2022 FIFA World Cup

2022 FIFA World Cup
كَأْسُ الْعَالَمِ لِكُرَةِ الْقَدَم 2022
Ka‘sul-âlam li-kurrati’l-kadam 2022
الآن هو كل شيء
Al-ʾāna huwa kullu šayʾ
"Now Is All"[1]
Tournament details
Host countryQatar
Dates20 November – 18 December
Teams32 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)8 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Argentina (3rd title)
Runners-up France
Third place Croatia
Fourth place Morocco
Tournament statistics
Matches played64
Goals scored172 (2.69 per match)
Attendance3,404,252 (53,191 per match)
Top scorer(s)France national football team Kylian Mbappé (8 goals)
Best player(s)Argentina national football team Lionel Messi
Best young playerArgentina national football team Enzo Fernández
Best goalkeeperArgentina national football team Emiliano Martínez
Fair play award England
2018
2026

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2010.[2] It was the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East and Persian Gulf countries, and the second held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.[A]

This tournament was the last with 32 participating teams, with the number of teams being increased to 48 for the 2026 edition. To avoid the extremes of Qatar's hot climate,[B] the event was held in November and December instead of during the traditional months of May, June, or July.[C] It was held over a reduced time frame of 29 days with 64 matches played in eight venues across five cities. Qatar entered the event—their first World Cup—automatically as the host's national team, alongside 31 teams determined by the qualification process.

Argentina were crowned the champions after winning the final against the title holder France 4–2 on penalties following a 3–3 draw after extra time. It was Argentina's third title and their first since 1986, as well as being the first nation from outside of Europe to win the tournament since 2002. French player Kylian Mbappé became the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final and won the Golden Boot as he scored the most goals (eight) during the tournament. Mbappé also became the first player to score in two consecutive finals since Vavá of Brazil did the same in 1958 and 1962.

Argentine captain Lionel Messi was voted the tournament's best player, winning his second Golden Ball. The tournament has been considered exceptionally poetic as the capstone of his career, with the win fulfilling for some commentators a previously unmet criterion to be regarded as the greatest player of all time.[5] Teammates Emiliano Martínez and Enzo Fernández won the Golden Glove, awarded to the tournament's best goalkeeper; and the Young Player Award, awarded to the tournament's best young player, respectively. With 172 goals, the tournament set a record for the highest number of goals scored in the 32-team format, with every participating team scoring at least one goal.

The choice to host the World Cup in Qatar attracted significant criticism, with concerns raised over the country's treatment of migrant workers, women, and members of the LGBT community, as well as Qatar's climate, lack of a strong football culture, scheduling changes, and allegations of bribery for hosting rights and wider FIFA corruption.[D]

  1. ^ "Now is all – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022". FIFA. 4 November 2021. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Qatar selected as 2022 World Cup host". Morning Journal. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, Becky (18 November 2022). "Why Qatar is a controversial host for the World Cup". NPR. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  4. ^ Borden, Sam (19 March 2015). "FIFA Confirms Winter World Cup for 2022". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  5. ^ Smith, Rory (18 December 2022). "World Cup Coronation Complete! Lionel Messi Claims His Crown as Argentina Rejoices". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  6. ^ McTague, Tom (19 November 2022). "The Qatar World Cup Exposes Soccer's Shame". The Atlantic. Washington, D.C. ISSN 2151-9463. OCLC 936540106. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ Boehm, Eric (21 November 2022). "The Qatar World Cup Is a Celebration of Authoritarianism". Reason. OCLC 818916200. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  8. ^ "FIFA World Cup 2022: Why Qatar is a controversial location for the tournament". The Times of India. Reuters. 16 November 2022. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  9. ^ Begum, Rothna (25 November 2022). "Qatar Can't Hide Its Abuses by Calling Criticism Racist". Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C.: Graham Holdings Company. ISSN 0015-7228. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  10. ^ Miller, Nick (26 November 2022). "What does the World Cup mean to the Middle East and Arab world?". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022. between the Western World/media and those from the Middle East
  11. ^ "2022 World Cup: Criticism of Qatar finds unequal resonance around the world". Le Monde. 14 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. ^ Baxter, Kevin (20 November 2022). "Qatar walks tightrope between Arab values and Western norms with World Cup gamble". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  13. ^ Griffin, Thomas Ross (2017). "Football in the Hands of the Other: Qatar's World Cup in the British Broadsheet Press". Arab World Geographer. 20 (2): 170–182.


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