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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Sport

Football takes centre stage after troubled World Cup build-up

World Cup Lionel Messi Football Qatar Argentina Brazil Fifpro France
At 35, Lionel Messi has one last chance to win the World Cup with Argentine. (AFP Photo)

DOHA: After a 12-year build-up engulfed by a desert storm of controversy, the World Cup finally kicks off in Qatar on Sunday with Lionel Messi aiming to crown his glittering career by winning football's greatest prize.

The first ever World Cup held in the Arab world — and the first staged outside of the northern hemisphere's summer window — gets under way at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium, where hosts Qatar take on Ecuador in Group A.

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