Stunning moments from the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup

Music and orbs and poetry combined for meaningful Closing Ceremony full of colour and noise.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ delivered another memory to treasure for fans around the globe in the form of a dazzling and uplifting Closing Ceremony.

The audio and visual spectacular was staged prior to Sunday’s final between France and Argentina at Lusail Stadium and featured a number of first-rate performers. Qatari singer Dana opened the show with a rendition of It’s a Wonderful World. She was accompanied by Tamim Al Barghouti’s recital of a poem that salutes the ability of human beings to set aside differences and join together to celebrate ‘The Beautiful Game’.

Al Barghouti’s reading supplied a heavy nod to the inspiration underpinning the Closing Ceremony: the world uniting for the entirety of the World Cup’s 29 days. The tournament’s 32 competing nations were represented by flying orbs decorated with the flags of their respective countries.

The orbs descended on to the field and their movement represented a symbol of the teams’ World Cup paths, until only the orbs of Argentina and France remained. Those two spheres soared into the cool evening sky in an illustration of the desire of both teams to achieve the ultimate goal of claiming World Cup glory.

Music took over in the form of a mashup of songs from the World Cup Official Soundtrack, marking some of the tournament’s most memorable moments. The first track rolling around the Lusail was (Hayya Hayya) Better Together, led by Davido and Aisha. That gave way to Ozuna and Gims performing Arhbo, before an airing of Light the Sky from Nora Fathi, Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manal.

This ceremony was designed as an artistic tribute to the host country, with around 1,000 people from multiple countries involved in bringing the concept to life. Following its conclusion 2010 Spanish FIFA World Cup winning goalkeeper Iker Casillas delivered the trophy to the playing area.