Infantino: "The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been the best World Cup in history"

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00:00 Well, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was simply the best World Cup ever.

00:06 Happiness, joy, pride, fulfillment, everything that one can dream of when he thinks about

00:18 the maximum that football can offer to the world has happened in Qatar in 2022.

00:26 At this particular World Cup we had 5 billion viewers from home, we had

00:33 3.5 million almost spectators in the stadiums, 1.5 million came from all over the world in a joyful

00:42 atmosphere, we had incredible matches, we had excitement, we had passion, we had heartbeat,

00:50 we had joy, we had tears, we had emotion, we had everything.

00:56 It was a unique World Cup as well in the sense that its compact nature allowed me to attend all

01:16 64 games. This is definitely a unique achievement in history but many fans could attend also

01:24 multiple games every day and everything was closed, the players could go back to their

01:32 hotels, to their headquarters immediately after the game without having to fly somewhere. So

01:37 also from a player's perspective it was extremely positive, the weather was perfect,

01:42 the pitches were perfect, the stadiums were beautiful, everything was fantastic.

01:45 Well obviously most importantly for most of the fans around the world is what happens

02:07 on the pitch and on the pitch it was a unique World Cup as well, 172 goals record,

02:13 number of goals scored in a FIFA World Cup final tournament. We had three Asian teams for example,

02:22 proceeding to the next round we had an African team for the first time in history in the semi-final

02:28 with Morocco. We had excitement, we had surprises, we had heartbeat and we had certainly the best

02:43 final ever. Thrilling, entertaining goals here and there, extra time, penalty kicks, I mean everything,

02:52 epic. Off the pitch as well it was an incredible success. We had no incidents whatsoever,

03:05 we had a joyful atmosphere, we had two million people in the fan zone, in the fan festival of

03:12 FIFA. We had fans coming from all over the world and enjoying football. We had eight state-of-the-art

03:21 stadiums from Al-Bayt where the opening took place to Lusain where the final took place.

03:28 All eight stadiums were absolutely stunning, fantastic, over 53,000 spectators per match,

03:34 attendance going in going out of the stadiums, everything run smoothly, the airport was

03:41 fantastic, everything worked extremely well. So I would say huge success on the pitch and

03:49 obviously as well for an organiser of the World Cup off the pitch, thanks to Qatar, thanks to FIFA,

03:56 thanks to our teamwork and thanks to the way we together put this up.

04:00 Like you said there, given where the tournament was previously staged,

04:06 was it important to overcome a level of scepticism about the ability of certain maybe

04:14 other nations elsewhere in the world to be able to stage this sort of event?

04:18 Well, definitely it was important that the World Cup goes for the first time somewhere else,

04:27 not in the usual countries, so to say, to Qatar, to go to the Arab world. This is part of

04:38 our vision as well of making football truly global and having a World Cup being organised

04:46 in Qatar for the first time allowed I think two major things to happen. The first one is that

04:56 the World Cup was definitely a catalyst for positive change in the country, in Qatar,

05:04 not just as far as the infrastructure but as well as far as rights, for example, workers' rights.

05:11 So me saying it, it's the International Labour Organisation saying that and hundreds of thousands

05:18 of workers today have much better conditions than before this World Cup happened, thanks to the

05:28 changes that happened. And this is definitely one of the elements. And the second element that this

05:36 World Cup contributed to was that it opened the door to the world to visit and to witness

05:45 and to enjoy as well a new culture, the Arab culture, a welcoming way of a country,

05:57 of a whole region, the whole GCC region, who welcomed fans from all over the world.

06:03 For many it was the first time going and witnessing and experiencing the Arab world

06:09 and they found out that actually, well, these people there are welcoming. You can enjoy,

06:18 you have a great atmosphere, good food, everything that every fan wants was absolutely there. So

06:30 from that perspective, definitely as well a huge success.

06:33 Yeah, I agree. I mean, personally, it was the first time I'd been there

06:37 and even in this region, even though I was working still, it's exactly the same thing.

06:43 You spoke in there a little bit about the fact that it was a World Cup in an Arab nation.

06:51 Why was it significant for FIFA to put one of its flagship tournaments in an Arab nation?

