‘Hats off to Qatar for hosting an incredible World Cup’, the British Prime Minister tweeted on Sunday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has commended Qatar for its efforts in hosting what he described as “an incredible World Cup” in a tweet just minutes before England played Senegal on Sunday.

“Hats off to Qatar for hosting an incredible World Cup so far,” Sunak said, adding: “The group stages will be remembered as one of the all-time greats.”

His comments came a day after FIFA announced that the Qatar World Cup 2022 has seen the highest attendance of fans in the tournament’s history.

The Gulf nation saw a ground-breaking of 88,966 fans at the Argentina v. Mexico match at Lusail Stadium on 26 November, marking the highest such figure in FIFA’s history. 

Adding to the success of being the first-ever World Cup held in the Arab world, Qatar received 2.45 million fans, an average of 96% occupancy.

Qatar has also stood up to criticism from Western media, which doubted its readiness to host the sporting event, citing its geographical size.

Sunak’s tweet on Sunday came two days after the British PM spoke with the Emir of Qatar to discuss defence collaboration and the Ukraine crisis, according to a Downing Street statement.

Sunak and Qatar’s head of state Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani also agreed to continue to work together bilaterally as well as through a future Gulf Cooperation Council trade deal, the statement added.