Qatar: 2022 World Cup Host an Unusual, But Tantalizing Choice

Does Qatar even have a soccer team?

This was the first question that popped into my head after discovering that FIFA had selected a tiny Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup ahead of the mighty United States.

As a die-hard Yanks fan, I watched Landon Donovan and Co. in 2002 as they shocked the world by advancing all the way to the quarterfinals before narrowly falling to the eventual runner-up, Germany. 

I watched in 2009 when an inspired US squad defeated No. 1 ranked and eventual World Cup champion Spain.  Of course I watched this year as Landon Donovan scored an unlikely winner against Algeria to propel the United States into the knockout phase. 

Naturally, I was stunned when FIFA spurned international soccer's nouveau riche in favor of a country whose national team has never qualified for a World Cup and is currently ranked 114th in the world.

Eric Wynalda, America’s second all-time leading scorer (behind of course Landon Donovan) expressed the shared sentiment of most Americans when he bluntly stated, “Basically, oil and natural gas won today. This was not about merit, this was about money.”

So what can we make of this?

Well, Qatar is not only smaller than Connecticut, but also has roughly half as many residents.  Wynalda raises an interesting point when he continues, “a successful World Cup would mean the attendance would be twice the population."

Yet, despite this seemingly critical weakness, I am optimistic about Qatar’s selection. Throughout the history of the World Cup dating back to the original tournament in 1930, the tournament has really been what sports economists Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski have termed a “Euro-Latin American duopoly.”

Traditionally featuring South American powerhouses Argentina and Brazil against Europe’s triumvirate of Germany, France and Italy, few other countries have demonstrated the ability to compete consistently for the title. 

By hosting the World Cup in the United States in 1994, South Korea and Japan in 2002, and South Africa in 2010, FIFA has demonstrated that it is dedicated to addressing this concern by transforming the World Cup into a truly global competition.

Since hosting the World Cup in 1994, the United States has developed a successful youth soccer development programs, the MLS has flourished as a domestic professional league and the best American players have begun migrating to the top European leagues.  Whether or not America hosts the World Cup, the Yanks will still qualify and compete with the world’s elite programs.

This is not the case for Qatar or any other Middle Eastern nation for that matter.

Despite isolated cases of brilliance such as Iraq’s unlikely run to the 2004 Olympic semifinals, the Middle East has never produced a soccer powerhouse.  Even other relative newcomers to global soccer such as Africa and East Asia have developed far more rapidly than the Middle East. 

For instance, Ghana demonstrated during the most recent World Cup that their team was more than capable of competing with the world’s elite (yes Uruguay, you should have never made it past the quarterfinals). 

Similarly, by advancing to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, South Korea showcased their capacity to contend among the world’s elite.  Even Australia, a country where soccer is traditionally the third-most popular sport behind Aussie rules football and rugby, demonstrated soccer prowess by nearly defeating eventual champions Italy in the first elimination stage of the 2006 World Cup. 

Certainly realizing the Middle East remains the only geographic region to not truly impact the global game, FIFA has finally decided to give the region their chance by awarding the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

Similar to South Africa, Qatar will have little chance of advancing past the group stage of the tournament, but their proposal nonetheless promises to revolutionize Middle Eastern soccer.   

Constructing several entirely new stadiums, Qatar’s state-of-the-art facilities will feature such cutting edge technologies as outdoor air conditioning and in the case of Al-Rayyan Stadium, a 420,000 ft. panoramic media display surrounding the exterior of the stadium.

Considering Qatar’s size, each of the stadiums will be roughly an hour drive away from every other stadium providing fans with the entirely unique opportunity to actually visit every World Cup venue. 

By creating this positive environment for fans, Qatar can quash international perceptions that the Middle East is exclusively a poor, terror-stricken and desolate region and perhaps even convince foreign players to play their club soccer in Qatar and neighboring nations such as the United Arab Emirates.

Additionally, since the tiny nation will have little use for all of these stadiums following the World Cup, the Qataris have agreed to disassemble and then rebuild these massive structures in needy countries, presumably throughout the Middle East.  Considering soccer is already quite popular in nations such as Iran and Iraq, a brand new national stadium could serve as the impetus for massive investment in soccer development. 

With world-class venues, national soccer federations would have the capacity to attract the elite international coaches and scouts necessary to identify talented youth and develop them into world-class players. 

These players could then follow the path of so many rising stars and sign with major European clubs.  Plying their trade in the leagues from England to Italy, successful players would link up with the national team during major tournaments and provide the necessary talent to compete with the world’s elite programs.

At this still infant stage of soccer’s development in the Middle East, it remains uncertain how quickly at least one representative will ascend to the ranks of the world’s elite.  Nonetheless, I’m convinced that FIFA’s decision to select Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup will hasten this inevitable emergence.