of abilities worldwide. That old adage that there are "no easy games" in tournament football has never been so true.

And then there was Lionel Messi, and that final.

The abiding memory of Qatar 2022 came in the final moments of the tournament, after 120 minutes and penalties (and after a ridiculous FIFA-induced delay of around 30 minutes between the final being decided, and Argentina's captain getting his hands on the World Cup trophy).

FIFA and Infantino are lucky that most of the politics, human rights issues and failures will be forgotten because of the most perfect of footballing fairytales.

The greatest player ever, winning his first World Cup, at what is almost certainly his final World Cup.

That is what Qatar 2022 will be remembered for.

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2022 World Cup and Qatar’s Economy Analytical Essay

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Introduction

Examining factors related to the local economy, examining the decision-making process, reference list.

Any major sporting event whether it comes in the form of the Olympics, the World Cup or a variety of other events has the advantage of creating substantial economic activity within the country it is hosted in.

This is due to the sheer amount of visitors such events draw as well as the greater degree of exposure of the country which results in better prospects for tourism in the near future (Qataris are over the moon, 2011). Despite this, it must be questioned whether hosting such an event will result in economic success or is a potential prelude to potentially disastrous future consequences.

Ordinarily hosting such an event wouldn’t be a problem if there was sufficient local demand which offsets the costs involved in construction of new hotels, resorts, roads and stadiums for the expected 400,000 guests but the problem lies in the fact that Qatar has a population of barely 1,800,000 people and as such local demand for the new infrastructure developments would be quite low after the 2022 World Cup.

One way of seeing this in action is through the supply and demand illustration in Figure 1 . It is assumed that at the start of 2022 World Cup the demand on Qatar’s infrastructure developments will be placed at 550,000 units (400,000 predicted foreign guests and 150,000 local visitors).

The supply in this particular graph will be set at a constant 550,000 thousand estimated real estate units based on the possibility that Qatar will have sufficient infrastructure capabilities to match demand.

At the beginning (meaning during the World Cup) there is a perfect equilibrium between demand and supply however after the World Cup the 400,000 thousand visitors will of course leave. Unfortunately, this leaves the 550,000 real estate units supply which are permanent fixtures within the local economy.

While initially there is a certain degree of demand within the economy from local and foreign sources the fact remains that the law of diminishing marginal utility states that eventually there will be a gain or loss from the continued consumption of a particular unit of supply and this takes the form of diminishing demand within the graph however do take into account that, unlike other types of supply, real estate developments last much longer and aren’t exactly “consumed” in the traditional manner (i.e. hotel rooms, apartments for rent etc.) as such these remain constant.

From the graph, it can be seen that there will be insufficient local and foreign demand to match the supply of real estate units created within Qatar and as a result, this would cause considerable problems within the local economy immediately after the event.

Various experts examining the bid of Qatar state that this is the country’s attempt at presenting itself as a global destination for business and tourism. The problem with this though is the fact that Dubai, which is quite close to Qatar, has already attempted this strategy with billions poured into infrastructure development culminating in the creation of the Palm Islands, the World Islands and the Burj Al Arab (Irish, 2005).

Taking this into consideration the strategy of Qatar is basically an emulation of what was done in Dubai however it is doubtful that it will be able to succeed given the fact that tourists could just go to Dubai which has a far more established reputation as compared to Qatar.

Furthermore, as evidenced by other countries that have hosted sporting events such as the Olympics and other World Cups, the money poured into the development of event locations is often not profitable (Matthew, 2009).

Based on the various arguments presented it can be seen that while the 2022 World Cup will bring substantial amounts of profit for various local businesses while it occurs it can be expected that after it is over the sheer amount of hyped-up infrastructure development without sufficient localized demand can and will result in problems for Qatar’s economy in the near future.

Irish, J. (2005). Bigger, better, bolder. MEED: Middle East Economic Digest, 49 (6), 42- 43.

Matthew, B. (2009). Olympic Stadium could turn into a ‘white elephant’ after 2012. Evening Standard . p. 4.

Qataris are over the moon. (2011). Business Middle East, 19 (1), 8.

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IvyPanda. (2019, June 5). 2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/2022-world-cup/

"2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy." IvyPanda , 5 June 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/2022-world-cup/.

IvyPanda . (2019) '2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy'. 5 June.

IvyPanda . 2019. "2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy." June 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/2022-world-cup/.

1. IvyPanda . "2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy." June 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/2022-world-cup/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "2022 World Cup and Qatar's Economy." June 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/2022-world-cup/.

