Doha, December 19 (QNA) - International news agencies and newspapers highlighted the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, commending the exceptional World Cup that ended with the coronation of the Argentine national team and its star player Lionel Messi, in a majestic scene befitting the most magnificent finals in the history of the tournament.

For its part, French news agency AFP pointed out the statement of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani via his official Twitter account, in which His Highness said that, at the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the State of Qatar has fulfilled its promise of delivering an exceptional tournament from the land of Arabs, extended his thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of this tournament.

AFP pointed out that HH the Amir congratulated Argentina for winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 trophy and France for the runner-up position, and extended his thanks to all the participating teams for their wonderful performance and the fans who cheered for them enthusiastically.

AFP quoted another part of His Highness' tweet, in which he said that, at the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the State of Qatar has fulfilled its promise of delivering an exceptional tournament from the land of Arabs, providing the chance for peoples of the world to learn about the enriched and authentic Arab culture and values.

The agency recalled the statement of President of FIFA Gianni Infantino, in which he described this tournament as the best among all the previous editions.

In a notable gesture, HH the Amir, dressed Lionel Messi - who has led his country to win the tournament for the third time, in the traditional Arab 'Bisht' cloak, before the latter lifted the golden World Cup trophy.

German news agency DPA said that Lusail Stadium witnessed the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after a breathtaking match between Argentine and France, in the presence of more than 88,000 fans, during which the Argentinian team made a victory by winning the World Cup of the first edition in the Arab world, and the third in history.

The final match coincided with the host country's National Day, DPA said, adding that the closing ceremony included a performance by two Arab poets - Tamim Al Barghouti and Mohamed Ould Bemba, who affirmed that the spirit of football was reflected in the tournament, promoting peace, equality and coexistence by emphasizing that there are no differences between the competitors, as humanity is equal in the football world and the privileges are distributed equally to everyone.

These words embody the relationship between Qatar and the challenges it faced in order to organize an exceptional event such as the World Cup, and shed light on Qatar's resilience and determination supported by regional and international stances with the right to organize, without double standards or changing measures in judgments, DPA added.

The agency indicated that more than 3.4 million tickets were sold to attend the tournament matches, which were hosted by eight world-class stadiums, all located within an hour of the center of the Qatari capital, Doha.

The German news agency stressed Qatar's success in hosting the first close-distance edition in the history of the World Cup since the launch of the first edition of the World Cup in 1930, explaining that the proximity between stadiums allowed the fans to attend more than one match in one day during the first stages of the tournament matches, and that the country received more than one million and 400 thousand visitors over a period of 29 days.

DPA noted that in addition to attending matches in World Cup stadiums, fans enjoyed a variety of recreational activities at many locations across the country, including the FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha, which received nearly 2 million fans throughout the days of the tournament, in addition to the Doha Corniche, and the areas surrounding the stadiums.

The tourist attractions in Qatar have formed a destination for fans from everywhere to get together to celebrate their passion for football, and to learn about diverse cultures from around the globe in an exceptional atmosphere, DPA added. 

After the closing ceremony of the World Cup, Turkey's Anadolu Agency highlighted the tweet of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Twitter, and quoted His Highness' tweet, in which he said that, at the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the State of Qatar has fulfilled its promise of delivering an exceptional tournament from the land of Arabs, providing the chance for peoples of the world to learn about the enriched and authentic Arab culture and values. 

The agency added that the HH the Amir of Qatar congratulated Argentine national team for winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and the French national team for being the runner-up in the tournament. 

Anadolu Agency described the closing ceremony as "inspiring" and that the ceremony focused on the message of "building a bridge between cultures". It included several artistic activities, including songs, poems and performances.

The tweet of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was the most prominent on the closing day of the World Cup. Russia Today channel commented by saying that HH the Amir of the State of Qatar was keen to send a message to the winner and participants in the finals of the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup 2022, which concluded in Qatar.

It republished the tweet in which HH the Amir congratulated Argentina for winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 trophy and France for the runner-up position, and extended his thanks to all the participating teams for their wonderful performance and the fans who cheered for them enthusiastically.

His Highness added that at the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the State of Qatar has fulfilled its promise of delivering an exceptional tournament from the land of Arabs, providing the chance for peoples of the world to learn about the enriched and authentic Arab culture and values. 

Russia Today also shed light on the "Bisht" in which star Lionel Messi appeared at the moment of winning the cup, saying that HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, presented the 'Gulf Bisht' to Argentine star Lionel Messi, the best player in the World Cup 2022, after defeating France on Sunday in the Qatar World Cup final.

