The 2022 World Cup was a tournament full of thrills, spills, controversy and contention that ended with Lionel Messi’s Argentina lifting the famous trophy on Sunday.
Here, the PA news agency tells the story of the Qatar tournament in pictures.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup took place at the Al Bayt Stadium (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Empty Budweiser fridges outside the Khalifa International Stadium after it was announced on the eve of the tournament that the sale of alcohol to fans at grounds had been banned (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
There was further controversy when team captains, including England’s Harry Kane, were told by FIFA they could not wear the ‘OneLove’ armband in matches (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
England were not permitted to wear the OneLove armband but support for the LGBTQ+ community was on show at Wembley Stadium (Yui Mok/PA)
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Yui Mok
Germany’s players, meanwhile, made their own protest by covering their mouths as they posed for a team photo ahead of their first match with Japan (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
The treatment of migrant workers in Qatar was also a big issue. Here, players from the Workers’ Welfare ‘Team 360’ were given signed England shirts and tickets to their opening match against Iran (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Gianni Infantino took aim at European critics of Qatar on the eve of the tournament in an extraordinary hour-long monologue (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
England kicked off their bid in impressive fashion with a 6-2 mauling of Iran (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Argentina fans turned out in force in Qatar as they hoped to see Lionel Messi follow in Diego Maradona’s footsteps and lift the World Cup (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
But the eventual champions suffered a huge early shock when Saudi Arabia beat them courtesy of Salem Al-Dawsari’s winning goal (Adam Davy/PA)
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Adam Davy
Richarlison scored one of the goals of the tournament as Brazil beat Serbia in their first match (Peter Byrne/PA)
Photo by
Peter Byrne
Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, was quickly into his stride as he terrorised defences in Qatar (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
Japan’s winning goal against Spain caused an intense debate as to whether the ball had gone out before Ao Tanaka (not in picture) scored, with four-time winners Germany knocked out as a result (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Wales were roared on by the ‘Red Wall’ in their first World Cup since 1958 but Robert Page’s men fell at the group stage (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
Senegal fans also made themselves known as their team progressed to the last 16 (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Cristiano Ronaldo started well as he became the first man to score in five separate World Cups with his goal against Ghana (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
But he ended up having to settle for a role on Portugal’s bench (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
With the eyes of the world watching his every move again (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Neymar’s World Cup did not go as he would have hoped either (Nick Potts/PA)
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Nick Potts
Brazil’s bid for a sixth World Cup success was ended in the quarter-finals by Croatia following a penalty shoot-out (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
England also paid the penalty as Harry Kane’s miss against France saw them exit at the quarter-finals (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
But they did not return from Qatar empty handed, with Dave the cat adopted by England as their mascot and brought back to the UK with the squad (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Morocco were the tournament’s surprise package as they became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final, beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal en route (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
But their brilliant run was finally ended by holders France (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Theo Hernandez set Les Bleus on their way to a 2-0 win at the Al Bayt Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Argentina, meanwhile, were making progress, if not necessarily any new friends in the Netherlands (Peter Byrne/PA)
Photo by
Peter Byrne
There were 18 yellow cards and one red shown during a fiery and incident-packed quarter-final at the Lusail Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA)
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Adam Davy
Argentina eventually won the clash on penalties (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
Croatia won the third place play-off against Morocco (Adam Davy/PA)
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Adam Davy
Before France and Argentina met in the final (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
With Kylian Mbappe, left, and Messi taking centre stage (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
Messi put Argentina ahead from the spot (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
And he enjoyed the celebrations (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
Angel Di Maria then scored a brilliant second (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Olivier Giroud was not happy about being taken off in the first half as France made a double change (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Mbappe pulled one back for France from the spot in the second half (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
Before getting a quickfire second to draw France level and take the game to extra time (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
Mbappe accepted the adulation from France’s fans (Martin Rickett/PA)
Photo by
Martin Rickett
Messi looked to have won it for Argentina with his goal in extra time (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Only for Mbappe to equalise from the penalty spot, earning him a hat-trick and taking the contest to penalties (Adam Davy/PA)
Photo by
Adam Davy
But Argentina were the ones celebrating at the end as they won the shoot-out to claim World Cup glory (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
Messi and his team-mates celebrated with the fans (Mike Egerton/PA)
Photo by
Mike Egerton
Messi finally got his hands on the World Cup trophy (Nick Potts/PA)
Photo by
Nick Potts
