Every four years, when the World Cup returns, fans expect the best. The list of countries that can actually host the event is pretty short. Though Qatar may not have been the perfect choice, it’s important to have major events in countries that we may not relate too to truly be a world event; the benefits outweigh the issues.

Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the Arab world, which impacted how they approached this year’s World Cup. They spent $300 billion on the stadiums to even host the World Cup, which has created record attendance numbers. For the event, Qatar made seven stadiums varying from a capacity of 44,000 to 88,000. They have already broken the record for the largest attendance for a single game in  28 years with Mexico versus Argentina, which had 88,966 spectators. 

Traditionally, host countries inflate the attendance numbers, but whether the attendance numbers of the stadiums are exaggerated or not, they are still bringing an immense amount of profit to FIFA. This year has brought them $7.5 billion which is a jump up by more than a billion from 2018’s in Russia. This affects players in a good way with teams now getting a bigger prize pool. While money is not the only measure of World Cup success, it is still a major factor.

More important, however, is the World Cup’s role in bringing countries together, even through any cultural or political divisions that may be present. When Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in their opening game, it not only sparked shock from the world, but it also brought the Arab nations together, celebrating a major win against one of the best teams in the world.

Qatar leading up to the World Cup were accused of using forced labor to build the stadiums. While these issues in no way are excused, having the tournament here brings light to these issues. If Qatar would never have hosted, then the knowledge that people have now wouldn’t be present in the minds of the fans. This is the same situation with the 2022 Olympics being hosted in China. The 2022 Olympics were boycotted as well due to the Uyghur genocide in China which shadowed the event. Most people didn’t know about the genocide until then which helped start raising further awareness. 

Qatar was never going to be the perfect country for the World Cup, as each country has their own struggles whether some may be more extreme than others. The spirit of the World Cup though doesn’t lie within the host country but in the tournament itself. No matter where the Cup is hosted, countries will still attend to see if their team can go all the way.