Kicking off on November 20, the 2022 FIFA World Cup is already considered a record-breaking event for the Muslim world, being the first to be held in a Muslim country, the first in the Middle East, and the first at the end of the year.
As we anticipate this unique event, here are 12 facts about the world’s greatest sports spectacle as gathered by Kreedon.
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1- First World Cup in Arab/Muslim Country
Qatar won the bidding process for hosting rights in 2010, becoming the first Muslim majority country to host the FIFA World Cup.
2- Second Asian Country to Host FIFA World Cup
Football is known to be the game dominated majorly by Europe and South American countries. They have huge infrastructure to host such grand tournaments that FIFA usually prefers. But this time, the World Cup is coming to Asia! This is not the first time the world cup will be hosted by an Asian country. In 2002, Japan and South Korea jointly hosted the FIFA World Cup.
3- First Ever World Cup Held in Winter
The FIFA World Cup has allocated slot from May to July when most of the FIFA World Cups were scheduled in the past. But this time, the FIFA World Cup will be held in November and December. But why?
Qatar is a desert country which usually witnesses a heat wave during June-July. The temperatures range from 40 to 50 degrees during this period. So to make the playing conditions better, the world cup is rescheduled to November and December.
4- First Host to Have Never Played in World Cup
Qatar set up the football association in 1960 and also became a member of FIFA in 1963. Since then, Qatar has been trying to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Qatar was close enough in 1990 when they reached the finals of AFC qualifying round, but eventually failed! So Qatar will be the first host country which has never played in the world cup before.
5- Smallest Nation to Host FIFA World Cup
The records have been set since Qatar won the hosting rights. Qatar will be the smallest nation to host the FIFA World Cup – both geographically and population wise. Qatar is a small country of 11,000 square kilometers.
Uruguay during the 1930 FIFA World Cup had a population of around 3.5 million. Qatar with a population of 2.6 million will replace Uruguay in the record books.
6- Most Expensive World Cup
One of the most discussed facts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup is that Qatar will be hosting the most expensive world cup ever. As Qatar lacked the infrastructure and facilities for such an event, they had to build many things from scratch. It is estimated that infrastructure which includes stadiums, hotels, roads has cost Qatar over $220 billion US dollars.
7- Least Number of Stadiums to Host FIFA World Cup Matches
The Qatar world cup will set the record to host the FIFA World cup in the least number of stadiums. Qatar has finalized eight stadiums that will host the 64 matches of FIFA World Cup. Out of these eight stadiums, seven were built from scratch while one was renovated to meet the world cup needs.
8- Most Compact World Cup Ever
All the eight stadiums in Qatar are within 60 kilometres radius making it the most compact world cup ever. The fans can reach from one venue to another in less than 90 minutes. This will make it the most compact world cup ever.
9- 28 Days World Cup – Shortest World Cup Ever
The world cup has its own slot in June-July when the club football ends and goes on a break. Now, since the FIFA World cup is in Nov-Dec, not only the world cup schedule but also the club football schedule had to be crunched a little so as to accommodate the world cup. The 28-day world cup will witness 64 matches making it the shortest world cup ever in history.
10- Record Number of Visitors
As reported by fifaworldcupmania.com, the 2022 world cup will see a record number of visitors by the time the world cup comes to an end. It is expected that over 1.5 million spectators from all over the world will enter Qatar during the FIFA World cup. Qatar’s geographical location is very accessible for many countries. Moreover, getting Visa is also easy compared to others. The cheap flight tickets are icing on cake. Expect records getting rewritten every day of the FIFA World Cup.
11- Air Conditioned Stadiums
The most talked point of Qatar world cup was its high temperatures during the day time. To counter that, Qatar has equipped its stadiums with fully centralized Air conditioning. This will give the viewers a great experience and also will also give players a good playing conditions.
12- Bridging Gap between Europe and the Middle East
Qatar is expected to host the majority of European fans as there are 13 European teams participating in the world cup. The world cup is expected to bridge the cultural gap between the Middle East and Europe. The impact of the world cup is expected to be seen after the world cup ends. Both FIFA and Qatar expect the positive outcome from the tournament.