The World Cup 2022 in Qatar will put the Middle East and its culture at the forefront.
Also in focus will be the state-of-the-art stadiums that will host tens of thousands of fans, along with the teams, officials and staff. Not only will this World Cup be unique for being held in the middle of regular reason, it was also be the first where entire venues will be air-conditioned.
The tournament begins on November 20, with the final scheduled to be held at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.
Games will be staged at eight venues across the country. The other seven venues are Stadium 974, Al Thumama Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Education City Stadium, and the Al Janoub Stadium.
As we build up towards the World Cup, we look at each of the eight venues that will host teams and fans during the month-long football carnival.
Khalifa International Stadium
Inaugurated in 1976, it is the most iconic venue of the 2022 Fifa World Cup. It has hosted football and athletics events for nearly half a century and was given a fresh lease of life for the World Cup. After reopening in 2017, the stadium hosted the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
Apart from that, the venue has hosted the Asian Games, Arabian Gulf Cup and AFC Asian Cup, and the 2019 Club World Cup.
The new tier added 12,000 seats to the stadium, taking its capacity to 40,000. The stadium’s dual arches have been preserved following the redevelopment, and are now complemented by a canopy which supports the stadium’s new cooling system.
The stadium received a four-star rating from the Global Sustainability Assessment System, the first in the world to be awarded this rating. The system has been developed to assess and rate buildings and infrastructure for sustainability.
World Cup 2022 fixtures at Khalifa International Stadium
Monday, November 21: Group B, England v Iran (5pm)
Wednesday, November 23: Group E, Germany v Japan (5pm)
Friday, November 25: Group A, Netherlands v Ecuador (8pm)
Sunday, November 27: Group F, Croatia v Canada (8pm)
Tuesday, November 29: Group A, Ecuador v Senegal (7pm)
Thursday, December 1: Group E, Japan v Spain (11pm)
Round of 16
Saturday, December 3, Match 49, Group A winner v Group B runner-up (7pm)
Third-place play-off
Saturday, December 17: Match 63 (7pm)
