The final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar begins on Migrant Day of all days. Argentina want their first trophy in 36 years, Lionel Messi a glorious farewell. France aim to become the first team to retain the title in 60 years. But what has happened in the past four weeks?
No football World Cup has received as much criticism before and during the tournament as the glittering show in Qatar. Human rights violations, persecuted LGBTQIA people, exploited workers in the emirate cast a dark shadow over football. Keep a tight grip on him. Will this shadow ever let go of football? Probably not. At least not world football. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is largely to blame for this. He becomes Qatar's spokesman and celebrates "the best World Cup ever". A tournament that offers many sporting highlights, but is not for everyone.
In the finale - on the International Day of Migrants of all things - the superstars stage a gigantic showdown that is supposed to outshine all the problems. Can Lionel Messi, who snatched the record for most World Cup games (26) from Lothar Matthäus with the kick-off, still crown himself the ultimate king at the age of 35? Or is the young prince Kylian Mbappé thwarting his plans and winning his second world champion trophy at the tender age of 23? In addition to the final between France and Argentina, the four weeks in the desert offer the following highlights.
The FIFA President knows exactly what to do. With the start of the World Cup coming so suddenly and just days after the last league games had ended, Gianni Infantino drew the world's attention to the tournament in Qatar with a furious speech on the eve of the opening game. Infantino feels everything: he feels Qatari, Arabic, African, queer, disabled, as a guest worker and - on request - also as a woman. The Swiss poses as Jesus and wants Europe to apologize in the next 3000 years. The world shakes its head, Infantino is happy.
For him, it's all about the attention and not the annoying inquiries from Europe, all of which he irons off the table. Everyone is looking at the tournament after this bizarre speech. A short time later he no longer feels anything: FIFA has the "One Love" bandage banned. Infantino watches all the games in the stadium. He is the builder of the 2022 World Cup. And in the end he announces what was to be expected from him: The World Cup in Qatar is the best World Cup of all time. The next World Cup will be even better. Gigantic anyway. He never wants to dispel the dark shadow over FIFA and the tournament. Only Europe throws it anyway, the rest of the world is rooting for the participating teams in Qatar.
The DFB-Elf is the world champion title as a goal and travels directly after a disappointing preliminary round. In the opening game against Japan, the team of national coach Hansi Flick collapsed after Ilkay Gündogan and Jamal Musiala were substituted. The defense is not very stable, the Flick system is vulnerable. Because Niclas Füllkrug scores against Spain, hope is briefly revived, but Costa Rica is the end of the game. The controversy surrounding the "One Love" armband divides the team, which isolates itself in a resort on the northern edge of the peninsula and only floats into the capital for arrogant appearances at press conferences.
They leave Qatar humiliated and almost less popular than the hosts. Also an achievement. The consequences after the second preliminary round in a row are manageable: Oliver Bierhoff leaves the DFB after 18 years, coach Hansi Flick stays and wants to change little. Manuel Neuer breaks his leg on a ski tour, so far there have been no resignations.
The Brazilians around superstar Neymar are one of the favorites to start the tournament. Then, striker Richarlison delivered the goal of the tournament with his side kick in the first game, but Neymar caught his ankle and was injured. It doesn't matter, the Seleção marches into the round of 16 and dances their way there with perhaps the best 45 minutes in World Cup history against South Korea to the top favorites. But just one game later, the men in yellow and blue learn the brutality of football when they tragically missed out on penalties in the quarter-finals against Croatia.
Neymar's tears go around the world. 20 years after the last triumph, Brazil won't win the World Cup again. Pelé wanted that so much. The legend experiences Brazil's World Cup in the hospital. Brazil fears for him. In Doha he is briefly the big topic of conversation. With the departure of the Seleção, he disappears from the international headlines.
The story of the Iranians is probably the bravest of this World Cup. At home, women and men are beaten up on the streets, imprisoned and killed - but many of them still dare to send the protest slogans loudly around the world in Qatar. Iran's national team refuses to sing the anthem in the first game.
Then the mullah regime threatens their families and the kickers sing along crunched. Tehran is also said to have sent security forces to Qatar to cooperate with the emirate: in games two and three of the Iranians, the symbols of the resistance are sacked at the entrances, and fans are afraid of "spies".
"It's coming home..." is the motto again before the tournament on the island. And as European runners-up, England is of course one of the favorites, despite miserable Nations League performances. The Three Lions got off to an impressive start in Qatar, sweeping Iran 6-2 off the field. Teenager Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund is maturing to become the boss in midfield and after the clear 3-0 win against Senegal in the round of 16, Harry Kane and Co. are counting on something against France in the quarterfinals.
