I really hope that the authorities of Qatar football realize that this is not just a revenue stream through which they will be able to make money. I hope they realize that they have a really good chance of showing the world what they can do in football. There should not only be a focus on getting money from this world cup, but also on having some people looking for really skilled players in Qatar as a result of this world cup. And I expect that the people of Qatar will also be very interested in football after this world cup happens.
It does feel sad that Italy did not qualify for the world cup. But I think that's okay. They are a capable team and they probably deserved to play in the world cup, but nothing can be done now.
Everytime some of the good teams fail to secure qualification. This time the misfortune fell on Italy. And what about teams such as Chile and Colombia? They are also good teams, but failed to qualify to the world cup because they need to play the qualifying tournament in the toughest confederation (CONMEBOL). And now coming to Qatar, if they could hold either Netherlands or Ecuador to a draw, then it will surprise a lot of football fans. Hardly anyone knows about the Qatari national team and the players are virtually unknown outside that country.