The world cup is fast-approaching; we all know that. But there might be a lot of interesting things about this year’s world cup that you didn’t know about. Now, we have hand-picked some facts about the FIFA World Cup 2022 that will amaze you.
First Winter World Cup in the Northern Hemisphere
Past world cups are typically played in June and July, a period where Qatar is experiencing its distressing summer heat. Hence, Qatar proposed to delay the tournament period to the winter season of the northern hemisphere as the key aspect during its bid to host the competition, making this year’s world cup the first winter edition in its history.
The Most Expensive One
Russia World Cup 2018 cost approximately $15 billion, but before you have a jaw drop over its expensive cost, this year’s edition will spend a whooping $200 billion! Sounds astonishing, huh?
From building state-of-the-art infrastructures to the accommodation of visiting fans, the eye-watering budget’s intention is to ensure maximum comfort for all. Nonetheless, with the world cup having the least number of stadiums (8) and many other issues raised, many were prompted to question the real intention of the extravagant budget used.
The Most Commutable
The problem with hosting major tournaments like the football world cup is, spectators will find it troublesome to travel from one city to another just to catch games. However, with Qatar only occupying 11,437 km2, way smaller than its 2018 counterpart, Russia, this year’s world cup is also tipped to be the easiest and most travelable edition. What’s more interesting is that two of those 8 stadiums used in Qatar, Al Bayt and Al-Janoub are only 90 miles apart from each other.
Second World Cup in Asia
One may still have fond memories of Japan and South Korea co-hosting the FIFA event for the first time in Asia in 2002. Twenty years later, the FIFA trophy is returning to the celebrated Asian region. In addition, Qatar is the first Middle Eastern country to host a world cup, joining Australia, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea as one of the six teams to play in this tournament.
These facts certainly made the 22nd edition of the tournament one of the most anticipated in years to come, especially since it is the first world cup to be held post-pandemic. To find out more on the odds for every country in FIFA World Cup 2022, visit https://www.watchworldcup.org/odds/.
(Image credits: FIFA)
