5 unique things about Qatar 2022 World Cup

Based on reports that emanated before the start of the 2022 World Cup, one would have thought that Qatar would disappoint the footballing world.

However, Qatar 2022 has no doubt been a spectacle. With the upsets, controversial on-field decisions, and broken records, it has lived up to being one of the best World Cup tournaments. Here are five unique things about Qatar 2022.

1. Qatar is first host to not win a point

The Qataris may take pride in being the first Arab nation to host a world cup. But one cannot deny that they have been the worst-performing host. They did not take a single point from their three group games and were the second host to be eliminated from the group stage after South Africa in 2010, losing to Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands. This came after the Asian Cup winners endured a six training month camp in a bid to impress at the biggest footballing stage. Well, they did the exact opposite.

2. Jinx of European champions broken

France broke the jinx European champions after becoming the first team to qualify from the group stages since 1998. After the French won their maiden World Cup in 1998, they were eliminated in the group stages in Korea/Japan in 2002. Fellow European winners Italy, Spain, and Germany were all eliminated in the group stages when it was time to defend their titles in South Africa, Brazil and Russia respectively.

3. Morocco achieve historic semis

 After several heartbreaks, a nation in Africa made the world cup semi-finals for the first time. Morocco’s stunning victory against Portugal broke a long existing jinx. Cameroon made the quarter-finals in 1990 but lost 3-2 to England, Senegal came close but fell 0-1 to Turkey in 2002 while the most painful moment to date for African football came on home soil in 2010 when Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty that would have taken Ghana to the semi-final. Even after Morocco’s loss against France they still have a chance to become the first team in Africa to achieve a podium finish in their third-place match against Croatia.

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4. Resounding upsets

 Even though the finals is to be played between two powerhouses, France and Argentina, Qatar 2022 didn’t fail to produce many memorable moments in the shape of big upsets. The Saudis started things by shocking tournament favourites Argentina in their first group game. Japan defeated two former champions Germany and Spain in spectacular manner just as Morocco did the unthinkable upsetting number two ranked team Belgium before ending the run of former European champions Portugal.

Qatar has indeed been a tournament of upsets.

5. 32-team format ends with Qatar

The 32-team and 64 matches format that began in France 98 comes to an end in Qatar. It was used in 7 World Cups and is the joint most used format alongside the 16-team format which changed its amount of games on different occasions. From the 2026 World Cup in to be co-hosted by Canada, U.S.A, and Mexico the World Cup will have 48 teams and 80 matches. 16 groups of three teams, a knockout stage of 32 teams (group winners and runners-up).