Argentina and the World Cup: A Recap

On December 18, 2022, the world cup concluded on
Qatar’s National Day. Qatar is a Gulf country on the
Arabian peninsula. Many people have considered this final
match to be one of the best World Cup finals in a long time, and
according to a British Broadcast Center poll, survey respondents
ranked Qatar’s world cup as their number one favorite.
Argentina’s victory was historic. It launched the winning nation
into a state of celebration—and France’s defeat put them in second
place. This was massive as it meant France did not repeat as World
Cup champion. France’s Kylian Mbappe, however, did score a hat
trick (three goals) and received the Golden Boot award for the
most goals scored during the World Cup. Furthermore, for many,
the win cemented Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s position as the
greatest soccer player of all time.
The tournament also had other exciting developments. Arguably
the most notable of which was Morocco’s success in the
tournament. Morocco made it to the semifinals—the farthest of any
African or Arab country in history. They beat out teams that were
predicted to win the entire tournament, defeating Portugal and
taking Ronaldo out of the running for the GOAT position,
although he only played for part of the match. Due to this,
Morocco was selected to host the Club World Cup in February.
Qatar, the host country, also left its mark on the World Cup.
After Messi’s victory, they presented him with an honorable robe
known as a bisht, which denotes high class in Arab culture. FIFA
and many visitors praised Qatar’s World Cup for being the safest
and cleanest in history. Qatar spent over 200 billion dollars on the
project, which may have been a contributing factor. The stadiums
in Doha (Qatar’s capital) are now being refitted to have half
capacity. In addition, Qatar’s stadium 974 was dismantled of its
shipping container parts and will be sent to other countries.
The Gulf nation is looking to be the host of future sports events.
It has already been selected to host the 2030 Asian Games and is in
a bid to host the 2036 Olympics in Doha. This is part of Qatar’s
attempt to use the World Cup to further its economic and trade
progress. The next World Cup is also fast approaching. It will be
hosted in the US, Mexico, and Canada, with most matches being
in the US at repurposed NFL (National Football League) stadiums.
Current speculations believe the final will be held in New York
City at MetLife stadium. The next World Cup will have twelve
more teams. However, the details of how this will be implemented
have yet to be announced by FIFA. Although this World Cup has
ended, the champion title will be up for grabs again in just four
years.