Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, was very pleased with the results of the two semi-final games of the World Cup.
For him, a final between Argentina and France is the fulfillment of all fantasies, as on Sunday afternoon the two biggest icons of Paris Saint-Germain (and this time Neymar) - Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappe - will meet at the iconic stadium in Lucille.
It is not just about the two outstanding scorers of the 2022 World Cup, with five goals each - but also, and above all, the two most popular players of the French champions, who are owned by Qatari.
Not surprisingly, the World Cup and the purchase of PSG were related to each other, and also came nearby.
In 2011, a year after Qatar won the hosting of the World Cup, QSI - the Qatar Investment Fund - bought PSG.
From that moment on, the medium-sized team, which, among other things, lost a few years earlier to Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv, became one of the richest and highest quality teams in the world.
Al-Thani, photo: Reuters
Billions that achieve everything
With the help of the hundreds of millions of dollars poured in from Qatar, PSG has acquired over the years some of the best footballers the world has to offer.
In fact, the two most expensive transfers in the history of world football were made by PSG: Neymar was purchased from Barcelona for 222 million euros, and Kylian Mbappe arrived from Monaco for 180 million.
And if that's not enough, in the summer of 2021 "The Flea" also joined this Galacticos group.
Not surprisingly, politics stars in this story, and in a big way.
A central figure in these dramatic events is Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as the president of France between 2007 and 2012.
Sarkozy, a die-hard PSG fan, was the key man in the relationship between Qatar and France.
He brokered arms deals that included the sale of 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets to Qatar and a number of A330 MRTT refueling aircraft.
The Qataris, for their part, promised Sarkozy huge investments in France, which included not only the purchase of the team from the City of Lights, but also the purchase of the broadcast rights of the French league by the beIN Sports network, which belongs to the Qatari television concern Al Jazeera.
And who is the chairman of beIN Sports if not Nasar Al-Khalaifi, the Qatari president of PSG and the Emir's confidant.
Last summer, Mbappe's contract at PSG ended, and the club realized that he was on his way to Real Madrid.
The move to the European champion seems the most logical possible in terms of the development of Kylian's career.
But when everything was ready for the move, the French star called the president of Real, Florentino Perez, and informed him that he was staying in Paris.
The whole world was left speechless, and the move seemed patently illogical.
But little by little it became clear what happened behind the scenes.
It turns out that Mbappe was under heavy pressure to change his decision, mainly coming from the royal house in Doha.
Mbappe after extending his contract at PSG, photo: AFP
Our Mbapa, only ours
The Emir invited the actor's mother, Faiza, who manages his business affairs, to a personal meeting, and he activated French President Emmanuel Macron to convince Kilian to stay.
Not surprisingly, Macron arrived in Doha on Wednesday evening to be present at the victory of the French national team in the semi-finals.
By the way, the Emir was also the one who gave the blessing, when the opportunity arose to land Messi in the City of Lights about a year and a half ago, after Barcelona decided to release him for financial reasons.
Even then, the thought was to make the move not only for the benefit of PSG - but also and especially for the benefit of the World Cup.
What Qataris have without limit is money.
And with the billions they manage to get almost anything they want.
Even things that seem unrealistic at first.
Like hosting the World Cup, or keeping Mbappe at PSG.
Killian's new contract guarantees him a salary of 60 million dollars per year, plus about 100 million as a signing fee.
He earns another 18 million dollars from his share in PSG's marketing ventures, and in total Mbappe will earn about 256 million dollars in his two additional years.
Messi and Mbappe together at PSG, photo: EPA
For about a quarter of a billion dollars, the Qataris made the 24-year-old Mbappe the highest-earning footballer in the world, surpassing Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar - all so that he would be "theirs" during the World Cup.
And now they also have the final of their dreams - Argentina against France, or in general Messi against Mbappe - PSG's final.
The win ratio for Argentina's victory is equal to 2.65, for a draw 2.90 and for France's victory 2.70
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