World Cup 2022 by the numbers

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar comes to a close this weekend when France takes on Argentina in the final. The tournament has been one of the most thrilling and controversial in recent memory, dating all the way back to 2010 when Qatar won its bid to host amid allegations of bribery. Because the desert nation that became the first Middle Easter country to host the tournament boasts such extreme heat in the summer, this year’s event was moved to December, and the traditionally monthlong tournament was cut down to 29 days, featuring 64 matches played in 8 venues across 5 cities.

Those circumstances, along with what happened on the pitch and beyond, has made the 2022 World Cup one for the record books.

Follow the Money

Since being awarded the World Cup in 2010, Qatar has spent an estimated $300 billion in preparation for hosting the event—making this by far the most expensive World Cup in history, and a massive spend for a country that’s smaller than the state of Connecticut. The price tag includes seven newly built stadiums, a new transit system, an expansion of the nation’s primary airport, and a host of new hotels, some of which were built to float on water. This also includes the $45 billion dedicated to building the city of Lusail, which essentially didn’t exist when Qatar originally won the bid.

While it remains to be seen how Qatar’s investment will impact the nation long term, FIFA is already reaping the benefits, as the association has earned a record $7.5 billion from the 2022 World Cup, $1 billion more than it netted from the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The teams participating in the event will also go home with record payouts. A total of $440 million will be spread across the 32 participating nations, a $40 million increase from the $400 million awarded in 2018. The minimum any team will net from the tournament is $9 million, which is awarded to the teams that got knocked out in the group stage. Those who advanced to the Round of 16 and were eliminated immediately—such as the U.S.—receive $13 million each, while teams eliminated in the quarter-finals each receive $17 million.

The winner between France and Argentina will receive a record $42 million payout, an increase of $4 million from the $38 million awarded to France for winning in 2018. The runner-up will receive $30 million, while Croatia and Morocco will battle for a $27 million third-place payout, with the fourth-place team receiving a $25 million prize.

More eyes than ever

The 2022 World Cup has already broken several viewership records, especially in the United States.

The English-language coverage of the U.S.’s group-stage match against England was the most-watched men’s soccer match ever on U.S. television, with a peak audience of 19.65 million viewers on Fox. (The overall TV viewership record for a U.S. team, however, remains 25.4 million during the U.S. women’s final against Japan in the 2015 Women’s World Cup.) The following day, Argentina’s clash with Mexico on Telemundo became the most-watched Spanish-language group-stage match in U.S. history.

And as the tournament has progressed, the global audience has grown.

According to Front Office Sports, Fox’s coverage of France’s 2–1 quarter-final win over England was the most-watched men’s quarter-final on record, averaging more than 8.8 million viewers—up 39% from the previous mark of nearly 6.4 million for Russia versus Croatia in 2018. Argentina’s 3–0 semi-final win over Croatia drew 6.47 million viewers, up 43% from the 2018 semi-final match between France and Belgium.

The other 2022 semi-final, featuring France’s 2–0 win over Morocco, netted nearly 6.6 million viewers across Fox and streaming services—peaking at 8.2 million—making it the most-watched Men’s World Cup semi-final telecast ever on English-language television and the most-streamed non-U.S. match of the tournament.

For the 2018 World Cup, a record 3.572 billion people watched those matches with the final between France and Croatia attracting a combined global audience of 1.12 billion, up from 1.01 billion in 2014.

With this year’s tournament already breaking viewership records, a global audience of 1.5 billion for Sunday’s final is not out of the question.

History in the Making

On Sunday, both France and Argentina seek to win their third World Cup. Brazil has the most World Cup titles with five, while Germany and Italy are tied for second with four titles each. A win by France would mark just the third time a nation won back-to-back World Cups, a feat Italy accomplished in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil matched in 1958 and 1962.

For Argentina, it’s not just the nation’s third World Cup title on the line, but also Lionel Messi’s elusive first World Cup title. Widely considered among the greatest players in history, Messi has won 4 Champions League titles, a record 7 Ballon d’Or awards—the honor given to the world’s best player—10 La Liga titles with Barcelona, and a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. With Argentina, he won the Copa America and an Olympic gold medal. Essentially, Messi has won every trophy imaginable—except for the World Cup. It’s the last trophy to complete Messi’s legacy, one that would elevate him to the level of Argentina legend Diego Maradona, who led his team to the 1986 World Cup title in Mexico.

Messi came close to winning the elusive trophy in 2014 when Argentina reached the World Cup final, only to lose to Germany, 1–0. His next chance comes Sunday in what could be the 35-year-old’s last World Cup appearance.

The Golden Boot, awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the tournament, will likely be won—or lost—in the final, as Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé are tied for the tournament lead with five goals apiece. (The two are also teammates on the Paris Saint-Germain football club.) Argentina’s Julián Álvarez and France’s Olivier Giroud are tied with four goals each and, with multiple goals on Sunday, could surpass the PSG superstars to win the award.

None of these players will come close to France’s Just Fontaine, who holds the record for most goals in a single World Cup with 13 in 1958. Germany’s Miroslav Klose is the all-time top goal scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals across 24 matches, while Messi is tied for sixth on that list with 11 World Cup goals over 25 matches to date.

Should the match go to penalty kicks, it would be the third time a World Cup final has been decided via shoot-out (1994, 2006), and the first time in history that a World Cup featured five total matches decided by shoot-out.

Argentina has been involved in the most penalty shoot-outs in World Cup history, six across five tournaments. They are 5–1 in those shoot-outs, losing only to Germany in the 2006 quarter-final in Berlin.

France is 2–2 all-time in World Cup shoot-outs.

A founding editor of The Players’ Tribune, Paul Mueller is a freelance writer and content strategist based in Florida.