Argentina’s forward #10 Lionel Messi receives the World Cup trophy from FIFA President Gianni Infantino as Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani looks on during the Qatar 2022 World Cup trophy ceremony after the football final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha on December 18, 2022. Argentina won in the penalty shoot-out.
(AFP/Franck Fife)
Q
atar brought the curtain down on the World Cup on Sunday after a dramatic final, highlighting the country's influence on world soccer and ending a tournament in which it drew criticism on human rights but defied doubts that it could host such a global event.
Argentina defeated France on penalties in a pulsating match dominated by two talismanic strikers who play their club soccer for a team owned by the Gulf Arab state that has earned huge wealth in recent decades from natural gas exports.
A capacity crowd of nearly 89,000 watched the spectacle in one of several stadiums built specially in the country of just 3 million people, the first Arab country to host the tournament.
The tournament polarised opinion long before it kicked off last month – with critics of Qatar's treatment of foreign workers, its ban on homosexuality and its curbs on political expression saying that money trumped ethics when it was picked as host.
Qatari officials, who were stung by the criticism and say they have taken steps to address the situation of foreign workers since Doha was granted the hosting rights in 2010, have been delighted by way the tournament panned out.
"The most important thing to remember is the World Cup transcends sports and it plays an exceptional role in uniting people and countries," said Qatar's ambassador to the United Nations Sheikh Alya al-Thani at a ceremony marking the handover to the 2026 hosts in North America.
State news agency QNA said on Sunday that 1.4 million people visited Qatar during the World Cup. That number is higher than pre-tournament estimates and a sharp jump on the 1 million reported two days earlier by Qatar's World Cup authorities.