One team was from Europe, the other from South America, and the match was played in the Middle East. At last, France meets Argentina, and Qatar gets the FIFA World Cup final it paid for. All the matches played before eighty-eight thousand fans indeed paid for the more than $200 billion spent on staging the 2022 World Cup.

After an array of controversies and shocking upsets, the four-week, 32-team, 64-game tournament ended with what has been called the greatest World Cup game final ever played.

Argentina captured its third World Cup victory since 1986 in an enthralling final against France. The dramatic final concluded after 90 minutes of regulation at a 2-2 score, 3-3 after two halves of extra time, before finally being decided in Argentina’s favor, 4-2, in the penalty kick shootout.

The sport’s popularity among its core fans has grown exponentially in a society where many of the millions watching had no rooting culture or interest.

Real Research, an online survey app, attempted to gather opinions by launching a survey on Argentina’s historic victory at the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The survey report further highlights the following:

  • 57.06% supported Argentina during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final
  • 56.62% think Argentina’s historic victory in FIFA 2022 is due to Argentina’s perfect mix of coaching, captain, and teamwork
  • After winning the first World Cup, 53.5% of survey respondents think Lionel Messi should retire

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Finals Viewership

The FIFA World Cup is truly a global event and is one of the most-watched sporting tournaments across the world. The survey report shows that 66.1% of respondents have watched the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final live.

Meanwhile, 26.07% watched the highlights, and the rest (7.84%) have not watched the final match.

Survey results also presented a majority of 57.06% that supported Argentina, while 25.77% supported France. 12.23% supported both, while the remaining (4.95%) supported neither of the teams.

Read More: A Majority of 31% Predicted Argentina to Win the FIFA World Cup 2022

Argentina’s Historic Victory After 36 Years

The Qatar World Cup finally concludes with Argentina’s historic victory in FIFA 2022.

61.91% believe Argentina deserved the title. However, 22.76% think France was more deserving of having won the final.

Figure 1 Which team deserved to win the final
Figure 1: Which team deserved to win the final?

Argentina’s historic victory in FIFA 2022 marks the first time the country has won a world cup in 36 years. Respondents (56.62%) think this is due to Argentina’s perfect mix of coaching, captain, and teamwork.

19.57% believe Argentina won because of Coach Lionel Scalioni, while 11.34% think Captain Lionel Messi brought the trophy.

Best Players of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Finals

Among the many talented contestants that played during the final match between Argentina and France, survey respondents found the following with the best performance:

Voted by many (59.16%) is Lionel Messi, followed by Kylian Mbappe (22.6%), Emiliano Martinez (11.54%), and Angel Di Maria (5.93%).

Figure 2 Best players during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Finals
Figure 2: Best players during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Finals

The Golden Ball award is presented to the FIFA World Cup tournament’s best player.

Notably, Argentina’s historic victory in FIFA 2022 hailed Lionel Messi as the best player of the tournament, becoming the first player to win two Golden Ball awards (having won the first in 2014). Here, 69.76% think Lionel Messi deserved the Golden Ball, while 21.27% believe otherwise.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Awardees

Players 21 years old and younger are eligible for the Best Young Player award. Argentina’s historic victory in FIFA 2022 also saw Enzo Fernandez winning the World Cup 2022 Young Player of the tournament. About 7 in 10 (71.01%) see him deserving of the award, while 22.16% see him undeserving.

Since 1987, FIFA has recognized exemplary fair play with the FIFA Fair Play Award. This year’s honor is bestowed to England, which 64.22% see as deserving. 24.99%, however, believe otherwise.

Martinez’s Golden Glove Award

About 7 in 10 (70.59%) see Martinez deserving of the World Cup Golden Glove award. In contrast, 21.33% say he does not deserve the trophy.

Figure 3 Respondents' opinions on whether Martinez deserves the Golden Glove award
Figure 3: Respondents’ opinions on whether Martinez deserves the Golden Glove award

Martinez was seen making a gesture after winning the golden glove trophy for the best goalkeeper at the tournament. To this, 61.7% say Martines disgraced Argentina, while 23.93% see the gesture as justifiable.

Messi After the World Cup

Lionel Messi has previously claimed Qatar 2022 would be his last World Cup, and there is no indication he will continue beyond the short-to-medium term.

Now that he has successfully won his first World Cup, 53.5% of survey respondents think Lionel Messi should retire. On the other hand, 39.14% say he should continue to play football for Argentina, while 7.32% propose he plays for a different team.

Methodology

 
Survey TitleSurvey on Argentina’s Historic Victory at the FIFA World Cup 2022
DurationDecember 23 – December 29, 2022
Number of Participants20,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia,… Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.