The Peninsula
Qatar’s eight state-of-the-art stadiums are set to host world’s strongest 32 teams, who will fight for glory at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which kicks off on November 20.
The first ever FIFA World Cup to be staged in the Middle East and the Arab world is expected to see an estimated 1.2 million fans descending on Doha.
The World Cup venues include Lusail, Al Bayt, Al Janoub, Ahmad Bin Ali, Khalifa International, Education City, Stadium 974 and Al Thumama stadiums.
The magnificent venues will host a total of 64 matches, with hosts Qatar taking on Ecuador in the opening match on November 20 at Al Bayt Stadium. The final is scheduled at Lusail Stadium on December 18 - Qatar National Day.
All the venues are located within a 55-km radius of Qatar’s capital city of Doha.
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All match venues can be easily reached by the state-of-the-art Doha Metro and the connected shuttle services which are expected to carry millions of passengers throughout the World Cup.
The compact nature of Qatar 2022 allows fans to travel between stadiums within a very short period of time, and makes it possible for them to watch even two matches a day - a first in the history of the FIFA Word Cup.
This also means fans, players and officials will not need to take any domestic flights once they arrive in Qatar and will never be far from a stadium, training site or tourist attraction - a major fact which will significantly reduce the tournament’s carbon footprint.
Apart from the Khalifa International Stadium which has a proud history of hosting a number of International events, including a 2006 Asian Games and the World Athletics Championships in 2019, rest of the seven stadiums were built from scratch.
The construction began in November 2015 and all of them were declared tournament-ready in record time, raising the eyebrows of the entire world with their breathtaking features and magnificent architecture.
The Lusail Stadium, the centrepiece venue for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, is the biggest of them, boasting a capacity of 80,000 seats.
The Fanar Lantern-shaped golden-coloured venue - part of the Lusail City master-plan - was the last to be declared open when it played host to the Lusail Super Cup final between Saudi Pro League champions, Al Hilal SFC and the Egyptian Premier League winners, Zamalek on September 9.
Al Bayt Stadium has the second biggest capacity among the eight eye-catching venues. The 60,000-seater’s design reflects the Qatari and Arabic culture with it’s tent-shape - an integral part of the life of the region’s nomadic tribe,
A blend of heritage and modernity, Al Bayt Stadium will be repurposed to serve the community around it with a 5-star hotel, shopping center, gym and multipurpose hall.
A branch of Aspetar – Qatar’s leading sports medicine facility, will open near the stadium while dedicated running, cycling and horse-riding tracks will further promote physical activity.
For the first time in the World Cup’s history a fully dismountable stadium also features at Qatar 2022.
The stunning Stadium 974, constructed from shipping containers and removable seats, will provide an innovative blueprint for major tournament hosts in future.
Post tournament, the stadium will be completely dismantled and re-purposed, with its parts used to create sporting facilities in Qatar and overseas.
Just like Stadium 974, Al Thumama, Education City, Ahmad Bin Ali and Al Janoub stadiums also can host upto 40,000 at a time.
Following Qatar’s opening match on November 20 which kicks off the Group Stage, England vs Iran will be the second game on the following day before AFCON champions Senegal take on Netherlands and USA face Wales.
The group stage will run until December 2 with four games being held each day after the opening two days.
The first of the knockout games will then start on December 3.
The quarter-finals will be held on December 9 and 10. After a two-day break, the semi-finals will be played on December 13 and 14 before the third place play-off and the final on December 18.
The first two rounds of matches will kick off at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm while the kick-off times in the final round of group games and knock-out round matches will be at 6pm and 10pm.
The final is scheduled to kick off at 6pm.