World Cup 2022: 1 Year On

euronews (in English)

Qatar's remarkable World Cup 2022 impacted the Middle East's football legacy, closing a longstanding sports gap between Europe and Asia.

Transcript

00:00 Just one year on from Qatar's festival of football, Messi was finally crowned a world

00:04 champion, whilst Morocco made history in the African game.

00:09 So let's take a look back at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

00:17 Hello there and welcome to Football Now from the Lusail Stadium here in Qatar.

00:21 After 32 teams battled it out for glory here in the Middle East, it was this very pitch

00:25 behind me where Lionel Messi and Argentina were crowned champions of the world, which

00:30 was the greatest match that we have possibly ever seen.

00:33 It was a tournament that was historic for the region too.

00:36 So let's begin this week's show by reminding ourselves of some of the highlights of a World

00:39 Cup which many have called the best of all time.

00:42 After a stunning opening ceremony at the Al Bait Stadium, the dream start for hosts Qatar

00:47 wasn't quite to be.

00:49 A double from Ene Valencia ensured that Ecuador got their tournament up and running smoothly.

00:54 The biggest shock of the group stage so far was no doubt Saudi Arabia beating eventual

00:58 champions Argentina.

01:00 Despite taking an early lead, La Alba Celeste were undone by two quick-fire second-half

01:05 goals.

01:06 Morocco's fairy tale story began with them winning Group F ahead of both Belgium and

01:11 Croatia.

01:12 They then went on to dramatically defeat Spain and Portugal in the knockouts to become the

01:16 first ever African side to reach a World Cup semi-final.

01:21 The rest of the knockouts saw some of the most dramatic games the tournament has ever

01:24 seen.

01:25 Argentina versus the Netherlands was a spectacle that no one will ever forget, ending 2-2 and

01:30 being decided with tense penalties.

01:33 Brazil also saw their fate decided in the shootout after a 1-0 draw against Croatia.

01:38 It all set the stage for the final in Lusail, which will live long in the memory of millions

01:43 of football fans around the world.

01:45 I think Qatar 2022 was the best World Cup we've seen as far as football and there were

01:52 so many plot lines starting with Saudi Arabia shocking Argentina all the way through to

01:58 Argentina winning the World Cup and Messi finally lifting the famous trophy.

02:04 Plus many of the other games in terms of their quality and all of the shocks that we saw,

02:10 I think we can call it the best and the most dramatic World Cup that we've seen across

02:15 the whole tournament and that obviously made it highly engaging.

02:19 I think away from the football side, one of the other things that made it a very unique

02:23 World Cup is it was effectively a one city World Cup.

02:27 It was called Qatar 2022, but it was effectively a Doha World Cup and you could get to pretty

02:33 much every stadium from the center of Doha within 30 or 35 minutes and there was the

02:40 possibility to see more than one game in a day.

02:44 There were strong stadiums, well attended games, a real buzz and atmosphere.

02:49 I think it showcased Qatar and the Middle East strongly and you just couldn't ask for

02:54 a better ending than Lionel Messi finally lifting the trophy.

02:58 Yeah, some brilliant memories in there, but it was the last match that has to top it all.

03:03 Kylian Mbappe, only the second man ever to score a hat trick in a World Cup final, but

03:08 it was his teammate Messi who stole the show as he so often does.

03:11 The 36-year-old played every minute of Argentina's campaign, winning five of seven Play of the

03:16 Match awards on offer.

03:18 For Messi, the match here against France was the pinnacle of a career that has seen him

03:22 win it all.

03:23 He's always saying in every single interview that there was something missing in his career

03:29 and finally he got the World Championship.

03:32 Well, now he won the Ballon d'Or.

03:35 I think it was that he was waiting for that and it was the only thing that he has in his

03:40 mind and of course he knows that he's responsible for the happiness that the people will have

03:44 for forever.

03:45 Now, as we mentioned before, the World Cup here in Qatar was truly a watershed moment

03:49 for football here in the Middle East.

03:51 The Arab nations did their region proud and since the tournament came to a close, there's

03:55 been a huge upturn in players moving to this part of the world.

03:59 So just what legacy has been left so far and how will the impact continue going forward?

04:04 So in terms of the legacy that the World Cup has left, of course the stadiums are not just

04:09 going to be used for the AFC Asian Cup in January, they're also being used for the Expo

04:14 Stars League.

04:15 We've seen a lot of stars come in like Marco Verratti and Philippe Coutinho, Draxler with

04:20 El Ahly and the attendance has definitely improved.

04:24 We are seeing a lot of local fans.

04:26 We saw that in the derby match with El Rayyan against Al Arabi at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium

04:30 which is a World Cup stadium.

04:32 In fact, that was the biggest amount of fan attendance in the local league ever.

04:36 We're also seeing a lot of tourists come into Qatar since the World Cup and we can't wait

04:40 to have them again for the AFC Asian Cup.

04:43 Looking ahead then, this arena is set to be one of seven World Cup stadiums that will

04:46 be reused during the Asian Cup games that will take place here in Qatar during January

04:51 and February.

04:52 The hosts are reigning champions.

04:53 They'll be looking to fend off the likes of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan who all

04:57 had successful World Cups in their own right.

05:00 It's set to be another exciting spectacle.

05:02 I think after the World Cup, the second largest tournament would be the Asian Cup because

05:09 you know of how big the continent is and the teams are also doing very well from a technical

05:17 perspective I think.

05:18 Last World Cup we saw the best ever Asian teams that qualified to the next round.

05:24 We saw Japan did very well, Saudi Arabia played one against Argentina who later on won the

05:30 World Cup.

05:31 So from a technical perspective it would be a very good Asian Cup I guess and for us as

05:37 a country I think it's the best thing that can come only a year after the World Cup where

05:44 we can show the legacy of the World Cup and then build on that also for the future.

05:49 Yeah, we're filled with nostalgia then here in Qatar as the country looks back on one

05:53 of the most significant events in its history.

05:56 That is all we have time for.

05:57 Do let us know your thoughts at home using the hashtag #FootballNowWorldCup2022 and we'll

06:01 see you at the same time next week.

06:03 Bye for now.

06:03 [Music]

06:07 (whooshing)

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