World Cup countdown enters final week as focus sharpens on Qatar

The week-long countdown to the World Cup in Qatar began as the world's leading footballers focused their attention on one of the most controversial tournaments in history.

The first World Cup to be held in the Arab world will kick off when the host nation faces Ecuador.

It marks the culmination of Qatar's extraordinary campaign to first win the vote to land the tournament and then embark on a spending spree of tens of billions of dollars to build stadiums and infrastructure.

Holding football's showpiece event in a desert state has necessitated an unprecedented reorganisation of the international football calendar, shifting the World Cup from its normal slot in the northern hemisphere summer to avoid the Persian Gulf's scorching heat.

Domestic leagues will pause for six weeks to allow the tournament to take place, but preparation time is short.

FIFA's pleas to "focus on football" have struggled to be heard as the countdown to kick-off has only increased scrutiny of the Persian Gulf state's treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community.

Labourers from South Asia have been at the centre of an often acrimonious dispute over deaths, injuries and their working conditions since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010.

Amnesty International made an urgent plea for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to commit to a compensation package for the workers who built the tournament's gleaming stadiums.