The final of the World Cup in Qatar is also the story of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. The old and maybe the new king of world football. Both play together at Paris Saint-Germain, the club that is supposed to cement Qatar’s power in European football even after the World Cup.
What a World Cup for Qatar. The controversial tournament could not have gone better for the small golf emirate. When the World Cup is held high in the sultry evening air of the Lusail Icon Stadium in a shower of golden glitter on Sunday, the emirate can not only adorn itself with a world champion. It will also count the other Superstar of the tournament among its ranks. And of course the top scorer. Unless Julian Álvarez or Olivier Giroud come up with stupid ideas and add more to their four tournament goals each.
The duel between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé fascinates and electrifies the masses. Can the greatest footballer of all time crown his career in his last World Cup game, the 26th of his career, in the World Cup final and bring the gold trophy back to Argentina 36 years after Diego Maradona? Or will the Frenchman, one of his possible successors, win his second title at just 23, one of his irresistible runs to become the tournament’s top scorer and, in the process, give France a historic triumph?
No nation has been able to defend a World Cup title for 60 years. The last time Pelés succeeded was Brazil, which triumphed in Sweden in 1958 and four years later in Chile. Only Argentina 1990 and Brazil 1998 had the opportunity to do so, both losing their finals, making the title defense a curse that in 2010, 2014 and 2018 eliminated the respective winner of the last tournament in the preliminary round. Only France – with an incredible Mbappé and its army of fantastic suppliers from the other trades of attack, midfield and defense – managed to break the curse in 2022.
Messi and Mbappé both have five goals, they are the players of the tournament. One will cheer, the other will mourn and when it’s all over they will be back together on December 28th, representing Paris Saint-Germain, the eventual winners of the tournament. The billionaire club from the French capital is one of the big winners of the World Cup and thus also the state of Qatar.
He has owned the traditional club since it was taken over by the “Qatar Sports Investment Group” in 2011. And since then, under the almighty boss Nasser al-Khelaifi, it has developed into one of the emirate’s instruments of power in world football. PSG is Qatar’s barb in European club football. Al-Khelaifi is now chairman of the ECA, the European Club Committee, he sits on the UEFA Executive Committee and is also the CEO of beIN Media Group, which provides fresh money for football by buying broadcasting rights. The mighty Qatari was a key figure in UEFA’s battle against breakaway Super League clubs.
World Cup finalists France also played at least a controversial role in FIFA’s original sin of awarding the World Cup to Qatar. It is about a lunch of then-UEFA President and voting member Michel Platini with former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar’s Emir at the time, in November 2010 at the Elysee Palace, the French President’s residence. Sarkozy had already established close ties with Qatar immediately after moving into the palace. The French economy has been closely intertwined with Kater ever since. On November 23, 2010, Sarkozy sat at the table with the decision-makers. Exactly what happened back then has never been known.
However, Platini, who had been for the USA until then, swung to the Qatar course. “Qatar won because of major political interventions from the French side. We know that, it’s proven. Sarkozy and Platini did it,” ex-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter claimed a while ago. The decision to join Qatar paved the way for French football, boosted by the subsequent takeover of Paris Saint-Germain and lucrative TV deals from beIn Sports, and now set to soar to new heights at the World Cup final.
“Qatar’s billion-dollar project is sinking into the Persian Gulf,” wrote this page a few weeks ago after the emirate’s national team dropped out early, ignoring what is probably the most important component of the project. At this World Cup, Qatar was never concerned with the successful performance of their own national team. The country of the Al Thanis, the ruling family, was never concerned with recognition in the West. The tournament itself was intended to have an inward effect, on the Arab world, with which Qatar was at loggerheads just a few years ago. The then successful application for the World Cup had exactly that as a goal.
The spotlights of world publicity were the protective shield for Qatar, which was also able to work its way through the crisis from 2017 to 2021. At that time, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with the emirate. The country should be isolated. All connections to the peninsula were cut, and Qatar Airways was stripped of its overflight and landing rights. In short, the fact that there was no military escalation was also due to the World Cup, which is now coming to an end.
This strengthened the pan-Arab community in the past four weeks. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was not only a welcome guest at the opening game, but also appeared elsewhere in the stadium. After the initial hype surrounding Saudi Arabia, fans in Qatar rallied behind Morocco, the country at the other end of the Arab region. Also good for Paris Saint-Germain: With Achraf Hakimi, the star of the Atlas Lions also plays in the French capital. The threads of this World Cup come together in Paris-Qatar.
The fans celebrated the run of Walid Regragui’s team. On the streets of Doha and in the rest of the Arab world. Morocco fans came from Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and lived in Doha, Kuwait or Jeddah. The premature swan songs to the abrupt end of the Arab dream, as on this page, came to nothing. The “Arab World Cup”, as it was affectionately known, had experienced an unbelievable extension. The “Qatar World Cup” only ends on Sunday. Only the winner is already certain: Qatar. Also thanks to the figureheads Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
