Qatar is wonderful: French family appeals to the world not to be influenced by western media

When French fan Thomas came out of the Al Thumama Stadium with his father Herve and brother Jo after witnessing a brilliant display of football from the Kylian Mbappe-inspired France against Poland on Sunday evening, nobody would have blamed him if he had waxed lyrical about his national team.

The performance of the defending champions in their first knockout game did deserve the highest praise.

But when this reporter met Thomas moments after the final whistle, this Frenchman kept his emotions in check and instead doffed his hat to Qatar for giving him and his family a wonderful experience as a football fan in a World Cup.

“I think the French performance was good. They played well, but if you ask me, what has impressed me the most, it’s the context, the environment, the World Cup in Qatar which is great,” Thomas told this reporter.

So the World Cup in Qatar has quite clearly made a big impression on Thomas who was happy to talk more about the wonderful organization than the French team which underlined their title credentials with an emphatic display.

“It’s because we feel safe in this country. We feel well guided, there are a lot of people around the Metro who are always there to help us and help all the people,” he said.

“We don’t feel alone at all. And the idea of making a World Cup in one city, with all the countries that are participating, is a very good idea.

“It’s a good idea because we can meet people from all over the world at one place, so that’s wonderful.”

Thomas then urged people not to be influenced by the Western media that has, for some inexplicable reason, found nothing positive to write about the Qatar World Cup.

“I think it’s very unfortunate that people who have not come here for the World Cup might be influenced by those negative reports in some of the Western media,” Thomas said.

“I think those countries have some problems against Qatar. Otherwise, why would their media say those things when the reality is very different here?

“As I said I came here to see for myself. I can say that it’s been a great tournament and everyone is feeling very safe here.

“It was great to be here and we really enjoyed this experience in Qatar. This country has done a wonderful job.”