QATAR PERSPECTIVE

Doha watches the kickoff with the particular authority of the previous host, which knows exactly what a World Cup costs and earns. The Qatari coverage is first that of the connoisseur: it details the opening ceremony at the Azteca before 80,000 spectators, its folkloric tableaux celebrating Aztec heritage, the performance by Shakira alongside Nigeria's Burna Boy and Italy's Andrea Bocelli singing the official anthem 'DNA' blending opera and electronica, and the parade of flags of the 48 nations 'including Qatar,' competing in its second consecutive World Cup after hosting in 2022. The numbers are laid out plainly: the biggest tournament in history, 48 teams, 104 matches over 40 days, a final in New Jersey on July 19 and record projected revenue of $13 billion. But Doha does not settle for pageantry: the press underlines that the opening played out 'against a backdrop of protests' around the capital, and carefully documents the obstacles imposed by the American host, notably the three-week Ebola quarantine inflicted on the DR Congo squad, forced to isolate in Belgium before being allowed in. For Qatar, which endured years of Western criticism over hosting 'its' World Cup, there is a quiet irony in watching the United States in turn face reproaches over visas, prices and repression — a reminder that no host escapes the trial, and that the spectacle always has a flip side.