Let's take a look back at the most special highlights of the 2022 World Cup, the first tournament in history taking place at the end of the year.
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About the World Cup 2022
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the second World Cup to be held in Asia (after the 2002 World Cup held in Japan and South Korea). This is the first time the World Cup is held in a Middle Eastern country and the last time the tournament has 32 participating teams, after FIFA decided the number of participating teams will be increased to 48 from the 2026 finals.
World Cup 2022 with "firsts".
The Qatar men's national team, making its inaugural appearance in a World Cup Final round as the host, suffered an unprecedented setback on the opening day. This historic moment is further accentuated by the fact that the World Cup has traditionally been held in the summer months of May, June or July. However, the Qatar 2022 edition has broken with this convention, moving the tournament to winter in order to avoid the scorching heat of the Qatari summer, which can reach temperatures well in excess of 40 or even 50 degrees Celsius. Even so, the temperatures during the winter months in Qatar can still be around 30 degrees Celsius, posing a formidable challenge for the organizers.
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| World Cup 2022 in Qatar. |
To mitigate the intense heat, a variety of state-of-the-art cooling systems have been deployed in stadiums across the country. Moreover, Qatar 2022 has gone down in history as the first World Cup to feature female referees in charge of matches. The tournament has also made use of semi-automatic offside detection technology, with a total of 16 cameras strategically installed around the stadium and a chip-encrusted ball deployed to aid the referees in match management. In addition, the tournament has implemented the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. However, the deployment of technology has come under intense scrutiny, with controversies arising over the application of the technology in numerous ball situations at this year's finals.
The lavish World Cup in history.
Qatar's abundant wealth has facilitated the hosting of the most extravagant and costly World Cup in history. The country's infrastructure spending over the past decade is estimated to have reached a staggering $300 billion, dwarfing the costs of previous World Cup host countries. For instance, the 2018 World Cup in Russia cost an estimated 14 billion USD, while the Brazil 2014 World Cup totaled over 10 billion USD.
In addition to setting a new record for organizational budget, tickets for the 2022 World Cup matches are the most expensive in the past 20 years, priced over 40% higher than tickets to attend the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Due to limited capacity for accommodating visitors, the host country, Qatar, has devised a unique solution by creating satellite cities for the 2022 World Cup, located in other cities and countries such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman. As an additional option, two luxurious cruise ships are docked at the Doha port during the World Cup to serve football fans.
Records at World Cup 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo has made history by becoming the first player to score at five different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022). Ronaldo's first goal at the 2022 tournament came from the penalty spot in a 3-2 win over Ghana in Group H, making him the oldest player to score for Portugal at the World Cup.
Joining Ronaldo in the elite club of players to compete in five different World Cups are Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthäus, Antonio Carbajal, and Rafael Márquez. Messi set a new record for most minutes played at the World Cup, playing a total of 2,314 minutes across five tournaments, surpassing Paolo Maldini's previous record of 2,217 minutes. He also holds the record for most appearances in World Cup history with 26 matches. Messi scored 7 goals in the 2022 World Cup, becoming the oldest player to do so.
Kylian Mbappe also made history by becoming the youngest player to reach 12 World Cup goals, achieving the feat at the age of 23 years and 363 days. He also became the first player to score 4 goals in a World Cup final, and only the second player after Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in the final.
Morocco made history by becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals after defeating Portugal 1-0. The team ultimately finished in fourth place after a 1-2 defeat to Croatia in the bronze match.
In one of the most card-laden matches in World Cup history, Spanish referee Antonio Lohoz showed 18 yellow cards to the players in Argentina's quarter-final against the Netherlands before the match entered the penalty shootout.
Finally, England's 6-2 victory over Iran lasted a staggering 117 minutes and 16 seconds, with 14 minutes and 8 seconds of first-half injury time and 13 minutes and 8 seconds of second-half injury time. Mehdi Taremi's penalty at 102+30 seconds was the latest goal scored at a World Cup since 1966.
The best World Cup in history
The group stage of the 2022 World Cup has been nothing short of dramatic, with all eight groups seeing tickets to the next round decided only at the end of each match. The emotional reactions from teams like Mexico and Uruguay, as well as the overflowing joy from Korea, attest to the high-stakes nature of the tournament.
Surprises abounded on the football fields in Qatar, with teams from Asia, often considered underdogs, winning spectacularly against big names like Argentina, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. These victories created one of the most successful World Cups for the continent.
In the history of the World Cup finals, Argentina and France produced one of the most spectacular score chases. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe's rare performances set many records for their respective national teams.
A perfect ending to the tournament would be Lionel Messi leading Argentina to victory in the 2022 World Cup. As the best superstar in contemporary world football, he would finally achieve the biggest dream of his career. Messi's impressive performance, with an unbelievable record of goals and assists, would complete his trophy collection after having won awards such as the World Balloon, UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Copa America, and Olympic gold. FIFA would confirm what many already believe - that Lionel Messi is the GOAT, the best player of all time.
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