The next FIFA world Cup will be held in Qatar in the year 2022. This will be the 22nd Edition of the Football world cup which is the most followed & most played sport in the world. Apart from being the most played & most followed, Football is also the highest paid sport in the world. FIFA is a body that organises and monitors Football activity all over the world, & it’s headquarter is situated in Zurich. Gianni Infantino, the Swiss-Italian footballer is the current President of FIFA, the International body that strictly monitors the sport. The Senior Vice-President of FIFA is Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa who was born in Bahrain.
The next FIFA world Cup will be the second edition of the World Cups overall that will be taking place in Asia. The last time it happened in Asia was in 2002 i.e. Korea-Japan. It was Brazil’s fifth title as they were the winners of the Cup. Brazil also became the country with most titles i.e. 5 titles since its first Football title in 1958 in Stockholm, Sweden.
However, as a matter of fact this World Cup holds huge significance. Hence, this is the first time it’s taking place in Middle-East. Furthermore, also the first time hosted by a Muslim nation, i.e. Qatar. A country that is very small in terms of area. However, as far as GDP Per Capita is concerned it is on top of the list. Why Qatar deserves its place? As a matter of fact they have proved that to FIFA the governing body. Ironically, that they are the most deserving candidates to host the most prestigious sports i.e. the FIFA World Cup. The next edition after 2022 will be jointly hosted by Canada, USA & Mexico in 2026.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF FOOTBALL WORLD CUPS:
The first FIFA world Cup was held 90 years ago in 1930 in Uruguay & was won by Uruguay. Held in Italy was the second edition & later the third edition took place in France. After the third edition there was a gap of 12 years. The gap took place due to the World War II that resulted in postponement of two FIFA world cups.
FIFA world cups started to resume from Brazil in 1950, i.e. Post World War II. Later, Swiss were the host of the World Cup in the year 1954. The region of Scandinavia from Europe came into the limelight for the first time. Sweden hosted the 6th edition in year 1958 for first time, and played in finals as well. Chile were the host of the 7th FIFA world Cup edition in 1962. England hosted the 8th edition for the first time & under Bobby Moore became the World Champions for the first time as well in 1966.
In 1970, North America came into hosting list for the first time with the world Cup being hosted in Mexico. The 10th edition of FIFA world cups took place in divided Germany later in 1974. It was West Germany to be precise that were the hosts. Argentina hosted the 11th edition of FIFA & became the world champions for the first time as well. Spain were the hosts for the first time of the 12th edition, while Italy won the Championship for the third time. Mexico hosted the cup again in 1986 and then later in 1990 it took place in Italy. For the first time the Super Power, USA became the hosts of the 15th FIFA edition in year 1994. 16th edition took place in France and French were the winners of the home World Cup.
FIFA WORLD CUPS SINCE 2002:
Interestingly, the 17th edition became the first one in Asia, i.e. Japan and South Korea became the joint host in 2002. Brazil hosted the Cup again in 2014, preceded by Germany in 2006 & later South Africa in 2010. The latest edition of the FIFA world Cups was the 21st edition. Held two years back in 2018, the 21st edition was also the first edition of FIFA world Cups in Russia.
CONSTRUCTION OF STADIUMS & OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN QATAR:
Qatar 2022 shall be taking place in newly constructed stadiums, i.e. eight stadiums in all. This is to host the biggest trophy in history of all games. Some of them are still under the construction process. Al-Janoub Stadium & Khalifa Int. These are the two stadiums that have reached completion. Three more stadiums i.e., Education City Stadium, Al-Rayan Stadium & Al-Bayt stadium are set to be inaugurated during 2022. All stadiums will be ready and delivered well in advance of the tournament. Qatar will be the 18th country to host the Global tournament. Hence, there has been massive developments already in place before the world cup takes place officially.
Played & hosted all over, The FIFA world cups is the only trophy that has been held all over the globe. It holds mega significance since three editions took place Pre-World War II. Amongst all the sports world cups ever held Football World Cups are the most medieval.