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Its been one of my bucket list item to watch world cup football live from stadium. So, when the news of Qatar hosting the world cup came, I made up my mind that this may be the closest and easiest option for a while to come.


Ticket booking

Around March 2022 FIFA announced that they are starting ticket booking through lottery system. So, once you create profile in FIFA ticketing site, you have multiple options from which you can select - Example - Both semi final match, 2 semi + final, all league matches of certain team etc.

So you can select the combination you want + the category of ticket. If your entry gets selected, you are given a period of around 2 weeks to pay for the tickets you received. If payment is not done in that period, the ticket gets cancelled.

I had submitted entry for all 4 QF matches, but when the lottery was done, of that 4, I got tickets only for 1 match.


Stay

Once payment was done, we started checking for stay option. The tournament organization committee had made a requirement that no hotels will take bookings directly, all the bookings have to be done through the organizing committees website, which will have list of on boarded hotels.

There were broadly 3 sets of rooms available -
1. Regular hotel rooms.
2. Fan village rooms - Rooms made of shipping container / tents in a temporary setup area where fans from different country will be staying.
3. Cruise ships docked in port - To increase rooms available for stay, during match duration, cruise ship will be docked at the port which will act as make shift hotel.

Cost of rooms were highest for cruise ships in general if you exclude cost of 5 star hotels. I liked the concept of staying in fan village, just to enjoy the atmosphere. However, the work on the villages were still ongoing, and hence there was this risk of booking something which can get delayed and end up half cooked.

Hence we narrowed down our search to hotel room only, the hotels were insanely priced and the cheapest we found were the service apartments. We booked one for 3 nights.


Visa

During world cup time, Qatar had mandated that visitors should be applying for a E-Visa kind of card, named Hayya card.

One had to create a profile mentioning game ticket details & hotel booking details and the card gets approved. The card as such is an app based one, but we had an option to select a physical card to be mailed to home. I did that just so that I can have that as a memento for later.

Received it in mail some 2 weeks after applying for the same





Flight tickets


Flights were very expensive during this period, a 2way ticket which was around 30K after pandemic for this sector was almost double when we booked.
After going through flight timings and rates, onward was booked in Indigo and return in Qatar airways.

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Which game?

As mentioned earlier, the ticket which we got was for the second quarter final. Hence one cannot predict which teams may end up for the match you have. However, though initially there was some upsets in this group, by time it reached QF stage, as predicted earlier it was a match between Argentina and Netherlands.


We did try to get other tickets too, for matches next day to ours, so that leave / stay and all are not an issue. However, the ticket prices were exorbitant and availability was low. Hence we dropped the idea.


Itenary -

09 Dec - Fri

03:00 AM onward flight

06.00 AM (Qatar time) land at Doha

Our hotel check-in was at 03.00 PM, so we freshened up from airport, had breakfast and at 09.00 AM when airport metro started (Friday/ holiday timing) we head to our hotel to drop bag there.

10.00 AM Sight seeing on reaching Doha

Visited Doha national Museum

Islamic arts museum


03.00 PM - Checked in to hotel. Took rest for couple of hours.
05.00 PM - Started towards Lusail
06.00 PM - Reached Lusail, spend time around stadium and fan area till match start
10:00 PM - Match


10 Dec - Sat
Local sightseeing
10.00 AM - After breakfast, start from hotel towards Souq Waqif
Past that walk through Corniche, stopping for sights around.
Had a late lunch from Costa Cafe at other end of Souq Waqif
04.30 PM - Head to Katara village, spend couple of hours there.
06.00 PM - Head to FIFA Fan festival.
11.00 PM - Head back to Souq Waqif for dinner.


11 Dec - Sun

Local sightseeing
08.00 AM - Head to Pearl Doha, roam around. Have breakfast from there.
12.00 PM - Head to Lusail promenade
01.30 PM - Start back to hotel.
03.30 PM - Head to airport.
06:45 PM - Return flight.