Lionel Messi and Argentina defeat France in penalty kick shootout for World Cup title

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When Sunday’s World Cup final finally ended, there was a president on one side of the field and a king on the other.

The president was France’s Emmanuel Macron , who was commiserating with Kylian Mbappe , his country’s young superstar and a player who has known little but success in his short career. The king was the aging Lionel Messi , who finally won the prize that had eluded him during a long and storied career.

It took six goals, 120 minutes and a four-round penalty-kick shootout to separate one from the other. But when it was finally over, Messi was world champion, assuming the crown Mbappe had worn the last four years.

“It’s just crazy that it became a reality this way,” Messi said. “I craved for this so much. I knew God would bring this gift to me. I had the feeling that this [World Cup] was the one.”

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There was no final whistle to mark the end of the game, nor was one needed. Instead, it ended with the sound of 88,966 fans screaming — most of them for Argentina — when Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty try hit the back of the net.

At midfield Messi dropped to his knees and was immediately engulfed by teammates, most smiling, some crying and others, like Messi, doing both. After several long, suffocating minutes in the middle of the scrum, he broke free and headed for the sideline, arms held aloft as he waved to his family.

In Buenos Aires, tens of thousands of people celebrated in the streets.

“I know it’s just a football game, but it’s a World Cup final,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said. “For us in Argentina, it’s something more.”

During the postgame awards ceremony, when he was called up to receive the Golden Ball as the tournament’s outstanding player, Messi paused as he headed off stage to place a gentle kiss atop the 14-inch solid gold World Cup trophy, the final recognition he needed to secure his place as the greatest player of all time.

A seven-time world player of the year, Messi had won virtually everything there was to win except the World Cup, and that had kept him partially hidden in the shadow of the late Diego Maradona , who led Argentina to its last world championship in 1986. Without a title of his own Messi didn’t measure up, many thought, a feeling that was reinforced before Sunday’s game when footage of Maradona played on the stadium scoreboards, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.

After the game, those Maradona fans were finally clapping for Messi.

Sunday’s final, the fourth in the last five World Cups to go to extra time, unfolded more like a heavyweight title fight than a soccer game, with both teams throwing knockout punches, but neither side going down.

Argentina delivered the first two blows, taking a 2-0 first-half lead on goals from Messi and Ángel Di María, only to see Mbappe punch back, pulling France even in the final 10 minutes of regulation, scoring first on a penalty kick, then tying the score less than two minutes later on a spectacular individual effort.

It was the second time in three games that Argentina had given away a 2-0 lead after the 70th minute. But neither Messi nor Mbappe, teammates at French club Paris-Saint Germain, were done.

Messi, 35, who announced earlier this year this would be his last World Cup, put Argentina back in front again three minutes into the second extra-time period, bumping in the rebound of a Lautaro Martínez shot that fell at his feet. The goal was Messi’s seventh in the tournament and the sixth that had given Argentina a lead. His two goals Sunday also made him the first player in World Cup history to score in all five rounds of a World Cup: the group stage, the round of 16, the quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

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But that wasn’t enough, with Mbappe tying the score again eight minutes later, converting another penalty kick after Montiel was called for a handball in the box. That made Mbappe the second player with a hat trick in a men’s World Cup. Combined with his goal in the 2018 final, it made him the only man to score four times in the final.

That score, the 172nd of the tournament, also broke the overall World Cup record for goals.

“It was the World Cup of records tonight,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “And Kylian really left his mark on this final. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave the mark he would have liked.”

Both Mbappe and Messi made their tries to open the shootout, but then the momentum shifted for the final time when Argentina keeper Emiliano Martínez, the Gold Glove winner as the tournament’s best goalie, guessed correctly to start the second round, diving in front of Kingsley Coman’s shot and smothering it. In the next round France’s Aurelien Tchouameni pushed his try wide of the left post and when Montiel made his, France’s reign was over and its quest to become the first men’s team to win back-to-back titles in 60 years was done.

“That match was complete insanity,” said Scaloni, who showed up at his postgame news conference wearing a blue-and-white national team jersey with a third star on the left chest, signifying Argentina’s third World Cup title.

About 20 minutes after it ended, the Argentine players filed across the stage in a slow parade to receive their winners’ medals from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Messi, as captain, went last and after having the medal hung around his neck, he led Infantino and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, to the World Cup trophy. There Infantino and the emir draped a Bisht, a black and gold Qatari robe, over Messi’s sweat-soaked and grass-strained uniform, then finally, slowly, tauntingly handed him the most cherished trophy in team sports.

