Morgan Freeman, BTS's Jungkook and La’eeb the Mascot: 2022 Qatar World Cup Kicks Off With a Bang
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup got off to a bumping start in Doha on Sunday, with the international football tournament featuring 32 teams from five confederations. The sporting event will run across eight separate venues in five host cities until December 18.
The World Cup officially off on Sunday with a grand opening ceremony showing off where some of the billions of dollars spent on the event went.
The ceremony kicked off with Hollywood’s Morgan Freeman on stage alongside World Cup ambassador Ghanim al Muftah, a 20-year-old Qatari YouTuber born without the lower half of his body, with the two engaging in a conversation on the power of football to bring nations closer together. “I can see it, for what unites us here in this moment is so much greater than what divides us…So we gather here as one big tribe, and Earth is the tent we all live in,” Morgan said. “Football spans the world, unites nations in their love of the beautiful game,” he added.
The ceremony featured an array of dance numbers, starting with a display of Ardha - a traditional Qatari all-male sword dance.
Light shows, fountain displays, illuminated drones and fireworks complemented the event, with elements lighting up the sky both inside Doha’s Al Bayt Stadium and the surrounding cityscape.
Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his predecessor, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani were in attendance, as were a number of high profile guests, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also took part.
“How beautiful it is for people to put aside what divides them in order to celebrate their diversity and what brings them together at the same time,” Emir al Thani said in a short speech opening the event. “I wish all the participating teams a magnificent football performance, high sportsmanship, and a time full of joy, excitement and delight for your all,” he added.
La’eeb, the mascot to the tournament, modeled after the traditional Qatari ghutra headwear, was seen floating around the stadium as dancers and singers performed their routines. ‘La’eeb’ translates from Arabic as ‘super-skilled player’.
British singer Robbie Williams took to the stage for a musical number, as did dreamy BTS heartthrob Jungkook, who performed his new song ‘Dreamers’, written especially for the event and released earlier in the day. “Look who we are, we are the dreamers, we’ll make it happen ‘cause we believe it,” Jungkook sang to a bumping dance beat. Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi joined Jungkook partway through the number, singing part of his words in Arabic.
The opening ceremony was followed by the tournament’s first matchup – Qatar vs. Ecuador. England and Iran, the USA and Wales, and Senegal and the Netherlands will face off on Monday.
