Fans slam ’embarrassing’ World Cup final attendance for Argentina’s penalties win over France

Football fans have slammed the ’embarrassing’ amount of empty seats at the Lusail Stadium as Argentina and France played out one of the most thrilling World Cup finals in history on Sunday.

Despite an official attendance of 88,966, the stadium’s capacity, it was clearly less than full at kick off, although fans did file in as the game progressed.

Games were rarely fully attended in Qatar, with most stadiums featuring at least a few empty seats despite huge international attention on the tournament.

The Lusail Stadium was dotted with empty seats for the  start of the World Cup final on Sunday

Lionel Messi’s Argentina won the World Cup after a nervy penalty shootout win over France

Fans did struggle to get into the ground for kick-off as chaotic footage and pictures showed how Doha’s metro system struggled to cope with the vast number of fans trying to get to the ground. 

Fans were scathing about the final’s attendance, with one questioning the figure and joking it looked like there were a ‘lot of people dressed like empty seats at the World Cup final.’

Another added that the turnout was ’embarrassing for Qatar, embarrassing for FIFA’ and that they ‘exploded the myth that Qatar is football mad.’

The attendance was also labelled ‘a disgrace ‘ and ‘damning’ after the support Argentina had received throughout the tournament.

Even TV presenter Nick Knowles shared his distaste, tweeting: ‘Surely this has to be a first – World Cup final and vast amount of empty seats in the stadium. Farcical.’

Although he later admitted it may have looked more empty given the number of fans dressed in white, the same colour as the seats.

There were some who blamed FIFA’s ticket allocation system for the poor attendance, but conceded it was ‘hugely embarrassing.’

Stadiums were rarely full during the tournament as most games saw at least a few empty seats

TV’s Nick Knowles of DIY SOS fame  called the attendance for the final ‘farcical’

A few fans blamed the number of empty seats on the final’s corporate hospitality, as one pointed out ‘the same thing happens at Wembley for the FA Cup final’.

Despite the poor attendance, Argentina and France put on a show in Qatar. 

Lionel Scaloni’s men surged into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Messi and Angel Di Maria amid a lackluster start from the French, but Kylian Mbappe turned the game on its head late on with two goals in as many minutes.

Mbappe completed his hat-trick in extra time as Messi also added to his tally, before another excellent performance in the penalty shoot-out from Emiliano Martinez saw Argentina home.

The win means Messi has finally emulated his compatriot Diego Maradona and won the trophy that has always eluded him.