Qatar’s bid to host this year’s FIFA World Cup was controversial from the start. Beyond objections to the country’s history of human-rights abuses, there were also the searing temperatures and the sheer logistical challenges to consider: one outdated stadium, few hotels and zero experience with mass tourism.
Nothing, it turns out, that immense sums of money couldn’t address. Twelve years after winning the rights to host the tournament and $300 billion later, the tiny gas-rich nation is ready to host the best players in men’s soccer and about a million of their biggest fans. There are seven new stadiums, 20,000 new hotel rooms, a new metro and more than 1,100 miles of new roads, the culmination of a decade of nonstop construction and investment.
Qatar’s spending on sports isn’t confined to the World Cup. Since being awarded the event by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, the country has been on a spree, buying a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain—one of France’s top soccer clubs—and a 22% interest in Portuguese team SC Braga. It held a Formula One race in 2021, then secured a decade-long hosting contract that starts next year.
