To the Arab world, shukran!

I would like to start my New Year by thanking the Arab world for their love and support for the wishes I narrated in Arabic on Geo News during the FIFA World Cup 2022 to appreciate Morroco's fabulous performance and the immaculate arrangements by Qatar.

By appreciating Geo News, the Arab world truly depicted the purest of love for their beautiful language — Arabic.

What I planned to do was pay a tribute to my childhood memories — the golden days of my childhood spent in Saudi Arabia. Anyone who has grown up in the country would resonate with my sentiments. When the FIFA World Cup started, nostalgia hit me hard. The adrenaline rush I felt had to be expressed to depict the pride I had being associated with Arabic. There could be no better way to express my feelings. My proposal to speak in Arabic during the bulletin got approved, allowing me to speak in the language I loved the most throughout my life — equally as my mother tongue.

The appreciation that followed was unbelievable. What a dynamic response. I was thrilled to the core and am still short of words in expressing my gratitude for the love I received from the Arab world.

May this love and friendship continue till the end of times. Happy New Year!

The FIFA World Cup 2022 concluded in Qatar last month with Argentina’s victory, it also brought forth the fact that Qatar — a Muslim country — got the opportunity to host the mega sporting event.

Therefore, to congratulate the Muslim nation for successfully hosting the mega event, Geo News paid tribute to the Arab nation for achieving the historic feat by congratulating the country in Arabic.

The 2022 World Cup defied all expectations and doubts that the country of just three million could host such a major international tournament.

QNA, Qatar's state news agency, said that 1.4 million people visited the gulf nation during the World Cup. That number is higher than pre-tournament estimates and a sharp jump on the 1 million reported two days earlier by Qatar's World Cup authorities.

The event would be known as one of the most spectacular tournaments organised in the history of the football world cup.

The marquee names of Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo delivered storylines while Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, and Tunisia delivered shocks, winning matches against the giants of the game.

Yet the abiding memory for many will be Morocco's shake-up of football's hierarchy. And Geo News also paid tribute to Morocco in Arabic to honour them for their feat.

The Arabic messages received immense applause from users on the microblogging website, Twitter.