FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will go down in history for more reasons than its epic final. As the first-ever Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup, Qatar’s achievement for the region has been followed by further wins relating to the mega sporting event.

A recent poll by BBC Sports ranked Qatar’s World Cup as the best World Cup of the century. 

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 topped the charts with a staggering 78% of the vote, followed by the 2002 World Cup (Japan/South Korea), which ranked second place with 6% of the vote, followed by 2014 (Brazil) with 5%, 2006 (Germany) and 2018 (Russia), which tied for fourth place with 4% each and 2010 (South Africa), which received 3%.

During his closing remarks at the World Cup, Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, claimed that the World Cup in Qatar has been the best ever.

“(There was) unanimous praise from the FIFA council for this World Cup, the unique, cohesive power it has shown, thanks to everyone involved – of course, Qatar, all the volunteers who work for us and everyone who has contributed to making this World Cup the best World Cup ever,” Gianni Infantino, FIFA President said in a statement. 

“Many people from around the world have come to Qatar and have discovered the Arab world, which they didn’t know or they knew only for what was portrayed to them,” Infantino added.

With more mega events likely to take place in the Middle East, Qatar’s success is likely to be the tipping point of the region’s focus on attracting sporting events at the scale of the World Cup.