This browser does not support the video element.
This browser does not support the video element.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in numbers
The first FIFA World Cup™ to take place in the Arab world was as record-breaking as it was groundbreaking. Below are some of the official facts and figures from the greatest-ever edition of football’s biggest competition.
As Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup Trophy at the end of one of the most exhilarating games of football in living memory, it capped the end of a more-than-memorable 29 days of football. For the first time in tournament history, an African nation reached the final four – as Morocco defied the odds to go on the FIFA World Cup journey of a lifetime – and fans of all 32 teams were able to gather in one place to bond over a shared passion for the beautiful game.
In what many called the greatest FIFA World Cup final of all time, records tumbled:
Argentina captain Lionel Messi hoisted the coveted winner’s trophy for the first time in his storied career, while notching up his record 26th FIFA World Cup appearance and winning the adidas Golden Ball Award along the way.
Kylian Mbappé became only the second player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup final, while also holding his nerve to convert his spot kick in the decisive penalty shoot-out, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals and taking home the adidas Golden Boot.
Mbappé’s second-half volley to level the scores at 2-2 was clocked at 123.34km/h, making it the most powerful scoring shot in the tournament.
The six-goal final helped to make Qatar 2022 the highest-scoring FIFA World Cup ever. A total of 172 goals were scored, eclipsing the previous tournament record of 171 goals, achieved in 1998 and 2014.
The magnificent moments on the pitch were not the only remarkable thing about this FIFA World Cup.
As the impressive figures kept coming in, viewership numbers and global interest also reached peak levels, telling the story of how football successfully united the world:
3.4 million spectators
The attendance at the final pushed the cumulative total for this FIFA World Cup to over 3.4 million spectators, with an average overall attendance capacity of 96.3%.
1.8 million +
Al Bidda Park in Doha saw more than 1.8 million fans enjoy the live broadcasts of games and the vibrant entertainment on offer at the FIFA Fan Festival™.
1 million +
Over one million visitors travelled to Qatar to watch matches in person, with the top visiting nations being: Saudi Arabia, India, the USA, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
First FIFA World Cup in the Arab world
The first FIFA World Cup in the Arab world introduced much of the world to the local culture and demonstrated the passion for football held by fans in the region.
For the first time ever...
For the first time ever, countries from five different continents qualified for the knockout stage, with Morocco becoming the first-ever African or Arab nation to make it as far as the semi-finals.
The most compact FIFA World Cup
The most compact FIFA World Cup since the inaugural edition in 1930 also benefitted fans, teams and media representatives, who had the option of attending several matches and entertainment activities per day.
420,000 volunteer applications
A record 420,000 volunteer applications were received, of which 20,000 were chosen, including 3,000 international volunteers from 150 different nations to help support and deliver all facets of the tournament.
9.19 million trips
During the group stage, the busiest phase of the tournament, the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks notched up 9.19 million trips, with a daily average of 707,032 passengers.
Audience figures
Around five billion people engaged with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, following tournament content across an array of platforms and devices across the media universe. On social media, according to Nielsen, there were 93.6 million posts across all platforms, with a 262 billion cumulative reach and 5.95 billion engagements.
France
The final on TF1 attracted an average audience of 24.08 million viewers, 81% of the audience share. This was 24% greater than the audience for the France v. Croatia final in 2018 (19.38 million) and an all-time viewing record in France.
Argentina
The final was aired across three channels (TV Publica, TyC Sports and DirecTV) – with a combined audience of 12.07 million viewers.
USA
The final attracted a combined audience of almost 26 million – with the coverage on FOX being the most watched English-language broadcast of a FIFA World Cup in the USA. The final was also the most-watched match of the tournament in Spanish, with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of nine million viewers – a 65% increase compared to the 2018 final.
Pan-Middle East and North Africa
Coverage of the final aired live across the MENA region on beIN Sports. The match achieved an audience reach of 242.79 million viewers – equivalent to 67.8% of the channel’s potential television audience.
Rest of the world
Brazil
The tournament as a whole attracted an overall reach in the country of 173 million – 81% of the population.
Japan
More than 36 million watched the coverage of Japan’s second group-stage match against Costa Rica on TV Asahi – achieving an audience share of 66.5% – a record in 2022.
United Kingdom
51.22 million UK viewers were reached across the entire tournament, representing 83.9% of the potential market audience.
Korea Republic
A total of 11.14 million viewers watched Korea Republic’s opening match against Uruguay – representing a 97% increase in Korean TV audience compared to the average group-stage figures at the previous FIFA World Cup.
Portugal
Coverage of Portugal’s round-of-16 match against Switzerland delivered the most-watched FIFA World Cup broadcast ever recorded in Portugal, with an average of 3.89 million viewers – 71.8% of the broadcast share.
Commercial Affiliates
The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup was also hugely successful for FIFA’s Commercial Affiliates – with over five billion people reached, the platform that the tournament provides is like no other. All global and regional sponsorship packages were sold out, with the 32 Commercial Affiliates activating more than 600 special marketing programmes.
Seven FIFA Partners
Seven FIFA World Cup Sponsors
18 Regional Supporters across FIFA’s five regions
Together, these companies, along with the sponsors of other FIFA tournaments, ensured that FIFA comfortably exceeded its budget for marketing rights revenues during the 2019-2022 cycle.
The sale of licensing rights achieved excellent results in the 2019-2022 cycle, with revenues 28% higher than in the 2015-2018 cycle.
Other achievements of note:
FIFA ran its largest-ever licensing and retail programme at the FIFA World Cup, with retail revenues exceeding those from the previous edition.
As well as tournament stores, a permanent flagship FIFA Store was also opened at Hamad International Airport in Doha.
154 FIFA Store outlets were opened and operated across the eight stadiums.
FIFA also launched a major ecommerce offering – fifastore.com – featuring product ranges for the FIFA World Cup and all of FIFA’s properties.
Licensing revenues also included contracts with FIFA Branded Licensees such as Taittinger, Hublot, Louis Vuitton and Panini.