World Sport 2022: Qatar and Much More

Undoubtedly, the sporting event that had the most attention during this 2022 was the Soccer World Cup in Qatar. It happens every four years, and it will be that way as long as it exists.

Argentina's third star, expected for 36 long years, finally crowned a generation leaded by Lionel Messi who seemed doomed to failure. It was an atypical World Cup, played in the end of the year and in the middle of a season, but it lived up to expectations. It closed as the World Cup with the most goals and with the best final in history.

The competition also allowed us to see the best result of an African team, with that semifinalist Morocco, the third podium for Croatia, a young nation, and the power of a France team that reached the final despite many (and important) casualties, led by Kylian Mbappé who can destroy all the records of this event.

But soccer was not only the World Cup. The Champions League lived perhaps its most surprising season, plagued by magical nights at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where Real Madrid surpassed itself from feat to feat until it reached the final, and lifted its number 14 Trophy against English Liverpool. Success also in the Spanish League made coach Carlo Ancelotti the owner of several brands by being crowned in several countries, and it was the best scenario for striker Karim Benzema to win the Ballon d'Or.

For its part, athletics had the indoor World Cup in March and the outdoor competition in July. The Belgrade games left two world records, the Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis (6.20 meters) and the Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas (15.74 m), and the European athlete later in Eugene raised this level to 6.21. In the northern competition, the local Sydney McLaughlin (50.68 seconds in the 400 hurdles) and Nigerian Tobi Amusan (12.12 seconds in 100 hurdles) also entered the record books.

From the pools, the 18-year-old Romanian David Popovici and the American Katie Ledecky won two and four titles, respectively, during the world event organized in Budapest, where Hungarian Kristóf Milák was another of the highlights, with two gold medals and world record in 200 butterfly stroke (1:50.34).

The other most popular sport on the planet, tennis, saw the birth of a new star, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, and the perseverance of the stellar Rafael Nadal. The rookie took the scepter at the United States Open and the veteran reigned at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, in addition to other less important tournaments. Among the ladies, Polish Iwa Swiatek walked the distance, with medals won in France and the United States as Major competitions.

New stars also saw the light of day in cycling, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard, new winner of the Tour de France (where he also won the mountains classification), and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, first in the Tour of Spain, and who later showed his quality in the Road Cycling World Championships in Australia, where he finished first in the main event and third in the time trial.

With less impact on our geography, but much on a global level, there were the Winter Olympic Games, which in February made China the first country to organize the competition under the five rings both in summer and on the snow. The figure of the event was the Russian skater Kamila Valieva, a teenager who amazed the world with her acrobatic jumps, although she is currently under investigation.

In Formula One the Dutchman Max Verstappen retained his crown from last year, and in MotoGP the Italian Francesco Bagnaia was crowned for the first time, after having finished second in the previous one.

The other big events of this 2022 were the volleyball and basketball World Championships, the latter only for women. In volleyball, Italy won the gold medal among men and Serbia among women, while the United States won easily the basketball tournament.

These were the most important world team sport events of the year; we will dedicate a separate space to single sport events.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff