A week after kick-off, the World Cup trophy returned to Qatar on Sunday, teams and fans arrived and security cordons were erected across Doha ahead of one of football’s most controversial tournaments of all time.

The trophy, which will be presented to the winning team on December 18, returned from a world tour in time for next Sunday’s opening game when hosts Qatar take on Ecuador.

However, FIFA’s calls to “focus on football” have resisted international spotlight on Qatar’s dealings with migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community. Qatar has furiously denied most of the attacks, and local media on Sunday branded the “arrogance” of some western countries.

“It seems to have been everything we’ve read about in the last few weeks,” said Ringo Gonzalez, an Ecuadorian living in Germany, who was among fans early Sunday gathered at the World Cup countdown clock on the beach promenade of assembled in Doha.

“It will be good to see that the teams finally do something. I want Ecuador to do well and see Lionel Messi and the other big names in action.”

The US team has already arrived in Doha and Australia should join on Sunday. Qatar predicts more than a million fans will be in the smallest country to host a World Cup and many have arrived in the capital.

Many star players were still in action for their European clubs in the finals before the World Cup break on Sunday.

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were all in the starting line-up for Paris Saint-Germain against Auxerre in Ligue 1.

In the port of Doha, the huge, newly built cruise ship MSC Europa was due to be officially christened on Sunday before welcoming thousands of World Cup fans.

As a concession to Qatar’s Islamic culture, which restricts alcohol and prohibits gambling, a bottle of rose water was to be smashed onto the hull at the inauguration instead of the traditional champagne, and the ship’s casino in the port was to be closed.

Three cruise ships will host up to 10,000 fans and MSC said the Europa was fully booked for the first two weeks of the 29-day tournament.

On land, cordons have been put in place on major roads and around subway stations and stadiums as security forces prepare for the football invasion.

Organizers say 2.9 million of the 3.1 million tickets were sold and scores of hopeful fans waited outside the FIFA Ticket Center hoping that tight tickets for top matches would become available.

Matthew Coleman, an Australian living in Doha, and his Dutch friend Gijs Beenker missed out because no “interesting” matches were available.

At a nearby World Cup souvenir shop, staff said Europeans, who buy the official ball or the La’eeb mascot, are the main customers.

Migrant workers from South Asia have bought thousands of replica Brazilian and Argentinian shirts and can be seen wearing them on the streets. Ever since Qatar won the 2010 World Cup, workers have been at the center of an often acrimonious dispute over deaths, injuries and their working conditions.

European and Qatari media continued their bickering on Sunday over whether the energy-rich Gulf state should host the event.

A British newspaper said many fans believed Indians in Qatar had been “paid” to attend rallies in support of Argentina and Brazil. Thousands of migrant workers flocked to the march on Friday.

In response, Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq said the anti-Qatar campaign “confirms the arrogance of some western countries who believe that the organization of the World Cup must remain monopolized by them”.

Al Raya said: “The enthusiastic, festive atmosphere of a large crowd of football fans of different nationalities in Doha has revealed the failure of the smear campaigns led by some media and Western politicians against the 2022 World Cup.”