The thrill-a-minute 64 international football games that the world waited for a long and tedious 4-year period are upon us. Out of the 32 star-studded national teams assembling in Qatar, only one will be crowned the champions of the world on the 18th of December 2022. Although there are obvious favourites boosting international icons such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, the games start with the group stages where anything can happen before the teary knock-out phase.

Sunday | November 20, 2022

The 2022 World Cup games are kicking off today in Qatar under the hawkish posture of the world’s soccer governing body International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Positioned in the Western side of Asia, Qatar will be the first country in that region – the Middle East – to host the prestigious global sport.

They fire off the World Cup games with Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor city at 16h00 (GMT) – 18h00 SAT. The 60, 000-seater stadium will bear witness to the traditional opening ceremony that accompanies the mega soccer just few hours before the actual kick off.

Ecuador are not world beaters themselves. But they are ranked 42nd in the FIFA world football scale and will be facing a host nation who are not only eight (8)places below them but the Asian reigning champions. The support will be overwhelmingly on Qatar side since they are kitting out for biggest competition in the world in their own backyard.

The hosts are in Group A featuring Senegal and Netherlands who will take on each other tomorrow.The hosts are in Group A featuring Senegal and Netherlands who will take on each other tomorrow.

The final will be held on Dec. 18 at Lusail Stadium with 80, 000 capacity in the city of Lusail, north-eastern end of Qatar. This venue will have a game in each round of the FIFA World Cup tournament.

According to Al Jazeera, Qatar spent nearly “$10 million” on the construction of the eight stadiums that will be utilised for this 2022 World Cup. 

Quite distinctly, these FIFA games are usually held in June and July but the extreme heat patterns in Qatar forced the hand of the authorities to schedule it for November and December. Again, the 32 participating nations’ competition culminating into 64 international games will be expanded, adding more countries in future, to make the sport more inclusive and competitive.

How much the Qatar national team will bring in terms of football spectacle is not known yet. At the moment, host countries qualify by virtue of staging this magnificent football festival. And that is how Qatar found itself in the FIFA World Cup after a successful bid in 2010.

As the first Middle East country to welcome football guests from near and far corners of the globe, they are the smallest country to host this mega event in just eight (8) stadiums concentrated in close proximity.

Punters corner

The previous edition held in Russia was won by France in 2018. They are also back to defend their throne. Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Portugal are some of the nations tipped to hoist the most prized trophy stage every four years.

The 2014 winners Germany and 2010 victors Spain are among the decorated teams in Qatar. Strangely, Italy who seized the World Cup in 2006 did not make the cut for this epic global showpiece. Of course, there are other national squads with interesting players to watch in the form of Germany, Belgium, Uruguay and England.

Thrills and spills

There are fascinating stars whose countries did not qualify for games: Mohamed (Mo) Salah of Egypt (30) and Erling Haaland (22) of Norway as well as Zlatan Ibrahimović (41) of Sweden.

However, there are still the obvious crowd pullers and viewership attractors in the Qatar 2020 FIFA World Cup contest. The 35-year old Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) at 37, Neymar (Brazil) at 30, Kylian Mbappe (France) at 23, Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium) at 31, Luka Modric (Croatia) at 37, Robert Lewandowski (Poland) at 34, just to list a few.

On the flip side, Senegalese Sadio Mane (30) and French Karim Benzima (34) are among the players who suffered injuries prior the inception of the world cup matches.

As the momentous global spectacle gets underway today, will the Asian national teams shock the football world by going beyond the group stages? And perhaps bring more than just opening their extraordinarily embellished doors to reveal their garb and culture and advance all the way to the medal stages.

Most certainly, this and more will become apparent as the games progress. For now though, let every participant revel in the merriment of the most beautiful artistic sports of them all – International football at its zenith.

Morality bent

The World Cup began in Uruguay in 1930. This edition in Qatar is not without its fair share of criticism. Allegations of human rights violations have been raised concerning the lives of people who perished during the construction of the stadiums. Furthermore, in the run up to the kick off on Sunday, there have been calls and threats made by national teams and fans across the world to protest in support of one or other cases. 

At a time when the entire world is accelerating globalisation and merging cultures, some people around the world express views that Qataris are ostracising themselves and clinging onto their parochial practices. Qatar’s claim is that they can not afford to dilute their norms and grounded beliefs for the sake of a 28-day event.

However, the world cup is not just an event. It is a prestigious global showpiece pulling scores of people from all corners of the earth. Travellers come revellers carry with them their own cultural practices which melt into a single theme that unites them all.

Perhaps the frustration that made the bad publicity of this event in Qatar is that two days before kick off, FIFA announced that alcohol will not be available at the Stadiums where football matches are scheduled. This sudden change of public policy by the Qatari government infuriated those who travel and enjoy drinks during the games as done in line with other locations it has been hosted. That said, non-alcoholic beverages will be sold in the Stadiums whereas alcohol can be purchased in designated areas away from the football venues. Ultimately, football and entertainment will proceed as it should and world winners will, as per tradition, be crowned.