Match of the tournament There is the temptation to pick a leftfield choice from the 18 games I covered, but who are we kidding: the final was stunning, jaw-dropping sport and the best match of its type there has ever been. Nick Ames Argentina’s penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands felt impossible to supersede in the drama stakes but the final turned into the most preposterous and gripping of games. Morocco’s win over Portugal, which culminated in Sofiane Boufal dancing pitchside with his mother after they became the first African team to the reach the semi-finals, was pretty special too. Ben Fisher Argentina v France. My heart was pounding so much I had a headache. Bryan Armen Graham The final. An all-time classic with a deserving winner. Andy Hunter The final. When Kylian Mbappé sliced inside from the left on 71 minutes and lifted high, I remember thinking two things. Blimey, Mbappé hasn’t done much. And, I’m pleased that my live piece is all sorted. Neither sentiment aged well. David Hytner It’s impossible to surpass the drama of the last 40 minutes of the World Cup final, even if the proceeding 80 were strangely listless. Argentina’s shootout win over the Netherlands, which was nearly as thrilling and had 17 yellow cards and a red, will also linger long in the memory. Sean Ingle The World Cup final. Scintillating. The Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé slugfest was a riveting watch studded with operatic drama. What a way for Qatar 2022 (on the pitch) to bow out. Jamie Jackson One stands out for many reasons, Netherlands v Argentina. The dramatic finish, the utter chaos, the referee losing the plot etc, etc. Tom Jenkins Rarely does a final challenge for this spot but this one had all the ingredients: six goals including a hat-trick once France finally woke up, extra time, penalties, Messi v Mbappé, Messi full stop. It’s tough to rival the aggro rollercoaster that was Argentina’s quarter-final win over the Netherlands, but the final was a match for the ages. Emma Kemp Argentina v France was possibly the match of any tournament. Jonathan Liew Despite being ignored, at best, by everyone, I really enjoyed the third-place playoff. South Korea v Ghana was great fun. Spain v Germany was superb, and it’s a pity neither were here for very long. But nothing compares to the final – and may never compare to it either. Even if it’s not quite so enjoyable if you’re trying to work out what the bloody hell to write. Just absurdly brilliant. What a way to go. Sid Lowe The final, obviously, but a lot of the games I attended left a mark. I’ll pick Japan v Spain because it was late at night, which always adds atmosphere, and the way the Samurai Blue turned over the exquisitely groomed Spaniards in a five-minute dose of extreme football absolutely took the breath away. Paul MacInnes Serbia v Switzerland. A bit going on. Sub-texts. Super-texts. Granit Xhaka’s balls. All of it taking place in a cod-hipster parody shed made out of painted steel shabby chic sea containers. Barney Ronay I thought England v France was good. Then I saw the final. It was quite possibly the best game of football ever. Jacob Steinberg The final had everything but my personal favourite – because I was there – was Poland’s 2-0 win against Saudi Arabia in the group stage. The unadorned scoreline does not do justice to Saudi Arabia’s pronounced first-half dominance in front of fanatical massed support at Education City. Let alone Wojciech Szczesny’s incredible double save featuring the initial repelling of Salem al-Dawsari’s penalty. Or the sight of an emotional Robert Lewandowski scoring his first goal at a World Cup finals and subsequently shedding tears of joy. Louise Taylor Before the final, I’d have said for quality, England v France; for drama Netherlands v Argentina. But the final was one of the greatest of all games, a game that defies description, a game that will be talked about for as long as football is played. Jonathan Wilson Player of the tournament Again, no point trying to be too clever: it is Lionel Messi, for what he actually did as well as the emotion and symbolism behind finally getting his hands on the trophy. Messi was on a mission throughout and, a penalty miss against Poland aside, was virtually note-perfect in every action. It was a tournament in which the greats delivered, but new legends were also created: Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat was the best midfielder while his teammate Azzedine Ounahi was the breakout star. Josko Gvardiol and, gloriously, Luka Modric shone for a fine Croatia. NA Beyond the ubiquitous all-singing, all-dancing mobility marshals – “Stadium? This way!” – the obvious