Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
FIFA World Cup 2022 - statistics & Facts
The 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18. It was the 22nd edition of the World Cup, with the tournament first taking place in 1930. It was also the first World Cup held in an Arab nation, and only the second to be held in Asia. After an eventful tournament, Argentina emerged as winners, with Lionel Messi lifting the country's third World Cup title following a dramatic final victory against France.
The host nation - Qatar
Qatar is a peninsula in the Persian Gulf with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Eight stadiums hosted the tournament's World Cup matches, mostly located towards the eastern coast of the 11.6 thousand square kilometer (or 4.5 thousand square mile) large peninsula. Six stadiums had a capacity of roughly 40 thousand spectators, with the Al Bayt Stadium hosting the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador on November 20. The Lusail Stadium, also known as the Lusail Iconic Stadium, hosted the tournament's final.
After Qatar won the bid for the rights to host the World Cup 2022 back in December 2010, accusations were made of corruption, bribery, and cheating by the Qatar bid committee to obtain these rights. An internal investigation by FIFA was launched, but in its final report, it was concluded that there was no wrongdoing by Qatar. The country subsequently faced intense criticism due to its treatment of migrant workers in the construction of the stadiums ahead of the tournament.
The hottest ticket in town doesn't come cheap
Category 1 tickets for the final cost 5,850 Qatari riyal, or roughly 1,607 U.S. dollars. This marked an increase of 46 percent on the 1,100 U.S. dollars charged at the previous World Cup in Russia. For group matches, Category 4 tickets sold for a much more reasonable 11 U.S. dollars. Ticket prices for a team-specific match series ranged from 227 U.S. dollars for three Category 3 group matches, to 4,754 U.S. dollars for seven Category 1 tickets, including the opening match, the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
The ever-growing World Cup
FIFA considered increasing the number of teams competing in Qatar 2022 from 32 to 48. However, it was decided that the number of participating teams would remain at 32, with the expansion to 48 nations starting at the next World Cup in 2026. Following an initial eight-group stage, the 2022 tournament entered a knockout phase, with the final ultimately taking place on December 18.
England had the star squad, but crashed out in the quarter finals
Ahead of the tournament, England's squad had the highest market value at approximately 1.5 billion euros, followed by Brazil at 1.46 billion euros. The player with the highest market value was France's Kylian Mbappé, who won the tournament's Golden Boot award. Mbappé, who plays for Paris-Saint Germain, was valued at 160 million euros. On the other end of the spectrum, Costa Rica's squad ranked lowest in market value, with a combined value of around 23 million euros.
Effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the national teams of Czechia, Poland, and Sweden, who were due to face Russia in the UEFA play-offs to qualify for the World Cup, announced their unwillingness to play any matches on Russian territory. Just three days later, FIFA issued several sanctions around Russia's participation, followed one day later by a suspension of Russia from international competitions until further notice.
