
As Lionel Messi inspired his Argentina side to their third soccer World Cup in Qatar last year, his competitors were left nursing battle wounds worth hundreds of millions of dollars—largely as a result of the grueling tournament.
The FIFA World Cup was held in November and December 2022, in the middle of Europe’s busy soccer season. Nearly three-quarters of players who featured at the World Cup last year came from leagues in the continent, according to analysis by Al Jazeera.