With the excitement on the pitch as prominent as the controversies surrounding it, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will go down as one of the most unique in history. Lionel Messi leading Argentina to triumph over France in an epic final will live on forever, but questions will continue over the true legacy of this World Cup.
With the tournament now complete, our correspondents who travelled to Qatar share their best and worst moments from the world’s biggest sporting event.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga and more (U.S.)
– O’Hanlon: The 13 stats that explain the 2022 World Cup
Best moment
Rob Dawson: A one-city World Cup seemed like a huge risk given the amount of people who would flock to Doha, but it gave the tournament a carnival atmosphere, particularly in the group stages when there were four games a day. Groups of fans would meet on the metro lines heading in different directions, talking about their teams and their confidence or lack of it.
The World Cup should be about bringing people together, and that’s what it did. It’s hard to see how that will be replicated in 2026 when 48 teams will be playing across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Gab Marcotti: Not in the sense that it was the highest quality — it often wasn’t — but that’s part of the allure of international football. Rather, we got a spectacle and we got entertainment precisely because teams were bold and took chances, and yes, they made mistakes. We got to see upsets, too, but, equally, two of the pre-tournament favourites made it to the final, which meant the World Cup wasn’t just a festival of randomness.
