BTS' Morgan Freeman and Jungkook kick off the 2022 World Cup

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Qatar pulled out the big guns to open the 2022 World Cup... hiring Morgan Freeman to share some words of wisdom and a member of BTS to sing us towards kick-off.

The actor was on hand for the opening ceremony on Sunday, where he performed in a rehearsal skit that kind of looked like something out of a Disneyland production... with MF mic and talking to a Qatari man who was a bilateral amputee from the waist down.

It’s interesting… their scripted convo certainly seemed to address the Qatar hosting controversy in the first place due to the outcry over their human rights record. Morgan asks the man if he is welcome there, seeing how they respect different customs and practices.

The Qatari man assures him that he is, and that Qatar, by extension, invites the whole world in hopes of understanding each other better...noting that football brings them closer.

Jungkook's performance was more simple and traditional... he did an impressive number of "Dreamers" alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi, with a lot of dancers/production value behind them, similarly to 'much of the WC opening ceremonies have been.

The home crowd was enthused by it all...although their enthusiasm faded once his team took to the field. Qatar lost 2-0 to Ecuador in the opener - and it wasn't exactly close.

Let the games begin.