10 interesting facts about the FIFA World Cup 2022
As per Bloomberg, Qatar has spent a whopping $300 billion (Rs 2442000 crore) to organise the World Cup. As per Economic Times, the construction of new stadiums cost $6.5 billion (Rs 530 crore). In comparison, Russia had spent only $14.2 billion (Rs 115913 crore) to organise the 2018 World Cup, per Forbes.
The Qatar World Cup will be played across 28 days, which makes it the shortest football World Cup since 1998. Since the World Cup became a 32-team tournament in 1998, the 2014 edition in Brazil was held over 32 days while the shortest 32-team World Cup was played across 31 days. The opening match of the 2022 World Cup was played on November 20, with the final to be held on December 18.
As the host country, Qatar’s national football team automatically qualified for the World Cup 2022. This is their first appearance at the FIFA World Cup. However, they lost their opening game to Ecuador.
December instead of May, June, or July. Summers in Qatar get harsh, which is why the tournament has been held in winter when the weather is pleasant. This, however, has played a spoilsport to the European league schedules.
18-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko of Germany is the youngest player at the 2022 World Cup. At the Bundesliga in 2022, he helped Borussia Dortmund with three assists and six goals. The oldest player, meanwhile, is Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, aged 45.
As per The Hindu, more than 1.5 million people applied for the compulsory pass for the tournament. The pass serves as a visa, transport and match ticket and gives access to fan zones. The two international airports in Doha are prepared to handle 150,000 entries a day during the course of the tournament. As per Bloomberg, nearly 3 million tickets had been sold by mid-October.
As per TOI, as many as five billion people are expected to tune in to watch the 2022 World Cup. That is more than half of the world’s population!
There are only eight teams in the world that have won the prestigious FIFA World Cup. Brazil has five wins, while Germany and Italy have four wins each. Uruguay, Argentina and France have two titles each, while Spain and England have one each. Six of these eight teams have won the trophy as a host – England, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, Germany and France.
Qatar has banned the sale of alcohol at the Fifa World Cup 2022 stadiums. Beer will be available only in hospitality boxes and in fan zones after 7 pm. Pork-based items, balloons, loud music instruments, pride flags and cigarettes are also banned inside the stadiums.
Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain icon Lionel Messi, 35, confirmed in October that Qatar 2022 will be his last, while Portugal and Manchester United player, 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to make a comment on his future in international football. Messi are Ronaldo are unarguably two of the greatest players to have played the game.
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