For a moment at least, the simple tearing open of an envelope on Thursday night made Qatar, with its 11,437 square kilometres of desert, the biggest country in the world.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter's announcement that the Gulf state of just 1.6 million people would host football's World Cup in 2022 was a sensational outcome that few could have foreseen when Qatar's bid was announced early last year.
It came just a few minutes after Russia - actually the biggest country in the world - was handed sport's greatest event for 2018.
But that news paled into insignificance when Blatter tugged at the envelope's contents to reveal the word 'Qatar' - and begin a night of celebration in Doha, the Qatari capital.
It's a good thing that the Qataris are teaming up with German transport experts to build a metro system for 2022 because, given the way Arabs celebrate, no-one will be going a
![[QODLink]](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2012/5/24/2012524105149565734_16.jpg "The Brotherhood and Mubarak")