suspects. The sight of Kylian Mbappé activating full tilt really is quite something but he came up with the goods too. Azzedine Ounahi and Sofyan Amrabat were immense in midfield for Morocco. BF Lionel Messi. BG Lionel Messi. Majestic under incredible pressure. Wrote the perfect script. AH Messi. Next question. DH A dead heat between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, with Antoine Griezmann third. SI Lionel Messi. Sport is fairytales and folklore. The boy from Rosario is now 35 but still played like the boy from Rosario. JJ I suppose the obvious would be to plump for Lionel Messi given he has been absolutely brilliant. My leftfield choice, someone I knew nothing about before coming here, would be Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat. What a presence he has been. That tackle on Kylian Mbappé in the semi-final – just wow. TJ Who else but Lionel Messi? Before the final, part of me wanted to pick Antoine Griezmann for his inventive and tireless reincarnation in the midfield, and where to even start with Kylian Mbappé? But we all know the real star of the show is Argentina’s ageless wonder. Messi was the inspiration to his country’s triumph in a similar way Diego Maradona was at Mexico 1986 – except that Maradona was 25 then and Messi 35 now. Seven goals, three assists and a trophy make this World Cup the ultimate embellishment to a peerless career. EK Has any player defied the odds so spectacularly at such an advanced age? Has any player wanted or needed it this much? Yes: in many ways this was Olivier Giroud’s World Cup. JL Sofyan Amrabat and Azzedine Ounahi – “Mama mia, where did your No 8 come from?” as Luis Enrique put it – were brilliant. Antoine Griezmann perhaps. And Kylian Mbappé did something very, very special. But come on, it’s Lionel Messi. At 35, for goodness sake. SL It’s Messi, obviously, ahead of Mbappé because not only did he score and create he was the conduit too. But if you don’t mind I’ll name my favourite player: Achraf Hakimi. A class operator in both directions who affected matches consistently from right-back and was an inspirational leader of a historic Moroccan side. Pretty darn handsome too. PM Er. Lionel Messi. What kind of question is this? BR An honorable nod to those who made getting it launched a thing again: Niclas Füllkrug and Wout Weghorst. Yes, Antoine Griezmann was class. But come on, nothing compares with Messi in the mood. JS Much as I’m tempted to vote for Croatia’s Luka Modric – a truly wonderful footballer still excelling at 37 – the winner has to be Iran’s Ehsan Hajsafi. Admittedly he failed to progress beyond the group stage but the national captain’s extreme bravery in publicly supporting his compatriots’ protests against the brutal theocratic regime in Tehran and its imposition of the compulsory hijab for women mattered much more than the outcome of any match. LT Lionel Messi. Come on … who else could it be? The discrete moments of previous tournaments cohered into a brilliant whole, with the most preposterous denouement. JW Goal of the tournament Counterattacks do not come much faster, more controlled or more clinical than the one Ángel Di María finished off in the final. But then volleys rarely come as technically masterful as Kylian Mbappé’s equaliser much, much later. In fact, Argentina were on the end of the most audacious goal: it seems aeons ago now but the Netherlands’ late free-kick, finished by Wout Weghorst, could have shifted the month’s entire narrative. NA Richarlison v South Korea: a sumptuous move that just screamed Brazil, as did the celebration. His volley against Serbia was not bad either. BF Richarlison’s preposterous bicycle kick against Serbia. BG Was torn between Richarlison’s v Serbia or Richarlison’s v South Korea until Ángel Di María finished off that glorious one-touch move in the final. Wonderful. AH Wout Weghorst’s equaliser against Argentina. Fine finish but made by the sheer balls of Teun Koopmeiners to do what he did. Imagine the inquest if the Argentina wall had read his intentions and simply cleared! DH Given the stakes, Mbappé’s beautiful volley against Argentina just pips Richarlison’s self-made scissor kick against Serbia with Vincent Aboubakar’s lob-wedge chip against the same team third. SI Messi’s second in the final: a classic goalsniffer’s, in the 18th minute of extra time, underlined for an umpteenth time how much he adores being out there, in the fight. JJ Salem al-Dawsari scoring the second Saudi Arabia goal v Argentina. When his curling shot flew into the top corner, you didn’t just feel the stadium reverberate, you felt the whole tournament shake. TJ Richarlison’s second in Brazil’s group-stage win over