Most countries don't pay for their fans' travel to see World Cup matches, but then most countries aren't as wealthy as Qatar and hoping to make a splash in their first World Cup that they actually qualified for.

We mentioned this news item in brief over the weekend, but now we have more video evidence of a funny little march that happened in front of the Ferry Building and along the Embarcadero on Friday, in which Qataris showed up en masse to support their country's team, ahead of their first World Cup match Saturday in Santa Clara against Switzerland.

SFGate reported on the march, which was apparently mandatory for all the Qataris being put up, on their government's dime, at downtown San Francisco hotels. (For some who were given hotel rooms down the Peninsula, the march was optional.)

Below you can see the slick video produced by the Qatar Football Association of the Friday event, with the caption, "Fans march in San Francisco to support the Qatari national team ahead of their World Cup debut."

And here is a second video, from more of a fan's perspective.

We haven't yet seen a ton of this national pride on display from other countries in SF at least, and it's hard to say how much international attendance is coming to Levi's in the days ahead. (The next match there is tomorrow, June 16, with Jordan facing off against Austria, and Turkey will face Paraguay here on Friday.)

But the Qataris have engineered this, wanting to guarantee a show of support for their national squad in their first competitive World Cup — after they were automatically granted a spot in 2022's tournament, being the host country.

As the Qatar News Agency reported earlier this month, the Qatar Football Association arranged with the government to give all-expense-paid trips to 1,000 Qatari fans, including charter flights to the US, hotels in three cities, and flights between here, Vancouver, and Seattle. The arrangment also provided invitations to all Qatari students studying in the US and Canada to attend the matches.

Clearly, there are some strings attached, like Friday's obligatory march. And it was reported during the 2022 tournament that Qatar paid for fans of opposing teams to attend matches, but required them in exchange to report any social media posts they saw criticizing Qatar.

Qatar next plays Canada on Thursday in Vancouver, and following that, they will be playing Bosnia/Herzegovinia in Seattle on Wednesday, June 24.

Saturday's match against Switzerland ended in a 1-1 draw, which was a good showing for Qatar to kick things off. But as the Chronicle reports, it was the Swiss fans who had the most sour grapes, given they had to travel here on their own dime and watch the Qataris hoot it up for free.

"It’s damn expensive here in the USA, in California," said one Swiss fan, speaking to the Chronicle. That fan got a bargain on tickets for Saturday's match at Levi's, just $140, but tickets for their match against Canada in Vancouver were $700.

Related: How to Watch the First World Cup Matches, at Home or at an SF Bar