People from different walks of life were able to come, experience what was happening here and get to understand that we may not see eye to eye on everything, but we can still celebrate together.”

Messi converted the opening goal from 12 yards after Angel Di Maria was felled by Ousmane Dembele. Di Maria then doubled his nation's lead in the 36th minute converting Alexis Mac Allister's pass. Our goal is to inspire dreamers to live to their full potential: to be the best they can be, on and off the field. Bringing your "A" game shouldn't stop after you play the best game of your life. Bring that passion and hard work to every area of your life - always strive to be the best version of yourself, and good things will happen. Others on social media were outraged by the criticism of the bisht, saying it was steeped in ignorance and misunderstanding of Qatar’s culture. READ MORE: Elon Musk, Macron, Khabib, Djokovic and the biggest names attending 2022 Qatar World Cup final The World Cup had the opportunity to showcase to the world our Arab and Muslim culture. This was not about Qatar, it was a regional celebration.

Amid the criticism, Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), an organization charged with organizing the World Cup, tried to explain the reasons behind the bisht. Mustafa Baig, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Exeter, told the dpa news agency that the bisht is a formal robe worn by royalty, dignitaries, grooms on their wedding day, and graduates at graduation ceremonies.

The moment that Lionel Messi had been waiting his entire career for finally arrived, as a 4-2 Argentina win on penalties saw him lift the prestigious World Cup trophy. A crazy 3-3 draw in 120 minutes against France saw the game decided on penalties with Gonzalo Montiel converting from 12 yards to crown Argentina as the new world champions.

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Baig said he saw it as “an embrace by Messi of the local culture”, adding that it was “a pretty cool thing” for Qatar to do and “smart thinking” on their behalf. What did the organisers say?

It later changed the headline of the story to “Lionel Messi made to wear traditional Arab bisht for World Cup trophy lift.” In his new attire, which covered his national pale blue and white jersey, Messi danced towards his teammates before lifting the trophy above his head. Instead of preconceived notions & judgmental views, turning this beautiful and meaningful photo into something that is not, read about the Arab bisht; its importance, and why/when it’s worn. Seems a shame in a way that they’ve covered up Messi in his Argentina shirt,” said former England international and presenter Gary Lineker on BBC’s live coverage of the final.Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, said: “It is a dress for an official occasion and worn for celebrations. This was a celebration of Messi. The moment caused quite a stir in the BBC studio with the decision to put Messi in a Bisht leaving them all confused, with Pablo Zabaleta, who played 58 times for Argentina, parctilarly bemused. With Gary Lineker bringing up the topic, Zabaleta who simply replied, "Why, just why? No reason to do that." However, I didn’t see the same level of anger and outrage when racism, Islamophobia, and orientalism was constantly used against the World Cup in Qatar.