Serbia. The trivela cross, the first touch, the scissor finish – every element is beautiful. One to watch on slow-motion repeat. EK Richarlison has two legitimate contenders here. His bicycle kick against Serbia was brilliant, but I’m more drawn to the juggle and shuffle against South Korea that combined glorious teamwork with individual flourish. JL The best goals were the ones that turned out not to be goals at all. Imagine if these had gone in: Aziz Behich’s run against Argentina, Jawad El Yamiq’s overhead kick off the post against France, Iñaki Williams sneaking up behind the keeper in the last minute. But if those don’t count – and they quite literally don’t – it’s probably Brazilian. I probably like Neymar against Croatia even more than Richarlison. Actually, for the assist, it should be Nahuel Molina or Julián Álvarez, made in Messi. SL Unlike some of the other categories, this one is actually up for debate: from the Dutch 21-pass opener against the USA, to Messi’s Gvardiol-abusing assist and Mbappé’s superstar volley in the final. I’m going to go for Hwang Hee-chan’s goal for South Korea against Portugal. It really was a hail mary moment, the last move of the match and Korea – who had barely created an opportunity all game – had to score to have a chance of the knockouts. Son Heung-min recognised the power of this moment and – despite being some way short of match fitness – used every piece of skill and cunning and strength he could find to drag the ball the length of the pitch before playing Hwang in blind for the Wolves man to finish in ice-cold fashion. Sumptuous. PM Salem al-Dawsari’s winner against Argentina. Just a sensational jink, shot, flip and yodelling celebration. Gulf geopolitics angle: they went mental in the Red Umbrella coffee shop with Qataris and fellow Arabs cheering a Saudi win. BR Big Wout’s equaliser against Argentina. What a moment. JS Breel Embolo against Cameroon. It was a straightforward six-yard finish but few goals prove more evocative. Although Embolo, the scorer at the Al Janoub Stadium, grew up in Basel he was born in Yaounde and his heart remains very much in Cameroon where he funds a charity foundation and is close friends with Rigobert Song, the national coach. Embolo’s goal spelt immense disappointment for the initially dominant Africans but, afterwards, it was uplifting to hear a magnanimous Song express his delight for “my little brother Breel”. Post-match press conferences rarely feel more sporting. LT Neymar’s goal against Croatia was stunning but, for the Messi pass that created it, I’ll go for Nahuel Molina’s goal against the Netherlands. JW Personal highlight Being present to watch such an era-defining final was an unforgettable privilege although, at Lusail and other venues, there was always the thought of the sacrifices made to make sure we could. Working for a month alongside extraordinarily diligent, talented, big-hearted colleagues and friends is an honour even if the main media centre and its endless stream of friendly, sometimes careworn faces was not always a fount of productivity. A number had been converted to Shebestan Palace, a peerless Iranian restaurant perfect for removing oneself from the World Cup circus, by the end. NA Should be something about covering my first World Cup but has to be playing seven-a-side against Roy Keane and Gary Neville. Will for ever dine out on Ian Wright informing me I have, and I quote, a “great touch for a big man”. Conquering all three floors of the infamous (among journalists at least) local LuLu hypermarket, where laptops and wireless headphones are sold adjacent to Weetabix, on my final day comes a close second. BF Too many. Watching Brazil live. Hanging with the Senegalese fans at Souq Waqif. A most unusual Thanksgiving dinner in the world’s largest hotel shaped like a torch. Iran 0-1 Great Satan. Going to the camel races in Al Shahaniya. Seeing an African team finally make the last four. BG Seeing Saudi Arabia supporters absolutely losing it inside Lusail Stadium following their team’s shock win over the eventual world champions. AH The final. Or maybe the legendary Lulu Centre, department store and destination of choice for the discerning Al Sadd denizen. DH Feeling the 974 Stadium rattle as 40,000 Argentinians jumped up and down after they went 2-0 up against Poland was incredible. As was being on the Metro at 3am, and seeing Saudi Arabian fans talking to Americans, Moroccans and Mexicans singing, and a Portuguese supporter carrying a large cardboard cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo. All on the same carriage. At such moments the lofty words about the tournament being a bridge between east and west felt