What if I told you Qatar hired an ex-CIA officer to run a spy campaign to ensure the tiny but wealthy Middle Eastern country won and held on to the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup? Yeah, that sounds pretty believable.
DOHA — On the outskirts of Doha, low-rise apartment blocks are starting to take shape that will house many of the soccer fans due to descend on the Qatari capital next year for the World Cup 2022.
Qatar, which has been in the spotlight for its treatment of migrant workers on construction sites, hopes the tournament will attract 1.2 million visitors, roughly a third of its population.
On Sunday in front of 65,000 faithful at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal — needing only a draw to qualify for the World Cup — threw it all away in the 90th minute by allowing Aleksandar Mitrović to convert a back post header that sent Serbia to Qatar instead.
The Premier League will pause after the weekend of Nov. 12-13 next season and resume on Dec. 26 to accommodate the World Cup, the league said on Thursday.
The season will start on Aug. 6, with Matchday 16 being the last week of games ahead of the call-up period for the World Cup. The final round of league games will be played on May 28, 2023, with all matches kicking off simultaneously as usual.
Next season's dates have been confirmed ✅
Nine days after splitting ways with Ronald Koeman, Barcelona has found its dream replacement manager. Former Barcelona player Xavi Hernández will look to steer the Catalan cruiser in the right direction after being announced as the new manager. When will Xavi manage his first game?
Xavi will make his Barcelona managerial debut following the international break. His first game in charge will be on Nov. 20 against Espanyol at Camp Nou.
The first James Rodriguez Qatar goal was scored on Tuesday as the 30-year-old Colombian helped Al-Rayyan to a 4-2 victory in the Qatar Stars League. I still hear Peter Drury’s commentary of “my word this boy’s a star” from when James scored an absolute screamer against Uruguay in the 2014 World Cup echoing in my ear.
In 2014 it felt like James could conquer the Earth. In 2021 he’s scoring his first goal for Al-Rayyan.
Gyasi Zardes' goal in the 86th minute sent the U.S. men's national team to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 1-0 semifinal victory against Qatar in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.
Zardes entered the match in the 63rd minute and the Columbus Crew forward scored his 14th international goal off a counter after pressure created a turnover.
Mention the name "Qatar" to a soccer fan and you are bound to hear (justified) grumblings about oil money, bribery and the thousands of immigrant workers that have died during preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands team hope that this week’s start of the World Cup qualifiers in Europe will highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar and help to improve their working conditions.
"A lot of attention is now focused on whether we should go there if we qualify," coach Frank de Boer told a news conference on the eve of his team’s opening Group G match against Turkey in Istanbul, amid growing controversy at home over Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 finals.