6 Minute English / Qatar's World Cup workers

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth.

Every four years the best players in the world gather for one month in the summer to take part in the biggest event in football the World Cup. But this year, for the first time ever, the competition is taking place in winter. Why? Because the 2022 World Cup is happening in Qatar.

Over a million fans from all over the world are expected to visit Qatar for the World Cup which starts on the 20th of November. Because temperatures in Qatar exceed 45 degrees in the summer, the competition was moved to the winter. But the decision to hold the World Cup in the tiny, oil-rich Gulf state has been controversial.

One of the richest countries in the world, Qatar has no tradition of playing football and some have criticised the focus on money instead of sport. And there are other criticisms too about human rights and the treatment of the migrant construction workers who built the football stadiums, roads, transport systems and hotels without which the World Cup could not happen.

In this programme we ll be asking: is it right for Qatar to host the World Cup? And of course, we ll be learning some new and useful vocabulary as well.

But before that I have a question for you Beth. Which country has won the World Cup the most times? Is it:

a) Italy?b) Brazil? or,c) Germany?

I think it must be Brazil.