Atique Anam

As the four-week long football extravaganza draws to a close in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday, expectation,

Following morale-shattering defeats in their semifinals of the World Cup, Croatia and Morocco have the unenviable job of picking themselves up and getting prepared for the third-place decider on Saturday.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, on Friday, hailed the Qatar World Cup as the best one ever.

Rajab Ali has been away from home for 22 years. He spent 16 years in Saudi Arabia before coming to neighbouring Qatar six years ago, and he hasn't been home for the past six years.

If you happen to come to Qatar from the subcontinent, you could often get confused whether you landed in an Arab land some 3000-4000 kilometres away from home or you were just in another of Bangladesh or India or Pakistan.

When Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi broke the 100m dollar mark in annual earnings for the first time, both of them were in their 30s. In comparison, Kylian Mbappe broke that threshold at 23 and is about to be anointed as the richest-earning footballer of all time, according to Forbes.

Step aside Cristiano Ronaldo, step aside Neymar. Lionel Messi is here, and he is here for business.

There was a poignant moment at the end of Argentina’s victory over Croatia. Julian Alvarez, who scored two goals in the 3-0 victory, went to his team’s dugout and was hugged by Lautaro Martinez, who was almost in tears.

Ever since the four semifinalists were decided, the streets and buses and metros in Doha have been occupied by fans mostly from Argentina and Morocco, with a large number of fans shuttling to the Qatari capital over the last few days.

Neymar departed in tears. The Brazil No 10 cried inconsolably, only to be lifted off the pitch as the pre-tournament favourites were knocked out on penalties by Croatia in the quarterfinals at the Education City Stadium on Friday night.

Lionel Messi wasn’t available at the pre-match press conference for Argentina’s World Cup semifinal against Croatia on Monday. He wasn’t, in fact, expected to be; the PSG talisman hardly ever attends a press conference.

As the world heads into the final week of the Qatar 2022 with only four matches left, including an irrelevant one involving the third-place decider, the focus will be on whether Kylian Mbappe can lead the French to a consecutive World Cup title or whether Lionel Messi can end Argentina’s 36-year wait for a third world title.

As the World Cup advances towards its climax, there has been a constant exodus of fans from countries which have already been eliminated.

For large parts of his career, Lionel Messi has painted an image of himself as a calm individual, leaving his boots to do the talking, trying his best to deflect attention. He hardly ever attends press conferences and avoids making controversial remarks. On the pitch, his goal celebrations often remain restrained and his remonstrations with match officials minimal.

Close to a hundred years after Uruguay hosted the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, the South American nations have united in their bid to bring the Greatest Show on Earth back to its birthplace to mark the centenary edition.

Souq Wasif is probably one of the most happening places in all of Qatar as it juxtaposes the past with the present and draws thousands of tourists every day for its eateries, artefacts and old buildings. It is a set of alleys lined by centuries-old buildings on both sides, with modern skyscrapers at one end and a river near the other.

Despite leading Portugal to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since 2006, Fernando Santos finds himself in a difficult situation with his team up against Morocco tomorrow.

Qatar has never seen anything like it before and it has been waiting to see it -- the FIFA World Cup -- in flesh for more than a decade. And the tiny oil-rich nation has done its best, despite the criticism, to put on its best face to the world for this global event.

Every four years as the FIFA World Cup comes around, people in Bangladesh and across the entire world cross their fingers for a clash between two of the most loved and decorated countries in world football -- Brazil and Argentina.

Having been a bit lukewarm to the FIFA World Cup thus far for not having my favourite team at this edition in Qatar, I was kind of sucked into the excitement of it all a fair two days after the Greatest Show on Earth began. It was the Argentina versus Saudi Arabia match on Tuesday which once again reminded me of football’s power to get people imbued despite the daily grind.