July 18: Qatar Airways, an official FIFA partner and the official airline of FIFA, congratulated France on the outstanding win of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Qatar Airways said that the tournament was watched by more than two billion spectators around the world, with more than 250 million views on Qatar Airways’ social media channels.

“The 2018 FIFA World Cup was a thrilling competition, bringing people together through the shared love of football and sports and Qatar Airways took its celebration to the skies prior to the tournament’s semi-final and final match by flying a hand-painted Boeing 777 aircraft in FIFA livery to Moscow,” the airline said in a statement, adding, “The bespoke aircraft was hand-painted in Ireland and showcases just one example of how the World’s Best Airline has committed itself to this important partnership, one of the biggest sporting sponsorships in the world, alongside dedicated fan-zones showcasing true Qatari hospitality.”

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said, “I would like to congratulate France on the win against Croatia. As a global airline, we could not be more proud to be part of this huge sporting event that has brought the world together though a shared love of football and sport. We are truly inspired by the excitement this tournament has created, and by the tremendous enthusiasm shown by fans around the world at each and every match.”

Qatar Airways had kicked off its celebration of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June by teaming up with singer and TV star Nicole Scherzinger for a re-recording of the classic song 'Dancing in the Streets', which resulted in an upbeat and infectiously fun-filled ‘musical’ style TV commercial. The song expresses the airline’s firm belief that sports is a universal language, which has the power to inspire and encourage people to follow their dreams and has a reach of more than 238 million people through social media and an anticipated broadcast reach on television stations around the world of 3.3 billion viewers.