00:02Four years ago, Qatar was at the center of the football world.
00:06Now, attention is turning to 2026, and another FIFA World Cup is set to kick off.
00:13104 matches, 16 cities, 3 countries.
00:17The 2026 FIFA World Cup is heading to North America, across the U.S., Mexico, and my home country, Canada.
00:25But before the spotlight shifts, people here in Qatar are still talking about 2022.
00:30The fans, the atmosphere, the feeling, the whole world fit into one small country for an entire month.
00:36And now the question is, what part of that legacy carries on to 2026?
00:41In a sea of football fans, one stands out.
00:45Always dressed for the occasion, Mohamed Mirza is a spectacle for spectators.
00:50Like many fans, he remembers the ease of movement and hospitality that welcomes supporters from everywhere.
00:56It was free transport, and the stadiums were very close together.
01:02During one day, you can watch two games.
01:05I did by myself, and it was really, really the best World Cup.
01:10Qatar is their house. It's very close to the stadium.
01:13They were given free food for all the spectators.
01:16Just we were moving, they said, come, welcome, welcome.
01:20Now, as preparations ramp up for the next World Cup, some of the lessons from Qatar are traveling, too.
01:26A testament to FIFA's confidence in the tiny Gulf nation.
01:30We are at home here in Qatar, and it's great that the work that we started together before the World
01:39Cup,
01:40well before the World Cup in 2022, actually continues with having built this incredible talent pool,
01:48the expertise, but more than that, the commitment and the passion and the heart of all the people in this
01:58venture is absolutely amazing,
02:01and we are really looking forward to continue what we started.
02:06I'm always impressed because now it seems that everything is seamless, everything works on its own.
02:13I can certainly sleep well at night when I know that a tournament is played here.
02:19The high praise from FIFA resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding for Qatar
02:24to support the delivery of the next World Cup.
02:28You just announced this week that you're partnering with FIFA.
02:31What kind of expertise are you sharing with host cities?
02:33FIFA is a very, very valuable partner for the Supreme Committee, for the country of Qatar.
02:39We have people already working there since over a month now,
02:42so we have venue managers, we have media operations, we have security personnel as well,
02:48we have transportation people, so it's a lot of different functional areas.
02:53But this year will be undoubtedly different given the new format.
02:56What are you most looking forward to in 2026?
02:58Personally, I think increasing the number of teams is a good idea.
03:03We will see from a technical perspective how it will end up,
03:06but from a spectator experience, fan experience, from a cultural, social perspective,
03:11it's very, very important that all these people mingle with each other, meet each other,
03:16see each other's culture, which is the power of football.
03:20Since 2022, Qatar's World Cup infrastructure has continued to host regional and international events,
03:26from youth tournaments to major club competitions.
03:29The infrastructure of the World Cup gave us an actually turnkey solution for us,
03:35so we can host any tournament within a few weeks.
03:38It makes sense for us to host more and more sports tournaments,
03:41so it's no secret as well, Qatar's bidding for the Olympics,
03:45we have the Asian Games in 2030, we have the Basketball Championship 27,
03:4928 the Football Championship,
03:51so I think that will only grow our calendar of sports moving forward.
03:56That was the whole intent of investing within the infrastructure to keep it as a lasting legacy for sure.
04:02The impact of Qatar 2022 is still being felt here in the stadiums, the metro,
04:07and the way this country sees itself on the world stage.
04:10As North America gets ready for 2026,
04:13many will be wondering what lessons from Qatar will make the journey across the Atlantic.
04:18Adil Alim, Euronews, Doha.
04:35Are you sure you are going to be nervous?
04:41What is we going to work?
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