The opening ceremony of the first soccer World Cup held in the Middle East was a mixture of nostalgia and the present. The songs and mascots of the previous tournaments were heard and paraded in the Al-Bayt stadium, site of the opening match between the host Qatar and Ecuador.
The American actor Morgan Freeman appeared as part of the opening and Jung Kook, a member of the K-Pop band BTS, was in charge of setting the pace and confirming that nothing for the growing popularity of the genre throughout the planet.
In the stands and streets of the emirate, more than 14,000 Ecuadorians gathered for what they hope will be their first victory in the tournament.
The sheikh of Qatar, Tamim bin Hammad al Thani, was in charge of the official words to start the greatest soccer tournament on the planet.
Qatar hopes with this tournament to consolidate its presence globally as one of the most important economies in the Middle East, with one of the highest per capita incomes and modern infrastructure, much of it created to meet the needs of soccer fans in the world Cup.
According to estimates by various media and consultants, this will be the most expensive soccer World Cup in history, with almost 300,000 million dollars spent by the emirate. In contrast, Brazil spent around $15 billion in 2014 to hold its tournament.
Much of Qatar’s spending went into building seven of the eight World Cup stadiums from scratch, as well as a public transport system, roads and hotels. In that construction effort, thousands of migrant workers lost their lives, something the emirate disputes.
In recent days, moreover, controversy has grown over the country’s position on the rights of homosexuals, as well as the ban on the sale of alcohol in stadiums.
Despite the above, more than 2 million people are expected to visit Qatar in person and the tournament will reach an audience of more than 5 billion people.