Countries that criminalize homosexuality have done far worse at this FIFA World Cup in Qatar than nations that don’t kill or imprison people for being gay.
There were eight countries (out of 32) that inflict harsh punishments on citizens for being gay — dubbed by Outsports “The Group of Death to the Gays.” Of those only two — Morocco and Senegal — reached the knockout stage, while over half of the other countries are still playing. Morocco is the only country through to the quarterfinals, after beating Spain on penalty kicks.
By every measurable standard, countries that do a better job embracing the LGBT community beat out the most homophobic countries.
Percent of teams making it to the Quarterfinals
Group of Death to the Gays: 13%
Don’t criminalize the Gays: 29%
Percent of teams making it the World Cup Knockout Stage
Group of Death to the Gays: 25%
Don’t criminalize the Gays: 58%
Average Point Differential
Group of Death to the Gays: -1.1
Don’t criminalize the Gays: +0.4
Percent of teams that won their Group
Group of Death to the Gays: 13%
Don’t criminalize the Gays: 29%
Average points in their Group
Group of Death to the Gays: 3.75
Don’t criminalize the Gays: 4.33
Average losses in their Group
Group of Death to the Gays: 1.5
Don’t criminalize the Gays: 1.1
These results don’t come as much of a surprise. Countries that top the FIFA men’s soccer world rankings are in the more-LGBT-inclusive group. The highest-ranked team in the world for a country that criminalizes homosexuality is Senegal, at No. 18. Only four teams in the top 30 imprison people for being gay.
This reflects the results from the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, where the top 18 nations in the final medal count do not criminalize homosexuality. Kenya topped the anti-gay countries at No. 19 with four golds and 11 total medals. Team LGBTQ — the collective medals for all of the out athletes — ranked well ahead of all the anti-gay countries, finishing in seventh place with 11 gold and 33 total medals.
