Moscow splurged over $11 bn to make the FIFA World Cup an event to make the ‘planet’ change its outlook about Russia. It worked, leading the FIFA chief to say, “ the whole world fell in love with Russia.’’

FIFA World Cup 2018 was an all-European show. If France won the Cup, Russia, the hosts, won the hearts. The Americas — north, south and central — were all cut to size not only on the playfields of Russia but also in politics. It turned out to be a wonderful carnival of fun, sport and politics that witnessed many upheavals, besides showcasing Russia as a modern, dynamic and “normal” nation, ready for inclusion in the global economic, political, and sporting landscapes.

Not only did all 32 nations that qualified laud the event as the “best ever”, a certificate of appreciation also came from FIFA president Gianni Infantino when he commented “the whole world fell in love with Russia” for hosting the best World Cup ever.

FIFA World Cup 2018 was no different from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2016 Rio Olympic Games for grabbing criticism on corruption, organizational lapses and failure to provide “clean, healthy and sporting environs for free and fair competitions”. Intriguingly, at the end of these events, this criticism was changed to praise.

The allotment of FIFA World Cup 2018 to Russia was not without a controversy. FIFA itself was dogged by allegations of corruption and impropriety. Sepp Blatter, the infamous suspended FIFA chief, was a special guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Allotment was made in 2011 and Putin had promised that the event would change the way the planet saw his “nation”. He had put in place a mechanism to keep the showcase event of FIFA free from threats of hooliganism, terrorist attacks or disruptions by political activists.

Russia, an offshoot of the erstwhile Soviet Union, got the World Cup at a time when its relationship with both Europe and the US had touched the lowest ebb in decades. Its recent actions in Syria and Ukraine fractured further these ties.

But unlike the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games held a year after the invasion of Afghanistan, this FIFA World Cup witnessed no boycotts. It was all the more credible to have a full FIFA house in Russia, especially when the hosts remain on the “suspension list” of the International Olympic Committee. In the last Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Russia was not allowed, though its athletes participated under the banner of Olympic Athletes Russia. The World Cup provided a pleasant change. Between June 14 and July 15, the 64 games played in 11 cities not only saw Iceland making an impressive debut, but also defending champions Germany making an exit after the group matches.

For Asia, it was Japan that carried the flag to the pre-quarterfinals, as other Asian contenders — Iran, Saudi Arabia and Korea —could not cross the group matches hurdle.

Though India has seldom qualified for the prestigious FIFA event, it had its nominal representation through Rishi Tej (10) and John K Nathania (11) who were chosen to carry the ball for the games on June 18 and 23 in the Russia World Cup. Besides there were 100-odd football fans from India, including Amitabh Bachchan. There were also some volunteers from India.

The FIFA World Cup is an event that is as prestigious, if not more, as the summer Olympic Games are. Russia spent more than $11.6 billion on infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup. Four years earlier, it had put in a huge amount for the Winter Olympic Games, an event that at the end soiled its credibility for conspiring to “drug” the games, with critics calling the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as “chemist” games.

Besides the Russian Government’s expenditure on making the World Cup an event to make the “planet” change its outlook about Russia, FIFA’s budget for the just-concluded World Cup was a whopping $1,943 million.

Compared to it, when Bhubaneswar holds the World Cup Hockey Tournament later this year, the total cost is estimated at about $19 million. The event will be spread over 19 days and feature 16 teams and 36 matches. FIFA World Cup, a 35-day event, witnessed 64 games played in 11 different cities.

There were nearly half a million football fans, including several thousand from Peru alone, drinking on the streets of Russia, through the World Cup days.

As the event progressed to its knockout rounds, some icons like Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Uruguay made unceremonious exits, losing by results facilitated either by late goals, penalties, own goals or penalty shootouts. There were 29 penalties awarded in the tournament besides “own” goals, including the first goal of the final between France and Croatia. And then, the second goal came from a penalty.

By the time the tournament reached the semi-final stage, the challenge of Asia, Africa and the Americas had ended. The semi-finals and final were an all-European affair. Though Croatia made it to its first final of a World Cup, it could not stand up to the experience of the French, who won their second World Cup title in 20 years, and thus became only the sixth nation to win the elite soccer tournament two or more times.

Harry Kane (England), Luka Modric (Croatia), Kylian Mbappe (France) and Thibaut Courtois (Belgium) were adjudged among the best players of this World Cup that also saw the fading away of Lionel Messi (Argentina), even as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Neymar (Brazil) may continue to hawk headlines for some more time.

And who can forget the Croatian President, Kolinda Grabbar-Kitarovic, who spent her own money to travel to Russia, sported the team jersey to watch the “silver team” play the final, from the stands, and greeted and consoled each member of the losing finalist team with a warm hug?

(The author is a senior journalist. He is executive editor with the PTC TV Channel)