Day -1000. WorldCup2002
"The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be a breakthrough from a social and cultural perspective. It will open the doors of this football-mad region, offering a new perspective to locals and foreigners, bringing people together and serving as a tool for common understanding."
That was Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, on the day that Fifa marked 1000 days to the kick-off in Qatar. It's a statement that can be criticized and the validity of it ripped apart. And adding in the numerous rights issues that have come to light during the construction of stadiums in Qatar, there is a lot to talk about before we even get to football.
But with apologies, before I go there, and to keep this first day light, it is almost amusing to report that a lot of 2022 football has happened already.
Last June, before 2019/20 UEFA Champions League qualifiers had happened and before qualifying for Euro 2020 was over, a number of teams in Asia had already been eliminated from 2022 qualifying. Were you looking forward to watching Pakistan or Brunei? Well, too bad. They're out. Another World Cup cycle done for them. East Timor? Beaten 12-2 on aggregate by Malaysia.
Asia has moved on to round 2 already. Syria have won all 5 of their group games so far; Australia and Japan have won 4 out of 4.
In Africa qualifying started last September and it ended in September for countries like Lesotho, Eritrea, Chad, Sierra Leone. There will be no more World Cup dreams for 4 years for fans and players in twelve African countries, long before Europeans or South Americans even think about Qatar.
Another of those twelve eliminated African nations was Eswatini. I threw that country in because it's an example of how I learnt my geography and history through football. Eswatini was Swaziland but in April 2018 King Mswati III decreed that the country will be changing it's name to cut ties with it's colonial past. Eswatini means "land of the Swazi" in the language of the country. Swaziland was the Anglo and Swazi amalgamation of the same term. The King issued his decree on the 50th anniversary of the peaceful end of British rule in his country, a gift to his people.
There will be no Eswatini in Qatar. Who will be? What will happen between now and November 2022? A lot, no doubt. And it won't just be football.
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