In photos: Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 kicks off with glitzy opening ceremony

The World Cup kicked off in Qatar with a glitzy opening ceremony on Sunday as the month-long football showpiece finally got under way after a tortuous 12-year build-up dogged by off-field controversies.

The Al Bayt venue is one of an array of new stadiums built for the tournament, which has cost Qatar an estimated $200 billion, the most expensive World Cup in history.

South Korean K-pop star Jung Kook headlined the 30-minute opening ceremony. Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman was also present.

The list of foreign dignitaries included Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who orchestrated a regional blockade of Qatar in 2017. FIFA president Gianni Infantino sat next to the Saudi leader.

World Cup organisers hope the start of the football will quell the controversies that have overshadowed preparations for the tournament ever since Qatar was named as host nation in a shock FIFA vote in 2010.

Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and the Gulf state’s human rights record have dominated the pre-tournament headlines.

On Saturday, Infantino went on the offensive in an aggressive rebuttal of the opprobrium aimed at the event, arguing that much of the criticism was unfair.

Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thami was present in the impressive Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, 50 kilometres (31 miles) outside of Doha, to watch the host nation face Ecuador in the opening match.

With text inputs from AFP