The Qatari leadership in the sports field reached its peak this year after the immortal achievement of the amazing Qatari hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the most successful edition in the history of the World Cup ever.
While Qatar has continued its uniqueness since its inception in 2022 to confirm its presence as a global sports destination, the months of November and December consecrated the prestigious global position it achieved after it laid new rules for organizing the World Cup finals through the dazzling organization presented to the world during the exceptional World Cup.
The State of Qatar left a local, Gulf and Arab legacy that will be proudly passed down to generations to come along with Arab messages that reflected the sophisticated and modern implementation of the event, making the world impressed by the highest level of infrastructure and stadiums. All of these received praise from all parts of the world in recognition of the strenuous efforts made by all institutions in the country over the course of 12 years in order to organize this brilliant World Cup.
Fans in the World Cup made the event. Their active presence in the stands and in the fan areas contributed to the great successes achieved by the exceptional event with a set of records. In light of the proximity between venues as a challenge, it quickly became an advantage as a tight plan was drawn up by officials and succeeded to become a role model.
The Argentine national team deservedly won the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as star Lionel Messi, the best player in the tournament, led his country to the third world title after the late legend Diego Armando Maradona who brought the cup to Argentina in 1986.
The hosts Qatari team participated in the World Cup, but what they achieved did not match the fans' expectations. The fans hoped that the artistic appearance would equal the magnitude of the amazing success achieved by the tournament, especially in light of the preparations that Al-Adam has been undergoing over the years during which they participated in many major events in different continents in order to be able to keep up with the big teams.
Qatar received more than 1.4 million visitors from all over the world while the total number of fans who attended the championship matches reached 3404252, and the final match at Lusail Stadium recorded a record attendance with the stadium's full capacity of 88,966 fans, to the third match that saw the same number of attendees, while the average attendance for one match was 53,000 fans, with a total capacity of more than 96 percent.
The attendance of the fans at the World Cup in Qatar broke many records as it exceeded since the quarter-finals 3,113,889 fans in 60 matches, while the total number of fans recorded in the World Cup Russia 2018 in 64 matches was 3,031,768 fans. It surpassed the crowd attendance in the 1998 World Cup in France, which amounted to 2,785,100 fans, and exceeded the World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002, as the number of fans in 64 matches reached 2,705,197 fans.
The World Cup in Qatar ranked third in the number of fans in the history of the World Cup 3,404,252 fans, while the World Cup in America 1994 topped the list of the largest crowds in the history of the tournament, with an attendance of 3,587,538 fans. The World Cup in Brazil 2014 comes in second place, with an attendance of 3,429,873 fans, and the World Cup in Germany 2006 comes in fourth place, with an attendance of 3,359,439 fans.
The recreational activities also enjoyed a large attendance after the daily attendance of the various events reached nearly 530,000 people, whether at the FIFA Fan Festival in Al Bidda Park, or the areas surrounding the stadiums, on the Doha Corniche, and in the fan areas across the country. The FIFA Fan Festival, in particular, attracted more than 1.8 million fans, who enjoyed live broadcasts of matches and entertainment provided by the festival.
Besides the organizational success, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 achieved unparalleled technical success, as many observers described the tournament as one of the most exciting editions of resounding surprises.
In 2022, Qatari football achieved a lot of continental successes, especially administrative ones, as the State of Qatar won the honor of hosting the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup for adults, to be held at the beginning of 2024, where Qatar was chosen among the files of three countries that applied for hosting following China's apology for the tournament, which was scheduled to be held in the summer of 2023.
The Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced the participation of 'Al Adaam' in the next edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament for the second time in a row, after the team appeared in the last edition of the tournament, which was held in the USA in July and August of 2021 and achieved remarkable results by reaching the semifinals, and lost 1-0 to the American team on its land, who was crowned champion after defeating Mexico in the final.
The AFC Competitions Committee has also chosen Qatar to host the sixth edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, which will be held in early 2024, a tournament that is of great importance, as it will qualify the top three teams for the football competition at the Summer Olympic Games hosted by the French capital Paris in 2024.
The year 2022 witnessed the Qatari Olympic team winning the runner-up of the West Asian Under-23 Championship, which was held in Saudi Arabia, after losing the final match to the host (1-3), while the Qatari Olympic team had left the Asian Under-23 Championship, which was held in Uzbekistan from the first round, after drawing with the teams of Iran and Turkmenistan, and lost to Uzbekistan in the Group A competitions.
The Qatar youth national team qualified for the U-20 Asian Cup finals, which will be held in Uzbekistan in 2023, after topping the Group C of qualifiers held last September in Bahrain, collecting (4) victories over each of the teams of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and then Bahrain, to qualify for the finals for the 16th time in its history.
As for the Qatar U-17 national team, it also reached the continental finals to be held in 2023, after topping the Group C in the qualifiers held in Oman, where it collected ten points from three victories over Oman, Iraq and Lebanon, and a draw with Bahrain.
In terms of the participation of Qatari clubs on the continent, both Al Rayyan and Al Duhail reached the eighth round of the 2022 AFC competitions, while Al Sadd and Al Gharafa left the group stage, and Al Rayyan qualified to the second round for the first time in its history, securing second place in its group, while Al Duhail qualified as the champion of its group with five wins and one loss.
