Jurgen Klinsmann predicts ‘dramatic’ FIFA World Cup in Qatar; picks 2 favourites

Former German striker and World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann on Sunday (November 6) two favourites to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 kicks off on November 20 with host Qatar facing Ecuador. The 32-team competition ends on December 18 with the final at the Lusail Stadium.

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Stating that the World Cup in Qatar would be “absolutely tremendous and dramatic”, Klinsmann, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990, picked his personal favourite for this year’s showpiece event.

“Germany have a very good young team. They can go far and, theoretically, they can also win this World Cup,” he told FIFA+.

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“But my personal favourite, having watched them over the last couple of years – especially during the World Cup qualifying campaign – is Brazil. I was so impressed how they just rolled through the qualifiers, especially as South America is probably the toughest of all continents to qualify from. The way they did it was very impressive,” the former coach added.

With Argentina’s Lionel Messi announcing that this year’s tournament would be his last World Cup, Klinsmann said all football fans including him want to see him lift the trophy.

“Of course, we all as football fans also want to see if Messi is able to win a World Cup for his Argentina. That’s clearly his big, big goal. Whatever happens though, I know we will have an absolutely tremendous, dramatic World Cup in Qatar,” he said.

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Looking back at his football career, Klinsmann said he was inspired by Gerd Muller.

“As a child my first World Cup was ’74, which Germany fortunately won, with Gerd Muller scoring the winning goal. He was my idol growing up. I always wanted to be Gerd Muller,” Klinsmann said.

“Seeing that just kick-starts you as a little boy to have the ambition to play and do well, maybe become a professional player, and then if you become a professional maybe make the national team and play in a World Cup. In the end, I was very lucky to participate in three World Cups as a player and two as coach. I feel very fortunate,” he added.

He praised Qatar which is hosting the World Cup for the first time and is also the first such tournament in the Middle East.

“All the fans and participating countries will find a completely new dimension of a World Cup,” he said. “The infrastructure here is second-to-none. And it’s the first World Cup in the Middle East, which adds a new element that I think a lot of people will be very curious to come and see.

“It will be a real eye-opener for a lot of people around the world that this is an outstanding place, very welcoming, and I’m sure Qatar and the entire region will utilise this tournament to showcase what they have here. We’re going to see a high-quality tournament, very good games, in stadiums that are absolutely beautiful.”