Flipping The Coin At The Qatar World Cup Championship
The FIFA World Cup has always been about football, everyone came for the ball and the ball alone. This year however went a bit different; from the ambiance to the world cup songs and the hyperactive fans, Qatar definitely showed out. The Qatar World Cup without a doubt will go down in football history for having garnered the most crowd both online and onsite. Whether they came for their favorite artists, players, country, or simply for the flashy stadiums, they stayed till the end.
The opening performance by Korean music sensation Jungkook of BTS and Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi gathered half the female population of the world who had no interest whatsoever in football but were simply there for the artists and their epic performance. This World cup saw a shift in the balance of power, the first of which was the defeat of Argentina by Saudi Arabia. Cameroon equally gave Brazil a run for its money when it became the first African country to defeat Brazil in a World Cup match. Morocco advancing to the Semifinals is one odd that could never have been predicted, however, they gave France quite a scare before being defeated as France advanced to the finals.
A presence that will not be forgotten in the near future is the Japanese players and fan base at the Qatar football stadiums who cleaned up the entire stadium after every match even after they were defeated by Croatia. An act that is very commendable so much so that it rubbed off on the Moroccan fans who equally decided to leave the stadium spick and span. A Neymar look alike, Eigon Oliver caused quite a buzz in the stadium as Neymar fans went haywire thinking he was the real deal, he went as far as convincing the security to take him down to the pitch even taking pictures with and signing autographs for fans.
Brazilian players and fans paying tribute to ‘Pele’ after beating South Korea was indeed a memorable moment. The Brazilian team and fans each unveiled banners paying homage to the football legend who has been battling cancer and respiratory disease. Other fans equally played their part and added to the magic. The Aussies for example went wild with flares in their crowds on the streets of Melbourne. The Senegalese fans even after losing their star player; Sadio Mane on the eve of the tournament came out in their numbers with their mascot/dancers to cheer their team up, the cheer was so contagious, it had other fans joining in on the fun. Ahead of their win over Ecuador, the Senegalese fans equally paid tribute to Papa Bouba Diop.
The crux of the World Cup however was the final match between Argentina and France where Goliath went up against Goliath. With some of the strongest players going head to head, the outcome of the match was indeed difficult to predict. It was a close call with the match lasting for over 120 minutes, the scores were however settled during the penalty where Argentina defeated France, emerging champions of the tournament and bringing Leo Messi's dream to a reality. The Qatar World Cup which was aimed at uniting the World indeed achieved its goal as fans united to support their own. Argentina remains the world’s reigning champion until 2026 when another will be crowned.