As Messi cradled it over to his teammates, the rim high above Lusail Stadium exploded with fireworks.

“It took so long, but here it is,” Messi said. “We suffered a lot, but we managed to do it.”

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Peter Drury's commentary for Lionel Messi finally winning the World Cup was just perfection

Peter drury perfectly encapsulated lionel messi winning the world cup trophy with argentina..

Josh Lawless

Lionel Messi finally became a World Cup winner at the age of 35 and Peter Drury described the special moment in wonderful fashion.

Argentina and France played out a breathtaking 3-3 draw in 120 minutes of action at the Lusail Stadium and after Kylian Mbappe bagged a late penalty to clinch a World Cup final hat-trick, the scores were settled in a dramatic shoot-out.

After Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed, Gonzalo Montiel sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way to clinch a third World Cup triumph for Argentina.

Drury, easily the best commentator for the big moments, came up clutch again when Montiel slotted in his spot-kick and two-goal hero Messi fell to his knees in euphoria.

He yelled: "Montiel... Argentina, champions of the world. Again. At last. And the nation will tango all night long. 36 years ago since Maradona and Mexico, here finally is a nation's new throng of immortals. Scaloni will be fated, Messi will be sainted.

"France this time denied... defied."

As celebrations were ramped up from an Argentina perspective ahead of the trophy lift, Drury continued to produce poetic goodness for Messi's long-awaited triumph.

"Lionel Messi has shaken hands with paradise," Drury added.

"The little boy from Rosario, Santa Fe, has just pitched up in heaven. He climbs into a galaxy of his own. He has his crowning moment and of course he is not alone.

"And one feels for Mbappe, who scored a World Cup final hat-trick and lost. How can that be?"

Messi lost three consecutive finals for Argentina and retired from international duty before eventually returning to the fold.

He finally lifted the Copa America with his country last year and has gone one step further by captaining Argentina to a World Cup triumph.

He had said beforehand that it would be his last World Cup and he set a new record for the most appearances in the tournament with 26.

However, after the game the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner confirmed he will keep on playing.

"I will not retire," Messi told reporters.

"I want to continue playing as a champion."

Topics:  Lionel Messi , Argentina , Football World Cup , France

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

@ joshlawless_

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Messi wins World Cup, Argentina beats France on penalties

Argentina’s Lionel Messi lifts the trophy after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended tied 3-3. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi holds the trophy aloft as he celebrates with his team at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended tied 3-3. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi holds up the trophy after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec.18, 2022. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Argentinian players celebrate after winning penalty shootout during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his side’s first goal during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi, right, scores his side’s first goal passing France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring his side’s second goal during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi scores his side’s opening goal during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec.18, 2022. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

France’s Kylian Mbappe, right, watches Argentina’s Lionel Messi, left, during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

France’s Kylian Mbappe, right, scores his side’s second goal during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

France’s Kylian Mbappe runs past Argentina’s Lionel Messi as he retrieves the ball after scoring his side’s first goal during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

France’s head coach Didier Deschamps, left, speaks towards the Argentina bench during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni gets emotional during a press conference at the end of World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended tied 3-3. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Argentina fans celebrate in Madrid downtown, Spain after the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France in Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

Argentine soccer fans celebrate their team’s World Cup victory over France, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates his side’s their goal as France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris stands during the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi holds the winners trophy as he celebrates with fans after Argentina won the World Cup final soccer match against France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi sits with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo after Argentina won the World Cup final soccer match against France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul celebrates winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec.18, 2022. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with the trophy in front of the fans after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended tied 3-3. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi, wearing a black Qatari robe over his blue-and-white Argentina shirt, kissed the World Cup, shuffled toward his teammates and hoisted the golden trophy high in the air.

It was an iconic sight that finally — definitively — places the soccer superstar in the pantheon of the game’s greatest players.

Messi’s once-in-a-generation career is complete: He is a World Cup champion.

In probably the wildest final in the tournament’s 92-year history, Argentina won its third World Cup title by beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw featuring two goals from the 35-year-old Messi and a hat trick by his heir apparent, France forward Kylian Mbappé.

“It’s just crazy that it became a reality this way,” Messi said. “I craved for this so much. I knew God would bring this gift to me. I had the feeling that this (World Cup) was the one.”

Amid the chaos inside Lusail Stadium, Mbappé did all he could to emulate Brazil great Pelé as a champion at his first two World Cups. Even scoring the first hat trick in a final since Geoff Hurst for England in 1966.

