Lionel Messi of Argentina and his junior of 11 years’ Kylian Mbappe of France weaved magic last night with their feet and the ball at Lusail stadium in Qatar and brought back the pristine glory of what Pele has called “the beautiful game” of football. The FIFA World Cup final sent into raptures spectators the world over watching the two teams’ super-skill, artistry and ingenuity. The best ever final in the cup’s history, as is being said, washed away the bitter politics that plagued the last edition of the tournament like many other major world sports events for the past few years. But, never before the purists of the game were rewarded for their stand of dissociating sports from politics as much as the Argentina-France final has done.
The debate on whether political issues should be mixed up with a mega sports event on the world stage that attracts the attention of billions of people across the globe will, in all likelihood, continue in the 2026 tournament to be organised by the USA, Canada and Mexico. But, yesterday’s display has proved beyond doubt that politics pales into insignificance when players apply their mind solely to the art and beauty of the game, thereby lifting their patrons – soccer fans watching in the stadium and on television – to a realm of ecstasy. True to the slogan chanted by Messi and others during the tournament, football did unite a sea of humanity across the continents in a bond of pure joy.
An interesting observation in this regard was made during the matches earlier by soccer expert, Arsene Wenger, former Arsenal manager. He said the outcome of the World Cup group stages showed the teams that advanced without complication were those best prepared mentally and not distracted by political issues. Referring to shock exits of Germany, Belgium and Denmark, Wenger said it was notable the teams that focused on football and started well – such as Brazil, France and England – had easier passages to the last 16. The teams that were mentally ready and had the mindset to focus on the competition and not on political demonstrations blossomed from game to game.
At the Qatar World Cup, there has been an unusual amount of political discussion from teams with some voicing concerns about the host country’s treatment of migrant labour, its approach to LGBTQ+ rights and FIFA’s threats to penalise players for political statements. German soccer federation was the most vocal in pressing for anti-discrimination “OneLove” armbands to be worn by players and said ‘extreme blackmail’ led to Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Wales, England and Switzerland abandoning plans to wear them. Before their surprise opening defeat by Japan, the German team posed for a pre-match photo with their hands on their mouths, alluding to them being silenced by FIFA. Denmark also made a stand over the armbands and last month wanted to use a training kit with slogans in support for human rights. Not wrongly perhaps, all these teams perished in no time.
The Qatar tournament has, from the beginning, been dogged by off field controversies including the treatment of immigrant workers who built air conditioned stadiums in the desert and the availability of alcohol in the Moslem nation. The dramas revived suspicions that a sport that presents itself as open to all ignored human rights and political repression in Qatar for a share of its host’s oil riches in a nation with little cultural or historical connection to the beautiful game.
On the other hand, the Qatar World Cup is perhaps the most glaring example of how a small group of ultra-rich oil and gas giants in the Gulf are using their trillions of dollars of wealth to rub shoulders with the world’s most powerful nations and at the same time create tourism, entertainment and sporting legacies to sustain them when their reserves of carbon energy are depleted. This tournament demonstrated the futuristic outlook of the leaders of the sheikhdoms.
The World Cup is of course an event to do businesses worth trillions of dollars. There is nothing wrong with it. But, the question is whether the players should mind their game only and nothing else. Yesterday’s show has vindicated the purists who want games to be played for the sheer joy that the sporting events bring to the players and the spectators alike. Even the agony that defeated France suffered was also shared by the world in true sportsman spirit.