An Armchair Fan's Guide to the Qatar World Cup: The Story of How Football Came to the Desert

Zurich, 2 December 2010: FIFA president Sepp Blatter pulls the name Qatar from the envelope to reveal the hosts of the 2022 World Cup. The accusations fly and the recriminations start. But once it's all sunk in, we start to look at maps and temperature charts, and try to scrape together fragments of knowledge about kingdoms in the Arabian desert. The Armchair Guide looks beyond the myths and preconceptions to provide the average fan with sound information about what a World Cup in the desert might look like. Was the bidding process corrupt? How many people actually did die building stadiums? How hot will it be? Can I go there with my mates and have a drink anywhere? What will the legacy be - both in the region and for the global game? The Armchair Guide takes a light-hearted, sideways look at the tournament, using stories from within and beyond the game to cover everything about the 2022 Winter World Cup. Although the book can't claim to pick a winner, it goes some way to shedding light on football's place in a changing world.

Jon Berry has written two previous football books. Hugging Strangers charts the lows and lowers of supporting a team of perennial non-achievers. Project Restart looks at how teams from the Premier League to the parks dealt with lockdown and its aftermath. His work is characterised by a humorous, sideways look at the game but, as befits an academic who also writes about politics and education, is always impeccably researched.