A delegation from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) attended a 2018 FIFA World Cup™ debrief at FIFA headquarters in Switzerland to assimilate lessons learned from the final tournament before the event heads to the Arab world for the first time.

Three months after France lifted the trophy at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, key members of the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee gathered with FIFA in Zurich to debrief on the tournament. Joining the 30 participants from Moscow were 26 experts from the SC, who were following up on the Russia 2018 secondment and observation programme, in which more than 180 employees attended the tournament.

H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the SC, said: "The debrief session shed further light on what made the 2018 FIFA World Cup such a fantastic event. The lessons we learned from this session and from our participation in observation programmes during the tournament will play an important role in our preparation for 2022."

Al Thawadi continued: "Russia set a very high standard for us to follow and their success serves as inspiration for us as we prepare for and look forward to hosting the Arab world's first FIFA World Cup in four years' time."

The two-day debriefing started with a general introductory session, followed by focus groups that highlighted best practices and lessons learned from areas such as infrastructure, venue management, volunteers, waste management, security, logistics and communications.

Khalid Al Naama, the SC's Head of Arabic Media, said the debrief helped cement key lessons learned from the tournament.

"It was very beneficial as it brought the observation we undertook during Russia 2018 into sharper focus, thanks to having all the relevant entities in the same room," said Al Naama. "Our Russian colleagues have been through everything we're currently experiencing in Qatar and it was interesting to hear about their experiences."

Al Naama went on to outline his key learnings from the tournament, which was hosted across 11 host cities.

He continued: "I was particularly impressed with the security in Russia. It was behind the scenes – you didn't really feel it. Also, the fan experience was good. There was considerable buy-in from the local population – they were keen to make everyone feel welcome, even if they didn't speak your language. I expect we will experience the same level of excitement and involvement from our local communities in 2022."

Commenting on the debrief, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said: "Our aim was to ensure that everything – achievements and challenges – is translated into constructive learnings for the future, knowing that not every single aspect from Russia 2018 will be applicable to Qatar 2022.

"There are many ways to organise a fantastic FIFA World Cup: with Russia, we found one; and I have no doubt that Qatar will be an incredibly creative and remarkable host."