By Senad Karaahmetovic
The FIFA World Cup 2022 is just around the corner with Qatar hosting the 32 best football teams in the world. As many as 64 matches will be played between November 20 and December 18 in the 22nd edition of the World Cup.
FIFA expects the upcoming event will break all types of records with as many as 5 billion people expected to tune in and watch this year’s tournament. Over 3.5B people, nearly half of the world’s total population, watched an official broadcast in 2018. If the World Cup 2022 can attract 5B people, that would translate into two-thirds of the global population.
Qatar hosting the World Cup 2022 is also a hot topic, especially after Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) recently released a documentary “FIFA Uncovered” which looks at “what it takes to host World Cup.” The costs associated with Qatar hosting this event are also mind-blowing.
Research firm Front Office Sports recently estimated that Qatar spent $220 billion to build the necessary infrastructure while Hassan Al Thawad, the person in charge of Qatar’s efforts to host the WC 2022, confirmed the costs exceeded $200B. For comparison purposes, Qatar’s 2021 GDP is nearly $180B.
For Wells Fargo analysts, the amount of money Qatar has spent preparing for the World Cup is “incredible.”
“In nominal dollars and in terms of GDP, no other host nation has even come close to Qatar's spending. While Qatar expects close to 1.5 million tourists, we feel rather comfortable saying that the 2022 World Cup will most likely be unprofitable for Qatar, at least from a financial perspective,” the analysts said in a client note.
The bank went further and used its economic and currency analysis playbook to develop a framework to predict who will win the World Cup 2022.
And the winner of the World Cup 2022 is… Brazil!
“According to our framework, Brazil is the best team in the field; however, we also identify Argentina and Spain as the second and third best teams in the tournament, respectively,” the analysts added.
The United States is seen getting out of Group B, alongside England, which would be “a huge deal.” However, it is projected not to advance past the round of 16.
Finally, the analysts also highlight Uruguay as the dark horse pick.
“Keep an eye on the South American nation as the tournament progresses—we might have a Cinderella story in the making,” they concluded.