This year’s World Cup, in Qatar, is the first in the Middle East, a football-mad region where rivalries too often play out on battlefields. At least for a brief period, the tournament has brought a dollop of goodwill
Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, summoned the national football team to deliver an odd pep talk: no one expects much from you. The Green Falcons were preparing for their sixth World Cup appearance. The past four ended in the group stage, with just a single win in 2018. This year they drew a tough bracket that included Argentina, a favourite to hoist the golden trophy.
This year’s World Cup, in Qatar, is the first in the Middle East, a football-mad region where the local teams are often underdogs and a fractured region where rivalries too often play out on battlefields. At least for a brief period, the tournament has brought a dollop of goodwill. The unlikeliest cheers came from the Houthis, the Shia rebel group in Yemen that has fought an almost eight-year war against a Saudi-led coalition. Several Houthi officials tweeted their congratulations. Though the praise was later deleted, it was perhaps a bit of football diplomacy: the Saudis are desperate to end a war that has become an expensive quagmire, and there is talk that they may begin direct talks with the Houthis.
All that seemed forgotten as Prince Muhammad sat smiling in the ruler’s box in Doha, two seats away from the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The emir returned the gesture during the Saudi-Argentina match, waving a Saudi flag from the stands and draping it around his neck.
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