07:02 Well, FIFA is a global organization, obviously, and I think it is important that whilst

07:09 maybe some people were asking, and some were asking me as well, in the years before the World

07:18 Cup took place, why Qatar? Our answer has always been, why not? FIFA has 211 countries who are part

07:28 of FIFA and they're all the same. They all have exactly the same rights and the same duties and

07:35 if a country can host a World Cup, then of course they should be allowed to host it. And

07:41 I think, again, this is part of making football truly global, of uniting as well the people

07:50 through football and this particular World Cup, with the fact that it was

07:55 concentrated in one place, not just one country, but basically one city,

08:00 contributed really to create this unity amongst fans who were mingled in the streets,

08:07 in the different areas of the cities and finally as well in the stadiums.

08:12 You're the FIFA president, but I know that also you're just a massive football fan.

08:18 What was your favourite game of that tournament?

08:24 You know, I attended all 64 games, so for me as a football fan this is already a dream.

08:29 Well, it's actually more than a dream, something that you could not even dream that came true.

08:36 And actually before, when I decided that I would like to attend all 64 games, I was a bit scared

08:41 because I said, well, maybe I will fall asleep during some of the games because it will be a lot,

08:47 but actually not, because every game was very, very entertaining. But I think the climax was

08:53 really the final. An incredible game, incredible results, extra time, penalties, last second

09:06 chances on one side and then of course on the other side Messi scoring three goals,

09:15 Mbappe scoring four goals, including the penalties of course. And just incredible,

09:26 incredible emotions. And this is what football only can write, right? And I think if we ask,

09:34 or if we would have asked before the World Cup, the best filmmaker in the world to write us

09:41 the most thrilling and exciting final, it wouldn't have turned out like that. It was really

09:47 unique. And then of course, Leo Messi winning the World Cup at his fifth attempt,

09:57 participated in five World Cups and he won it finally, including playing the highest number

10:04 of games, 26 games that any player has played before him. It was Lothar Matthäus with 25 games.

10:11 Lothar as well, of course, world champion in 1990 in Italy. But this shows a lot how a great player

10:18 like Leo Messi fights with his nation, with his team and becomes finally world champion.

10:26 So an incredible emotion to hand over the trophy to him, obviously. But France also in that final

10:36 put up a great game. Again, Mbappe scored a hat-trick, he scored a penalty as well. He won

10:43 already the World Cup four years earlier. He's still young. Great team, incredible final. And

10:49 let me just spend one word as well about the fans of Argentina who were absolutely amazing throughout

10:57 the tournament. I remember even in the group phase matches, and they started with a defeat

11:03 against Saudi Arabia. They were supporting their team. Tens of thousands of fans came

11:10 supporting their team. Even after the games, they were staying in the stadium and chanting and

11:15 singing for an hour or two hours or three hours even for their team. And I think this gave

11:20 the Argentinian players as well a special drive.

11:24 You definitely had a better view of the final than me because I was in the plane going back

11:28 to Paris and trying to get the Wi-Fi to work. And people were saying, "Oh, it's a goal." And

11:33 I said, "No, it's not." It was a lot of fun. One final thing. You saw all 64 games, which is

11:43 incredible. But was there a particular moment of that World Cup? Either at the game or outside,

11:52 around the stadium, wherever you were during that very busy and hectic but memorable month.

11:59 One thing that really sticks there, that sums up, that defines the experience of the World Cup?

12:07 I think that every single moment of that World Cup has been special. All the people that

12:19 we met, all the people that were there, the joy, the smile in the eyes of the people,

12:26 in the faces of all the people who were part of that World Cup, one way or another, was incredible.

12:34 The games, the matches played were great. But one moment I think that I could capture of that

12:47 World Cup was definitely the event that we organised in the Fan Festival of FIFA to thank

12:55 the volunteers. We had over 400,000 applications to become volunteers at this World Cup. We could

13:04 select only 20,000 volunteers. And it was very emotional to be with these volunteers,

13:13 who accompanied all of us throughout the tournament, but to have a special event

13:18 for them, with them, where we could thank them and celebrate them. They were, and volunteers

13:26 generally are, the face, the smile of a World Cup, the first person that visitors meet. And

13:35 if that first impact is positive, and the last person before you leave as well who says goodbye

13:40 to you, if that message is positive, then the whole experience is already great. And the volunteers

13:48 have been absolutely fantastic as well at this World Cup. Everything was perfect, everything

13:52 was great. And looking and thinking back, well, I become always emotional.

14:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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