World Cup review: Fans as the soul of the tournament in Qatar

They are one of the hallmarks of every football World Cup: fans from different countries who come together in the host country make – in addition to the sporting – the biggest football tournament in the world. When fans meet, rivalry is just as much a part of it as cultural exchange. Fans from Europe were not represented to the usual extent at the politically controversial World Cup in Qatar. This time football fans from Asia, Africa and America wrote the stories of the World Cup. The teams from Brazil, Argentina and Morocco in particular delighted the spectators in Qatar.

Brazil and Argentina are gaining fans worldwide

The two South American heavyweights were not only cheered on loudly by their own fans at this World Cup and were happy about the great support from fans from other countries such as India or Pakistan – including migrant workers from these countries. Morocco enjoyed a virtual home advantage in Qatar after the hosts were eliminated in the group stage and were carried sensationally by the enthusiasm of fans from all over the Arabic-speaking world to the semi-finals, where they lost to France.

Much of Doha’s central square, Souq Waqif, was firmly in the hands of supporters of the “Lions of Atlas” during the knockout phase. Fans from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and even neighboring Algeria, with which Morocco has long had politically strained relations, united behind coach Walid Regragui’s team and breathed the World Cup out on the streets of Doha in contrast to the clinical FIFA Fanfest comes to life with their emotions.

Short distances, long walks

The party areas designated by the organizer were perhaps less frequented because fans sometimes had to make long detours on the way there. For example on the way to the Doha Corniche, a 7-kilometer waterfront promenade and venue for the FIFA Fan Festival. The road along the promenade was completely closed for the duration of the tournament, much to the displeasure of local residents and taxi drivers, who told DW that this was affecting almost all journeys through the city centre.

It’s a good thing that the number of visitors in Qatar wasn’t that great or that the World Cup wasn’t overcrowded. Because even with a manageable number of spectators, the fans encountered a winding labyrinth of temporary barriers in the metro, for example, which added a ten-minute walk to each journey, regardless of how full or empty the place was. Numerous volunteers with megaphones and security forces guided the people through the train stations while constantly repeating the message “Metro this way”. “Metro this way,” the fans soon began sarcastically singing along.

Nevertheless, Qatar was the World Cup of short distances. In by far the smallest World Cup host country in history, the greatest distance between two stadiums was a ridiculous 55 kilometers – a dimension that seems completely surreal in view of the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Due to the decentralized character, insanely high infrastructure investments in a single location will probably not be necessary. In its capital Doha, Qatar has invested the equivalent of around 36 billion US dollars just for the fully air-conditioned and autonomous metro. And yet one sometimes had the impression that the concept had not been properly thought through. For example, in Al Khor, the metro station and taxi station were about a 45-minute walk from the entrance to Al Bayt Stadium.

The World Cup of migrant workers

The distance to the tournament was greater for the numerous migrant workers living in Qatar – felt and actually. Migrant workers came closest to the high-gloss event hosted by the rich Gulf emirate and FIFA in the fan zone set up for them in Ar-Rayyan just outside Doha, where the Education City Stadium is also one of Qatar’s eight World Cup stadiums.

Here a fan fest was organized for the workers with public viewing at the national cricket stadium. Away from the stadium boxes and the glamor and glitz of Doha, a kind of parallel World Cup took place here with a rough and noisy atmosphere. It got particularly loud and boisterous when one of the three big world football stars, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar, appeared on the screens. However, when asked about the working conditions in Qatar, most of the workers present here were much more reserved.

For years, the working conditions, the exploitative work system and the deaths on the stadium construction sites, about the number of which there are different figures, were an integral part of reporting on the first World Cup in Arabic-speaking countries, especially in Western media. The ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages in and around the stadiums, enforced by Qatar shortly before the start of the tournament, and the FIFA press conference with President Gianni Infantino’s bizarre monologue before the tournament began are unlikely to have encouraged the Western world’s goodwill towards the World Cup and the world association .

The clean World Cup

The calm and friendly atmosphere of the tournament must be clearly emphasized, which was certainly also due to the alcohol restrictions and the absence of drinking and violent hooligans. The arrival and departure of fans was also unusually civilized – compared to, for example, in England during the 2021 European Football Championship. Qatar 2022 was the first World Cup in which not a single English fan was arrested – probably an effect of the alcohol restrictions.

The World Cup was also an important step for the role of women in football: Frenchwoman Stéphanie Frappart officiated a men’s game in the game between Germany and Costa Rica for the first time in the long history of the World Cup. However, Frappart’s historic commitment at the DFB team’s last World Cup appearance in Qatar was clouded by the situation of the women’s national team in Qatar, which is virtually non-existent. Although very few women were to be seen in the restaurants, cafés and squares of Doha, the World Cup in Qatar gave many women in Arabic-speaking countries the opportunity to visit a football stadium and watch football for the first time.

It was a tournament far from short of curiosities, sporting the likes of Messi and Argentina, surprise semi-finalists Morocco and the tearful departure of football’s other megastar, Cristiano Ronaldo. The ludicrous billions in investments remain from this World Cup and with them the question of the future use of the infrastructure, especially the World Cup stadiums. Ultimately, even after the memorable World Cup in Qatar, the (football) world will probably remain divided on whether to celebrate football or focus on the atrocious circumstances that made it all possible.

The text has been adapted from English.