But then an old tragedy catches up with them, maybe even the curse of 1966. It's not a penalty shootout, but just before the end Kane misses from the point and once again England don't take home a trophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo crashes. Within a few World Cup games, the national team career of the five-time world footballer experienced a dramatic descent. What has already happened to him at club level is now also happening at the World Cup: CR7 has long been dispensable. The 37-year-old only carries the memories with him, is celebrated hysterically in the stadiums but can't add anything surprising to his side's game.
After scoring a penalty and attempting a goal-steal during the group stage, he finds himself on the bench in the knockout stages. Whether his substitution in the elimination against Morocco will be the last international match of his eternal career remains to be seen. He has not yet found a new club after being kicked out at Manchester United.
November 22 becomes a public holiday in Saudi Arabia. The biggest sensation of the tournament took place in the Lusail Iconic Stadium, today's final stadium. Within minutes, the country's national team snaps the golden bowl. It is, as will be found out later, a bug in the system. Saudi Arabia defeated the big tournament favorites Argentina 2-1. "Saudi Arabia can go far, really far," said Salah Al-Sheri, one of the goalscorers, after the game.
After an epic second-half battle lasting over 51 minutes, he is just as pumped as the fans, who party long in front of the stadium and return to the neighboring country to find the country's amusement parks open. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman does not shower the heroes with gold, but at least with the finest luxury cars. The next two games against Poland and Mexico are lost. The tournament ends early.
Robert Lewandowski misses a penalty against Mexico. The big dream of the former Bundesliga goalscorer threatens to burst again. He just wants to score a goal at a World Cup. In the next game at Education City Stadium, the Pole moves himself to tears. He scored his first goal in his fifth World Cup game. He has one more chance against Saudi Arabia, but his chip in the final minutes refuses to go into the net.
Despite losing to Argentina, Poland qualify for the round of 16 in a long-distance duel with Mexico, who are unlucky against Saudi Arabia. It's over in the round of sixteen. France just too strong for the offensively shy Bialo-Czerwoni. Lewandowski hits again in the last minute. His future in the national team is in the stars. He is one of many formative figures in recent years for whom the tournament could mark an end.
The coaching legend wants to know it again. The press conferences of the former Bayern coach are fireworks. Van Gaal kisses his players, repeatedly explains how he reinvented football and dreams of winning the world championship at the end of his tenure as Bonds coach. In an epic quarter-final against Argentina, Elftal turned 0-2. The goals were scored by former Wolfsburg player Wout Weghorst, who first benefited from long balls and then in the eleventh minute of added time from a wild free-kick trick.
The nerves fail in the penalty shootout. Afterwards, the overwhelmed referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz ended his orgy of cards. Nobody knows if he ended up handing out 15, 16 or 18 yellow cards. The Dutch, who competed without big superstars, go home and Louis van Gaal leaves the world stage. He's keeping a return open.
The World Cup is also a tournament of farewells. Lionel Messi announces his retirement from the Argentina national team after winning the semifinals. He will only play this one final. His eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo will no longer compete in a World Cup.
With Pepe, another Portuguese is leaving and they are not alone: goalkeeper legend Guillermo Ochoa, Frenchman Olivier Giroud, Spain's orchestra leader Sergio Busquets or Croatia's player of the century Luka Modric say goodbye to the biggest stage. Only Manuel Neuer does not think about it.
The Belgian national team, the "golden generation" around Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, must finally bury its reputation as an insider tip. After an opening win, the Red Devils are eliminated in the preliminary round. As expected, Qatar can't keep up in terms of sport, but causes a stir with a mysterious fan block full of loud, loud mood-makers, probably bought from Lebanon. Palestine doesn't play along at all, but you can still see the black-green-white-red flag everywhere in Qatar: Many displaced Palestinians move to the emirate after 1948 and 1967, the following generations continue to identify strongly with the homeland of their (big) Parents and also want to take part in the Arab tournament after the jubilant strikers from the Saudis, Moroccans and Tunisians. The Atlas Lions put on a terrific show, being the first African and the first Arab team to reach the semi-finals. Read more about it here, here and here.
So the World Cup in Qatar can certainly claim to have written some great sporting stories. But at what price? People from all over the world celebrate at a party on the backs of the mistreated and persecuted. And the emirate is trying with all its might to whitewash the misery with glitter, to wash itself clean in international society. Also on International Migrants Day.
The human rights situation in the country will not improve as a result of this World Cup, football will remain dirty forever (without having been spotlessly clean first). Wenzel Michalski, Germany director of Human Rights Watch, sums it up appropriately in the "Welt am Sonntag". "FIFA and the Qatari government have not moved an inch." Both are "completely irrelevant" to people's rights. The Infantino system will not change anything in the next few years. Michalski also comes to the conclusion: "Everyone who said that the direction in the country would lead to something good and promote reforms was wrong."
