By Francisco Peyret
The World Cup in Qatar began in the midst of a climate of controversy. It began in winter, bogged down by accusations of corruption and violations of human rights. However, as the games were played out we concentrated on the plays, and we put aside the issues having to do with the organizers, governments, or regimes. In the end what prevailed was the sport and not the controversy.
This year’s World Cup offered great surprises such as the successes of the Moroccan national team that gave the Arab world great satisfaction. But this is soccer, and in this game less fortunate countries can surprise teams from the most powerful leagues on the planet.
At the end of the day, it is the memories that remain—the interpretations of results, the videos, and most importantly the numbers. Here are some statistics that give us a clue to this phenomenon that is the World Cup.
According to Mundo Deportivo, «FIFA earned record revenues of 7.5 billion dollars (7.253 billion euros), in the four years of commercial agreements linked to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.” FIFA disclosed its earnings to more than 200 of its members. The figure represents 1 billion more than the income of the previous commercial cycle for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
How much of the total does each World Cup team get?
FIFA stated officially tha, «All the teams will receive US$1.5 million before the competition, to cover expenses derived from the preparations.»
CNN released the figures, broken down by phase:
– The teams that stayed in the group stage take US$9 million
– Those who remain in the round of 16, US$13 million
– Those who remain in the quarterfinals, U$17 million
– The fourth place in the World Cup takes US$25 million
– Third place, US$27 million
– The runner-up had a sum of US$30 million
– And the champion of Qatar 2022 won US$42 million
To evaluate the cost/benefit of the results by each team, we need to look at the value of the teams. For example, Morocco and Croatia were in the top four places in the tournament, but they are far from the top 10 of the most expensive teams in the tournament. Argentina costs about 748 million euros, but it is not in the top five of the most expensive teams. Portugal accumulates a market value of 1,154 million euros. Spain comes in the top four with a market value of 1,201 million euros. The most expensive World Cup teams are France in third place with 1,337 million euros; Brazil in second place with a value of 1,455 million; and number one ranking goes to England with a figure of 1,499 million euros.
According to FIFA, the World Cup in Qatar has had a cumulative attendance of more than three million people. This 96% of the capacity reached in Russia in 2018.
