Best of The Qatar 2022 Opening Ceremony

Event that football fans all over the world wait for with bated breath is here. In inauguration of the international football fest in Qatar, the world sees performances of BTS's Jungkook, American musical group Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams, J Balvin, Nigerian singer Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie, rapper Lil Baby, and Nora Fatehi. Here are glimpses of the star-studded evening.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 began on Sunday evening with a glittering opening ceremony in Doha. The opening ceremony preceded the first match of the sporting event and saw the first ever live performance of this year’s official World Cup anthem Dreamers by Jungkook and Fahad Al Kubaisi. As soon as the ceremony ended, Twitter was replete with praise for Jungkook and his historic performance.

Jungkook, member of the popular boy band BTS, is the first Asian ever to perform the official World Cup anthem. Reacting to the performance, BTS Army, the fans of the popular group, flooded Twitter with praise for the singer. “But lowkey really proud on jungkook, he absolutely killed it,” wrote one fan. Another tweeted, “Jungkook is ready for world domination. That was so good. He is winning the world” The singer performed Dreamers, which he had unveiled earlier in the day online, with his collaborator, Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi, who also received applause from the home crowd.

Morgan Freeman sits on the stage next to FIFA World Cup Ambassador Ghanim Al Muftah, at the opening ceremony. 

Previously, musical stars like Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Enrique Iglesias have performed official World Cup songs. Jungkook’s performance was praised on the internet as being respectful, as it included tributes to previous anthems performed by these artistes as well. Just before Jungkook took to the stage, a small medley played iconic World Cup anthems like Cup of Life by Ricky Martin, Waka Waka by Shakira, and Waving Flag by K’naan. “So sweet of Jungkook to respect past greats,” read one tweet.

Before Jungkook took the stage, the opening ceremony began with a moving monologue from veteran actor Morgan Freeman. The actor hosted the ceremony and shared the stage with differently abled Qatari YouTuber Ghanim al Muftah. The ceremony was held at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, near the Qatari capital Doha.