The disclosure of the mascot La’eeb on the 1st brought excitement, but it was also the subject of memes on the internet. Netizens compared him to one of the most well-known ghosts in pop culture, Gasparzinho, and also linked it to a metaphor for hauntings from past editions, such as the 7-1 between Brazil and Germany in 2014.
But in reality, the smiling headscarf, whose name means skilled player in Arabic, is a tribute to the culture of the host country.
Qatar is the first in the Middle East to host the championship – which even justifies the change of date from the traditional middle of the year to the end, when temperatures are milder.
The friendliness of the ghost handkerchief brought to light the memories of the late Fuleco, an armadillo that represented the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The character starred in every kind of souvenir imaginable.
In that June 2014, it was impossible to pass a street vendor without seeing the caps with armadillo ears or some stuffed animal, a hit with the little ones.
The mascots, however, came just 36 years after the foundation of the world tournament of selections, in 1966, when it was hosted in England.
Since then there have been 15 mascots, divided between human, animal, plant and even extraterrestrial figures.
These, it is worth remembering, are the officials of each Cup and are different from the mascots of the selections — in Brazil, the canarinho with an angry face, nicknamed Canarinho Pistola on social networks.
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