”Goals Create History” exhibition attracts huge interest at the FIFA Museum in Qatar

Qatar 2022 is the 22^nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the world football flagship tournament, that has constantly been improving and upgrading, creating new memories and legacies, which prove to be unforgettable, resisting the dreaded test of time.

It is the latest chapter of a story that has been spanning over 90 years, with the inaugural tournament taking place in Uruguay, in 1930, with the best players in the world featuring in the competition and competing for the biggest prize of all – the big trophy, awarded to every winner of the tournament.

The FIFA World Cup has provided plenty of memories, with memorabilia from the best players in the world sought after by fans. Therefore, FIFA has decided to create a unique place where everybody can soak in the history of the World Cup. This is why a special exhibition of the FIFA Museum has been set up in Doha, Qatar, during the 22^nd edition of the FIFA World Cup.

This exhibition celebrates the FIFA World Cup through the passion and devotion of the fans today and tells its history through the players who have left an indelible mark on it in the past, with goals being the highest currency that shapes the future.

Named “Goals Create History”, the exhibition will be a cultural highlight at the FIFA Fan Festival. It will feature original objects and stories from each of the FIFA World Cup finals since 1930 as well as unique multimedia experiences and the FIFA Museum’s iconic “Rainbow of Shirts” with the national-team jerseys of all 32 teams participating in this year´s tournament in Qatar representing 32 football cultures – all playing for the ultimate prize.

“We are delighted and very excited to welcome football fans from all around the world in our exhibition in Doha during the FIFA World Cup 2022 to be able to connect, engage and share the magic of football together. Once again we celebrate football heritage and culture together with the world for the third time in the past four years in the host country during a major World Cup tournament. It will be another big milestone for the FIFA Museum and we can´t wait to open our doors as part of the FIFA Fan Festival,” said Marco Fazzone, Managing Director of the FIFA Museum.

This special exhibition features one showcase for each of the 21 FIFA World Cups that have already been played before the 2022 edition. The showcases highlight the unique history of every tournament with a carefully selected range of objects – from historic shirts to the whistle of a refereeing legend and the accreditation of Zinédine Zidane.

Football fans can also view an autographed jersey once worn by Brazilian legend and three-time world champion Pele or the the ball that Pele used to score his 1,000th goal during the 1969 Santos vs. Vasco da Gama match and the boots he wore in the 1970 World Cup final, when Brazil beat Italy 4-1.

In addition, former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane’s autographed 1998 France jersey, when France secured a World Cup title for the first time, is also on display. Jerseys worn by famed football stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Gerd Muller, Samuel Eto’o, and David Beckham can also be seen.

The shirt used by Stephanie Frappart to referee the match between Germany and Costa Rica, when she became the first female to whistle a match at the FIFA World Cup, is also on display, being donated by the French referee.

Another centre piece of the ”Goals Create History” exhibition in the Jules Rimet Cup, which has been the trophy presented for the first 40 years of the competition –  a golden statuette that stood on a base of lapis lazuli stone.

The FIFA World Cup regulations said that the team winning it three times was going to keep the trophy for good, therefore Brazil took possession of it and brought it to the country after their third triumph in 1970.

Yet the Jules Rimet Cup was stolen 13 years later and nobody knew anything about it. In 2014, the FIFA Archives uncovered the base of the trophy and now a replica of the Jules Rimet Cup is supported by that base.

The current trophy of the FIFA World Cup is also displayed at the exhibition, an exact replica of the one that the winners are going to keep.