Al Duhail and Al Rayyan booked their place at the beginning of the knockout stages of the tournament, which is hosted by Qatar, where the matches of the round of 16 will be held on February 19 and 20, 2023, the quarterfinals on February 23, and the semifinals on February 26, the final home match will be held on April 29, 2023 at the home of the qualifying team from the West region, and the return match will be held on May 6, 2023 at the home of the Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds team that qualified for the final of the East region.
At the local level, Al Sadd retained the title of champion of the Qatari league (QNB Stars League) 2021-2022 for the second time in a row and the sixteenth in its history, while Al Duhail won the title of Amir Cup for the fourth time in its history.
Doha was the focus of the attention of football fans when in September it hosted the Lusail Super Cup between the two clubs Zamalek, the champion of the Egyptian league, and Al Hilal, the champion of the Saudi league, at the official opening of Lusail Stadium, the largest stadium of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The State of Qatar continued its exceptional sports career, achieving the highest standards of excellence and raising the ceiling of its achievements through its organizational capabilities and its distinguished participation in the local, regional and international sporting events that took place in the year 2022. The fruits of its effort and perseverance came to raise its name high with pride in the biggest international sports forums during this year.
The national teams spared no effort to enhance the country's reputation regionally and internationally in individual and team sports during the year 2022, by winning titles and recording the best results, as the Qatari handball team won the Asian Men's Championship 2022 for the fifth time in a row, and in the same footsteps of success, the Qatar beach volleyball team shone, winning the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship 2022, the 2022 FIBV Beach Volleyball King of the Court, and the 2022 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
The Qatari shooting team, comprising of Masoud Saleh Al Athba, Abdulaziz Al Attiyah and Rashid Saleh Al Athba, won the men's skeet team gold in the 10th Asian Shotgun Championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Qatari Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim won the gold medal in the high jump competition at the 2022 World Athletics Championships for the third time in a row, and the Qatari Olympic champion and quadrant, Fares Ibrahim, won three medals (two golds and a silver) in the 2022 Asian Weightlifting Championships.
The star of the Qatari shooting team, Rashid Al-Athba, succeeded in qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after finishing third in the 2022 World Shooting Championships (Croatia). Champion Abdullah Al-Tamimi won the gold medal for the men's singles category in the West Asian Squash Championship 2022 (Iran).
At the Gulf level, our national teams performed well and achieved the best results in the third 2022 GCC Games (Kuwait), with a total of 52 medals (16 gold, 21 silver and 15 bronze).
The Qatar champions continued to win medals at the 2022 Islamic Solidarity Games (Turkey) and won 12 medals (4 golds, three silvers and five bronzes).
On the organizational and administrative level for sporting events in the year 2022, the State of Qatar has achieved impressive success by all standards in organizing an exceptional edition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which was praised, by the whole world.
Doha witnessed a distinguished activity by hosting many tournaments in the international WTT World Youth Table Tennis Championships last March, and the Feeder Table Tennis Championship for men and women, within the series of international table tennis championships that Qatar hosted throughout the month of March, as well as the WTT CONTENDER Table Tennis Championship from 24 to 28 March, in addition to the WTT STAR CONTENDER Table Tennis Championship from 25 to 31 March.
The Qatar Gymnastics Federation also recorded a number of achievements in 2022, as the Qatari team won seven medals in October.
Qatar achieved great organizational success in hosting the 14th Taishan Artistic Gymnastics world cup in Doha last March. The successes continued in organizing the ninth edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championship for men and women from 15 to 18 June, with the participation of more than 137 male and female players from 21 countries.
Qatar Gymnastics Federation won the hosting of the 85th International Gymnastics Federation Congress in 2024. The decision to choose the city of Doha to host the meeting came at the end of the work of the 84th session of the International Gymnastics Federation Congress, after obtaining 148 votes against 89 votes for the Croatian file.
Before the end of the year, Qatar won the hosting of the FIA World Endurance Championship, organized by the International Automobile Federation, according to which Qatar will host the inaugural endurance race for the year 2024, provided that Qatar will continue to host the championship races for a period of six years.
The FIA World Endurance Championship, to be held at Losail International Circuit, is the opening event of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
As usual and every year, Qatar successfully hosted international tournaments of Qatar Tennis Federation such as: ExxonMobil Tennis Championship for men, Total Open Tennis Championship for women, and local ones such as: the first Qatar Championship of the International Tennis Federation for men, the second Qatar Championship of the International Tennis Federation for men, and the third Qatar Championship of the International Tennis Federation for men, the first Qatar International Youth Tennis Championship, the second Qatar International Youth Tennis Championship, the Qatar Classic international squash championship, and the Squash Championship Challenge 2.
Also, during the year 2022, many other events took place in Qatar in rugby, cricket, karate, judo, and other tournaments in various games, to confirm that Qatar is the capital of sports in the world, and the preferred destination for all international and continental sports activities, because of its high capabilities, accumulated experience, and global ability to organize and host events, which made world champions race to attend and participate in any tournaments organized in Doha.
Source: Qatar News Agency
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