2 THIS IS the first time the Cup is being held in the Middle East and during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. Summer temps in Qatar regularly top 100 degrees, so for the safety of both athletes and spectators, organizers pushed the month-long contest out to late November, when the weather is more mild.
3 A COMMITTEE votes to select the World Cup host country years in advance. Since Qatar's bid won back in 2010, the Qataris in charge of that bid have been accused of bribing for votes. They wouldn't be the first. Former FIFA official Chuck Blazer admitted to taking bribes for the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
4 URUGUAY WAS the first host-and winner-of the World Cup back in 1930. The final match played out in front of 60,000 spectators. The most recent World Cup final, held in Moscow in 2018, attracted a crowd of 78,000. Another 1.12 billion tuned in live at home or at their local football bar.
5 RUSSIA BASICALLY disqualified itself from this year's Cup. In a preliminary qualification round, the Russians had to beat at least two of the three other teams in their pool. But all three-poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic-refused to play against Russia in protest of its invasion of Ukraine. FIFA then disqualified the Russian team, an otherwise strong squad that was certainly good enough to go to Qatar.
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