It wasn’t enough.

Now there’s no debate. Messi joins Pelé — a record three-time World Cup champion — and Diego Maradona, the late Argentina great with whom Messi was so often compared, in an exclusive club of the best soccer players of all time.

Who is the greatest? It’s a discussion that will rage forever because there can never be a definitive answer. Messi has put up a good argument, though, and — with the World Cup title on his resume — he is surely above Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player of his generation.

Messi achieved what Maradona did in 1986 and dominated a World Cup for Argentina. He scored seven goals and embraced the responsibility of leading his team out of those dark moments after a shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in the group stage.

Playing in the spirit of Maradona, Messi coupled his dazzling skills with rarely seen aggression and led Argentina to the title by becoming the first man in a single edition of the World Cup to score in the group stage and then in every round of the knockout stage.

The torch will one day pass to Mbappé, but not just yet.

“Let’s go, Argentina!” Messi roared into a microphone on the field in the post-match celebrations after playing in a record 26th World Cup match.

Later, he said: “I can’t wait to be in Argentina to witness the insanity of this.”

Messi had a tantalizing glimpse of the 18-carat gold World Cup trophy when walking on the stage to collect the Golden Ball, awarded to the player of the tournament. He even kissed the World Cup and rubbed it repeatedly.

He got his hands on it for good about 10 minutes later, after a ceremonial robe — a bisht — was draped over his shoulders by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. And, oh, did he enjoy the moment, celebrating with his family and the teammates who put Argentina atop the soccer world for the first time since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The country’s other title came in 1978 on home soil.

Messi was in scintillating form from the start of the final, putting Argentina ahead from the penalty spot after Angel Di Maria was tripped and later playing a part in a flowing team move that resulted in Di Maria making it 2-0 after 36 minutes.

Mbappé, on the other hand, was anonymous until bursting into life by scoring two goals in a 97-second span — one an 80th-minute penalty, the other a volley from just inside the area after a quick exchange of passes — to take the game to extra time at 2-2.

Messi still had plenty of energy and he was on hand to tap in his second goal in the 108th minute, with a France defender clearing the ball just after it had crossed the line. Argentina was on the brink of the title once again, but there was still time for another penalty from Mbappé, after a handball, to take the thrilling game to a shootout.

“We managed to come back from the dead,” said France coach Didier Deschamps, whose team was looking to become the first back-to-back champions since Brazil in 1962.

Mbappé and Messi took their teams’ first penalties and scored. Kingsley Coman had an attempt saved by Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez and Aurelien Tchouameni then missed for France, giving Gonzalo Montiel the opportunity to end it. He converted the penalty to the left and sparked wild celebrations.

“The match was completely insane,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, who was asked if he had a message for Maradona, who died two years ago.

“If he had been here, he would have enjoyed it so much,” Scaloni said. “He would have been the first person on the field (to celebrate). I wish he’d have been here to enjoy the moment.”

Europe’s run of four straight World Cup winners, dating to 2006, came to an end. The last South American champion was Brazil, and that was also in Asia — when Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament in 2002.

In Qatar, Argentina backed up its victory from last year’s Copa America, its first major trophy since 1993. It’s quite the climax to Messi’s international career, which is not over just yet. He said after the match that he would continue to play with the national team.

It was quite a final for a unique World Cup — the first to be played in the Arab world.

For FIFA and the Qatari organizers, a final between two major soccer nations and the world’s two best players represented a perfect way to cap a tournament laced in controversy ever since the scandal-shrouded vote in 2010 to give the event to a tiny Arab emirate.

The years-long scrutiny since has focused on the switch of dates from the traditional June-July period to November-December, strong criticism of how migrant workers have been treated, and then unease about taking soccer’s biggest event to a nation where homosexual acts are illegal.

On Sunday, there was one narrative at play for most people: Could Messi do it?

He could, despite the 23-year-old Mbappé doing all he could to deny his Paris Saint-Germain teammate. Finishing the tournament as the top scorer with eight goals is likely only a crumb of comfort.

Messi has been a man on a mission in the Middle East, determined to erase memories of his only other World Cup final — in 2014 when Argentina lost to Germany 1-0 and Messi squandered a great chance in the second half.

On that night at the Maracana Stadium, Messi stared down at that golden World Cup trophy that escaped him.

