Organized in the fall - another first - to avoid the unbearable heat of this desert region, the 2022 World Cup will open with an unprecedented Qatar-Ecuador in the Al Bayt stadium, the furthest from Doha, about forty kilometers north of the capital.

The host country, with a weak footballing tradition, will know more about its chances of passing the group stage of a competition that defending champions France will start against Australia two days later, on the 22nd.

Players arrive in a trickle in this country of less than 12,000 km², or about a third of Belgium or Switzerland, the equivalent of the Paris region.

Players of the South Korean football team arrive in Doha (Qatar) to participate in the 2022 World Cup, November 14, 2022 STF AFP

Many played this weekend, like the stars of Paris-SG, the Brazilian Neymar, the Argentinian Leo Messi or the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.

Their partner Sergio Ramos, however, will not participate in his fifth World Cup in a rejuvenated Spain.

These four selections appear as favorites in a competition from which Italy will be absent for the second consecutive time.

Other stars are retained without knowing if they will be able to hold their rank, diminished by injuries, such as Sadio Mané (Senegal), Son Heung-min (South Korea) or Romelu Lukaku (Belgium).

The selections must be announced before Monday evening.

And for his final World Cup, what face will the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo show, who lives a way of the cross with Manchester United?

Pharaonic investments

An unblemished organizational start would be a first victory for the small Gulf gas emirate, which has had to face a lot of criticism since, to everyone's surprise, Fifa preferred it to the United States in December 2010.

This choice, which was "a mistake" according to the ousted boss of world football Sepp Blatter, required extraordinary investments, estimated by some sources at around 200 billion euros, including around 35 billion for the metro and 6.5 billion for stadiums.

Schedule of matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar Eléonore HUGHES AFP

It was first of all the suspicions of corruption that had to be confronted, with Swiss, American and French judicial investigations.

Then came the attacks on the environmental impact of this event, at a time of global warming and climatic disasters.

The Western media have insisted on the absurdity of air-conditioned stadiums or the charters of supporters who come daily from neighboring countries for the matches.

But it is above all the construction of stadiums with 40 to 80,000 seats (seven entirely built, an eighth entirely renovated) which will weigh on the environmental balance sheet, according to NGOs who do not believe in the stated objective of carbon neutrality.

The stadiums of the football World Cup Vincent LEFAI AFP

Human rights

In the home stretch, the most virulent attacks, coming mainly from Western Europe, have however focused on respect for human rights in Qatar, which cries out for "racism" and "double standards".

The fate of migrant workers, essential cogs in a country where Qataris represent only 10% of a population of three million inhabitants, has been pointed out, some NGOs putting forward the figure of thousands of deaths on construction sites, record that Doha vehemently denies.

Visitors photograph the logo of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar in Doha, October 30, 2022 Jewel SAMAD AFP

Qatari authorities and Fifa insist on the progress made in social legislation in record time, with the establishment of a minimum wage (around 270 euros per month), sanctions against employers who do not pay it and the dismantling of the " kafala", the sponsorship system which required all foreign employees to obtain the authorization of their employer to resign.

On several occasions, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged FIFA to pay financial compensation to the workers who built the stadiums.

Another subject of concern in a conservative country where homosexuality and sexual relations outside marriage are criminalized, the fate reserved for LGBTQ + people even if the authorities have assured that they will be welcomed without discrimination.

The captains of eight selections, such as England, France and Germany, have announced that they will wear an armband with colored stripes against discrimination.

Not sure that the initiative pleases the president of Fifa Gianni Infantino, who told the 32 selections to "focus on football" and no longer "give moral lessons".

Fifa has banned Denmark from training in jerseys bearing the message "Human Rights for All".

© 2022 AFP