real. SI Going into my local Lulu’s supermarket in Al Sadd and discovering they had Marmite. TJ There are two for me. One was witnessing Messi’s ludicrous brilliance in the flesh, at likely his last World Cup. The other was seeing Australia make the last 16, which was very cool and unexpected. EK Argentina v Saudi Arabia was an unforgettable occasion, and the point at which this World Cup began to challenge the received narrative. JL Sitting on a plastic chair pitchside watching Santi Cazorla play and Juanma Lillo coach in a preseason friendly for Al Sadd. Not getting injured (too badly) playing football in Al Bidda park. Meeting peregrine falcons. Meeting Colo Mac Allister. Iñaki Williams’ enthusiasm. The wild liberation of Messi scoring against Mexico: we’ve seen that goal loads of times, but not that celebration. The night when watching Brazil was just like watching Brazil. And the final of course. One other thing: watching all the Bono puns roll in with the smug satisfaction of a man who is a long, long way ahead of you all and did those years ago. SL Off-field: running in the 7am sun each morning under blue Doha skies with house music in the earphones. On field: the harum-scarum night at Lusail Stadium where Mexico (apparently) had zero chance of progressing but went 2-0 up against Saudi Arabia after 52 minutes and seriously close to the third that would have made the evening a sensation. JJ I asked my editors if I could do an Argentina game because I had never seen Messi live. They let me do two. Thanks bosses! PM Gianni Infantino’s opening address. Just so many zingers. Never before in the grand storied history of the Qatar National Convention Centre Hall One have so many dropping jaws and boggling eyes been witnessed. A wake-up call. The 1960s had its Beatles-on-the-Ed-Sullivan-Show moment. Qatar 2022 had a middle-aged Swiss sports administrator saying “today I feel gay, disabled and African”. BR Training my focus on Messi during Argentina 2-0 Poland. At one point he was the highest Argentina player and right up against Poland’s back four. But as the play progressed Messi just stood still. Ten seconds later Argentina were in the final third, Poland’s defenders had retreated to the edge of their box and Messi was in acres of space. His teammates soon got him the ball. JS Being at Stadium 974 to watch Lionel Messi miss a penalty but turn the tide Argentina’s way as Poland were beaten 2-0 in an initially tense, ultimately one sided, group stage match. As he slalomed his way through formidable-looking Polish defensive chicanes it was easy to appreciate why, at times, almost every other person in Doha seemed to be wearing a replica Argentina No 10 Messi shirt. Well after 2am – a good couple of hours after the final whistle – the city’s excellent and astonishingly efficient Metro system remained crammed by exultant South Americans still high on their hero’s exquisite skills. LT The best World Cup experiences are often the games you’re not working on but watch with friends and colleagues. I was done for the day before Spain v Japan and Germany v Costa Rica and so was able to watch them in the media centre amid the nearest a Qatari media centre comes to a raucous atmosphere. JW What did you make of Qatar? Pretty much what I expected to. Everybody has to start somewhere but the shortcuts Qatar has taken, and the tragic collateral damage involved, to create a hyper-modern environment and tournament where little felt honest or real sat uncomfortably every day. We have to take seriously the fact that thousands of supporters from countries like Morocco, other MENA states and Argentina had an excellent time. The opening of new doors cannot be ignored and, if it does help football and society in the long term, will have been important. But too many others were deterred for reasons those at the top have brushed off, often disgracefully, and the overall experience seemed unsatisfactory unless you like your fun spoon-fed, marshalled, defused of spontaneity, laced with artifice and slathered with ear-splitting music at every turn. If this was the best on-pitch World Cup then that was thanks to the teams and players, with Qatar the accessory – because make no mistake, in most other aspects it was the worst in memory and the contest is not even close. NA Unnervingly clean, architecturally spectacular. The naturally sparkling Hamad International airport is awash with luxury brands from Harrods to Louis Vuitton but could do with somewhere to buy a fridge magnet … BF The sparkling new stadiums, training facilities and Metro system will strengthen Doha’s inevitable pitch to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, supplying the proof-of-concept