It added that HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim dressed Messi, who led the Argentine national team to win over France on penalties, in the 'Gulf Bisht' before presenting the World Cup to him. 

Agence France-Presse (Sports) indicated that after the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar is aspiring to be a "world leader in the field of sports", and is seeking to host the Olympic Games in 2036.

The agency stated that the road is long, but several major milestones have been set to win the honor of organizing such an event, pointing out in its report that Qatar has organized several international tournaments in its record with great success, including the Asian Games in 2006, and will also organize the next Asian Football Cup, and the World Swimming Championships in 2024, the World Table Tennis Championships in 2025 and the Asian Games in 2030, after hosting the World Handball Championships in 2015 and the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

The Algerian News Agency commented on the FIFA Fan Festival, which was held in Al Bidaa Park, and said that it hosted more than 1.8 million fans who enjoyed the direct broadcast of the matches and entertainment provided by the festival during the World Cup.

The agency said that the FIFA Fan Festival, which opened last November 19, served as a destination for foreign and local fans during the tournament, where all the World Cup matches were shown on a giant screen, in addition to free entertainment, and some well-known names in the world of world music participated in the event.

Tunisian News Agency (TAP) confirmed that the World Cup in Qatar achieved many records, perhaps the most prominent of which is the crowd attendance in the stadiums throughout the days of the tournament, which numbered three million and 404 thousand and 252 fans, with the end of the final match on Sunday, with Argentina’s victory over France.

The agency pointed out that the Qatar World Cup ranked third in the number of public attendance in the history of the World Cup (3,404,252 fans), while the World Cup America 1994 topped the list of the largest public attendance in the history of the tournament, as it witnessed the presence of 3,587,538 fans.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil comes in second place with an attendance of 3,429,873 fans, and the World Cup in Germany 2006 comes in fourth place with an attendance of 3,359,439 fans.

The French television station, RMC, commented, "Messi and Argentina are at the top of the world, despite France's heroic performance and Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick."

The French newspaper "Le Parisien" indicated that France "was close to a miracle" but was "deprived of the third star", while the French newspaper "L'Equipe" wrote that the final was "perhaps the best in history."

 The British newspaper "The Sun" praised the match, describing it as "the best final match ever," while the Spanish newspaper "Marca" wrote, "Messi has now got his well-deserved award." 

Several TV channels covered the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and were interested in reporting statements by the tournament officials on those exceptional moments in world football.

HE Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy Hassan Al Thawadi expressed his happiness at the success of the World Cup and its achievement of the highest rates of excellence in the history of the World Cup in all respects.

He told the British Sky News TV that the 22nd edition of the tournament reflects the great work that the State of Qatar has done in organizing the World Cup tournaments, most notably that Qatar has brought together the whole world with its various cultures and beliefs about sports, in a message of peace through football.

He underscored that the tournament went through a lot of distinctive and organized workstations carried out by Qatar, until it reached the end of the tournament in the best possible way, highlighting the great mass success of the tournament as one of the best World Cup tournaments in terms of the percentage of Mass attendance at stadiums.

Al Thawadi stressed that Qatar has proved to the world that it is capable of bringing together the peoples of the world in a special edition of the World Cup, in which all efforts have been made to be such a success that has dazzled the world, emphasizing that the World Cup reflected the distinctive image of the region and the great capabilities of Qatar in the success of any sports events.

He underlined that the World Cup not only allowed Qatar to show its best but also changed the perception of others about this part of the world, considering that the World Cup final between France and Argentina is a dream final for everyone because it brings together two colleagues of Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe and Messi.

On the other hand, in terms of the expected tourism development after the World Cup, Qatar Tourism, through the words of its Public Relations and Communication Officer Maryam Al Maslamani, confirmed that the World Cup put Qatar on the world map, explaining that some expected that their visit to Qatar would be limited to attending the games only, but they were surprised by the excellent infrastructure, vast roads, and diverse entertainment venues, in addition to the wonderful combination of modernity, antiquity and authentic Arab heritage.

Speaking to the Lebanese MTV, Al Maslamani said that many tourist places were opened shortly before the World Cup, including the beaches of West Bay, Al Maha Island, Lusail Boulevard, and Qatar Tourism (QT) seeking to open new and unique tourist places while maintaining sustainability and antiquity.

She added that QT's plan, which is part of the Qatar Vision 2030, is to double the number of tourists by three times compared to 2022, to be 6 million tourists, and contribute to increasing the local and economic income of the State by 7 to 12 percent. (QNA)