First Touch ’26 - Qatar

No country is more polarizing in modern football than Qatar. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass examines how a tiny, oil-rich Gulf state went from football afterthought to one of the game’s most influential players—from the creation of Aspire Academy and an aggressive naturalization strategy, to ownership stakes in European clubs and the era-defining takeover of PSG. We revisit the controversies and human-rights questions surrounding the 2022 World Cup on home soil, where the Maroons crashed out with three losses, and then follow their first-ever earned qualification for 2026, complete with shaky results and a “neutral” playoff hosted in Doha. It’s a deep dive into how money, development, and identity collide when a nation tries to buy—not just host—its place at football’s top table.