their failed 2016, 2020 and 2032 bids lacked. I suspect we’ll be back here before we know it. BG The tournament exceeded all expectations; the place lived down to them. A soulless and unsettling police state. Welcome to the future. AH It didn’t feel like a typical World Cup. But the incredible friendliness of the migrant workers and volunteers helped make it work. And it was nowhere near as oppressive as some places I have worked, including Saudi Arabia and China. SI Flat, conservative, low on fun. Totally lacking a World Cup vibe because the native Qataris did not care. I remember having dinner with Sean Ingle on the night of Spain v Japan and watching the game on one of the restaurant’s big screens. At a super-dramatic point, two local guys bumped into each other and started a long chat bang in front of the TV. There was the walkalong Lusail boulevard after Argentina v Croatia. Argentina had just reached the World Cup final but their fans milled about looking bored, as the same ear-bleeding song from Fifa’s Official Album (TM) blared on loop. There was no escape. The feeling seemed to be: “We will create atmosphere, World Cup fever.” It was so forced and artificial. The football was really good, there were logistical upsides to a one-city tournament (if we overlook the appalling Al Bayt) and the organising committee surely tried to tick every box. On paper, they did. In practice, there was something missing. DH Gleaming stadiums, spanking new Metro, sparkling lights, and next-generation skyscrapers yet all made to feel as part of a strange toy-town because even with the World Cup touching down there are too few souls about. JJ Which Qatar are we talking about here, the real one or the World Cup version? For the past month I’ve only really seen the latter, tucked away in a bubble. Logistically, covering this World Cup has been brilliant, so much easier than any I have covered before. Eight incredible stadiums, very close together, all with wonderful transport links, all staffed with terrific volunteers. The organisation has been first class but when money is literally no object I think you could and should expect that. However this Qatar should always have a “BUT” put next to it, and it’s a very big BUT. TJ A heartless, juvenile and genuinely awful place built on witless wealth, modern slavery and old-fashioned racism. Glad I went. Gladder still that I got to leave. JL Three games, three defeats. Fans leaving halfway through. Pretty bad, then. SL I don’t like to be rude about hosts so let’s just say it wasn’t for me. PM The strangest place on Earth. Modern life as reinterpreted at 400mph by an endlessly enabled hyper-competent megalomaniac. BR My accreditation gave me free travel on the Metro and the possibility of going to every game. Smiling volunteers greeted me at England’s training base, which is where I spent most days. I was in a media bubble and so, while some journalists have left Qatar saying: “What’s everyone complaining about, I was treated really well,” to think I had a real insight into the country would be pretty misguided. What I did find, though, is that some migrant workers didn’t want to say anything negative. People doing manual labour were unnervingly cheerful. As for the atmosphere, the streets were often empty and there wasn’t much to do when the football wasn’t on. My experience was fine. That doesn’t mean people who are less fortunate than me are having a great time. JS Given that joining a “World Cup bubble” is akin to entering Narnia, impressions will inevitably be superficial and heavily caveated. It’s a parallel universe where normal life is suspended. It felt good the Middle East finally had a World Cup and that Morocco and, initially, Saudi Arabia, gave the Arab football world something to shout about. And yet … admiration of the undeniably striking stadium architecture was tarnished beyond measure by the human cost involved in constructing those arenas. What an appalling waste of so many lives in a country awash with so much money. Paradoxes abounded: I felt considerably safer after dark in Doha than in many UK cities but was acutely aware that women’s rights in Qatar are severely restricted. And without female equality it is impossible to see how societies can truly succeed, let alone diversify. LT The Metro was good until it collapsed under the pressure of big Argentina knockout games at the Lusail. The stadiums were fine. The Main Media Centre was exceptional. But this was a terrible venue for a World Cup, for every reason we knew about before the tournament, and a lot we’ve learned over the past month. Arbitrary governance in weird artificial landscape does not make for a good venue. JW