From an Inside the Times story by Lauren Jackson headlined “On the Ground at a Contentious World Cup”:

The World Cup begins today in Qatar. The games, which normally start in late spring or summer, were pushed to accommodate the desert country’s climate — one of many reasons this is a weird World Cup.

The best national soccer teams will compete for the title of world champion. Around a billion people are expected to watch the final on Dec. 18. Tariq Panja, a sports reporter for The Times, is at the tournament (where it’s still about 85 degrees). I spoke with him about the scandals surrounding the event and what to expect from the games.