Twitterverse Welcomes 2022 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony By Making It A Trending Topic

Finally the time has come, as the world again welcomes one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

The World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body.

The event that kicks in once every four years, is considered the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world.

With billions of cumulative viewership, 2022's World Cup in Qatar has just seen its spectacular opening ceremony, which was preceded by the first match of the sporting event.

"Given the compact nature of Qatar, event organisers were able to assign, for the first time ever, group stage games to a stadium and kick-off time for each matchday after the final draw, optimising the match schedule for the benefit and comfort of spectators, teams, media and the global audience," FIFA said.

And with that, Twitter users couldn't be happier, because they're making FIFA World Cup as the trending topic in various countries.

It stared on Sunday evening with a glittering opening ceremony at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, near the Qatari capital Doha.

Notable performance, include BTS' Jungkook.

2022's official World Cup anthem Dreamers was performed live by Jungkook and Fahad Al Kubaisi, the famous Qatari singer, record producer and fashion model..

In the past, music legends like Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Enrique Iglesias have performed official World Cup songs.

In 2022, it's BTS' Jungkook’s turn, and his performance was heavily praised on the internet as being respectful, as it included tributes to previous anthems performed by these celebrities as well.

Just before the South Korean celebrity took to the stage, a small medley played iconic World Cup anthems like Cup of Life, Waka Waka, and Waving Flag.

BTS's fans, called ARMY, flooded Twitter also with praises to the singer, as he is the first Asian to have performed the official World Cup anthem.

"But lowkey really proud on jungkook, he absolutely killed it," said one Twitter use. "Jungkook is ready for world domination. That was so good. He is winning the world."

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 Qatari YouTuber Ghanim al Muftah.

Famous Qatari composer, Dana al-Fardan, was also present, among others.

Even the Casper-like mascot went viral on Twitter.

Called 'La'eeb', the official mascot of the Qatar 2022 World Cup takes the form of a white floating keffiyeh with eyes, eyebrows and an open mouth. The name La’eeb, which is an Arabic word meaning "super-skilled player."

According to the official website of FIFA, "Laʼeeb will be known for his youthful spirit; spreading joy and confidence everywhere he goes", and that the character comes from a parallel world where tournament mascots live in "a world where ideas and creativity form the basis of characters that live in the minds of everyone>"

After the performances by the artists, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, gave a speech.

The opening ceremony was followed by group A match between Qatar and Ecuador.

The prediction was that, Qatar received much hype for its team, and that it has played many meaningful matches. And by playing in Qatar, the team had a home-field advantage.

But Ecuador has a more talented squad.

During the match after the opening ceremony, Ecuador won 2-0 over Qatar.

It's worth noting though, that the World Cup is undeniably huge, but it's also considered the most prestigious.

According to predictions, the 2022 tournament in Qatar is predicted to have five billion viewership across the world, making that an average of 227 million per day.