Eight years later, he raised it aloft in the biggest moment of a career like no other.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

France Tops England 2-1 in Thriller, Advances to World Cup Semifinal

Aurelien tchouameni and olivier giroud got the goals for les bleus, by sanjesh singh • published december 10, 2022 • updated on december 10, 2022 at 5:08 pm.

The last remaining semifinal ticket has been booked.

France’s quest to repeat as World Cup champions continued after topping England 2-1 in a quarterfinal thriller.

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Both Gareth Southgate and Didier Deschamps came out with unchanged starting XIs from their round of 16 wins. 

England kept its 4-3-3 shape with Phil Foden at left wing and Jordan Henderson in the right-hand box-to-box midfield role. France maintained its hybrid 4-2-3-1 lineup with Antoine Griezmann free roaming. 

As expected, England controlled the possession in the early stages with a 3-2-5 shape going against France’s 4-4-2 midblock with a passive press. In the 15th minute, right back Kyle Walker, who had the Kylian Mbappé matchup, exploited the right half space between Mbappé and left back Theo Hernández. But he didn’t cross the ball into the penalty box and Mbappé broke free on the counter.

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The French superstar drew in three English defenders on the left flank before getting the ball out to the right, where Griezmann casually laid it off to Aurélien Tchouaméni for a stunning long-distance strike from outside the box in the 17th minute.

England ramped up the intensity from that point forward, with Harry Kane getting two good chances at French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the two also being teammates at Tottenham in the English Premier League. Lloris managed to get two crucial saves to keep the score 1-0 at the interval.

The Three Lions kept the pressure on early in the second half when Jude Bellingham saw his right-footed half volley from just outside the box get tipped over by Lloris. 

Eventually it was the magic of Bukayo Saka and Bellingham on the right-hand side that created England’s opening goal. A slick one-two passing move between the two forced Tchouaméni into a dangerous tackle on Saka inside the box, and Harry Kane stepped up to the spot with a convincing penalty conversion past Lloris. 

France struggled to keep the ball with England’s press making Les Bleus uncomfortable. Mbappé couldn’t do much against the double teams the Three Lions would put on him, and England nearly took the lead the other way when Harry Maguire’s header off a Jordan Henderson free kick just curled away from the left near post. 

That bit Maguire just eight minutes later when Olivier Giroud beat him to a Griezmann cross for a headed goal in the 78th minute , giving France a 2-1 advantage. 

The pressure turned back to England to equalize again despite being the better side throughout, but Southgate subbing off Saka in the 79th minute for Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson for Mason Mount took away its best threats on the right-hand side.

But Mount won a pivotal penalty after Hernández threw a reckless elbow into his back inside the box, and Kane had a chance to make it two penalty goals in one game. However, he sailed this one over the crossbar, and the Three Lions didn’t have any other key chances to tie after Marcus Rashford’s late free kick just sailed over the right far post.

Most of the statistics – shots, shots on target, possession, passes, pass accuracy, expected goals – went England’s way, but not optimizing the momentum to find the second goal after Kane’s goal before Giroud did cost the side. 

France is now advancing to its seventh World Cup semifinal of all time, and the second time it has done so in consecutive tournaments (1982/1986).

For Les Bleus to reach the final, they’ll have to beat Morocco, the team of destiny, in the semifinal on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT.

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• Fired BBC Presenter Jermaine Jenas Denies Fresh Claim He “Bombarded World Cup Party Planner With Unsolicited Texts”

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A fired BBC sports presenter has denied fresh claims that he sent a woman unsolicited inappropriate pictures while on overseas duty covering the football World Cup for the corporation. 

Jermaine Jenas was a presenter of sports programs and magazine show T he One Show until a fortnight ago, when the BBC fired him following claims he had sent inappropriate text messages to other members of the production team. Jenas apologised for his behaviour, but said he had done nothing illegal, and all the messages were consensual. 

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By Saturday afternoon, a source “close to Jenas” had told The Sun newspaper he denied all claims the messages were unsolicited. 

The source was quoted saying: “Jermaine completely denies these texts were unsolicited. They were between two consenting adults.”

The source added: “She handed Jermaine her number and was trying to arrange to meet him, whilst desperate for him to bring his VIP mates to her parties… Funny now more than two years on the texts were not wanted.”

The former presenter had previously apologised for his actions at the BBC, saying he had let everyone down, including his family. However, The Sun reports that he is consulting lawyers about a complaint regarding the way his contract was terminated and the allegations discussed by staff. The newspaper says a legal letter has already been sent to BBC chiefs. 

A BBC spokesperson told Deadline: “As we have explained previously, he is no longer part of our presenting line up.”

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