Qatar will finally get their home World Cup under way on Sunday, 12 years after the nation's successful bid put into motion wide-ranging preparations which cost billions of dollars. The home team's players have also been preparing tirelessly, spending months outside Qatar in isolated training camps, in an attempt to reach the knockout phase on their World Cup debut. FIFA president Gianni Infantino had called on World Cup teams to "focus on football" in a letter earlier this month and accused critics in Western countries of "hypocrisy" on Saturday. Qatar have improved on the pitch since winning the World Cup bid, beating Japan in the 2019 Asian Cup final and finishing third in the Arab Cup last year. "We know how Qatar play, they're strong, they're powerful.