Since the sightseeing locations are less and also since trip was a short one, pics and write up are not in the same chronological order as above.

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08 Dec

We start from home at 09.00 PM, we had booked cab through the newly launched BluSmart.

Have taken their cabs couple of times earlier and found them to be reliable. Cab driver arrives ahead of time and we reach airport by around 10.30 PM.

Our onward flight was through Indigo. The idea was to get an early check-in done, head to lounge and try to sleep for couple of hours before boarding starts. However, on reaching at counter, was informed that early check-in was not allowed and they will start check-in past mid night only.

Spend sometime in the airport and then head to counter some 5 mins after mid night to see that it was complete chaos there. Just 2 counters were open and there were multiple lines merging there adding to confusion. It took around an hour to get the check-in done, thankfully Immigration and security check took around 30 mins combined only.

Thankfully was able to sleep for around half hour before boarding. Flight took off on time.

Flight of much anticipated and discussed Air Akasa -



Indigo is now a teenager it seems as mentioned on seat head rest. However, unfortunately this teenager also is very much conscious about its weight.



The seats become narrower with each trip. This flight has such narrow seats that I woke up some 2 hours in to flight from a deep sleep since my backside was paining. Rest of the flight was spend in me trying to find an angle where the pain will be minimal.


Somewhere around Dubai, dawn was just breaking



And soon we land at Hamad International airport in Doha

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Metro services & public transport

In run up to the WC, Qatar had invested lot in improving public facilties, but that aside, there is a hint of extravagance in all the things.

Be it the metro train coaches or the stations. During the games, for fans visiting, all public transport is free. One has to show your Hayya card to access any of this services.

Parking lot at airpot


Inside metros first class cabin



Metros are pilot less, its fun to sit in the end seat seeing the tunnel pass by. Also, interesting point was that the tunnel was well lit all across. Have seen other metros where lighting is sparse / not there once station section is crossed.



Metro stations

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Our Stay

Coming to the room, ours was a service apartment. This is not a regular on rent place, but the building was taken up by the organizing committee for the tournament time. Infact in the neighborhood, they had around 4 buildings taken up in similar manner.







Though a temporary hotel, it had a makeshift reception which was manned 24 hours along with a security.

Crowd control and overall management

I was bit skeptical on the crowd control part since Doha being a small city with the large number of people coming for watching matches may stretch out the resources. Especially its restaurants and public transport.

Overall crowd management was superbly executed, with all metro stations having multiple volunteers and barricades this way. These barricades just slow you down by taking through a long serpentine path, while it doesn't ever stop you. Hence the crowd does not get irritated or impatient.

Also, near stadiums, when the crowd walks through, there were song/ dance events happening around. People invariably stop and watch that, meaning the crowd does not reach the train in one big group, but in smaller batches.

Though we didn't get space to sit in the train while returning after the match, which is understandable since the stadium capacity was around 88000 or so, it never felt overcrowded.


Barricades outside stations


Foot over bridge from metro station to stadium, notice how spacious this is made to avoid any crowding.



The barricaded entry and exit which takes people through serpentine routes



The same barricades after match





The legendary 'Metro Man'

To easily guide the crowd to stadium / metro station etc, there are volunteers enroute with megaphone and a prop hand.

The so called Metro Man becoming an instant social media celebrity is a perfect example on how with good humor one can unite a seemingly diverse crowd of people.

For those who have been to any public events in India, we all know that this is the task usually done by a lathi swinging police guy.




At every location, one can see people of all ages lining up with them to take pictures.



Sometimes, the announcements became bit cheeky too. For example, after Portugal lost to Morocco, I saw one volunteer announcing as 'Portugal this way' 'World cup that way', pointing in two different directions. But all were accepted with cheers from the crowd.

In case you have not seen any video about this metro volunteers of WC, you can check these out -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajwiqw8AMdA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs__tkLi1BU

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Lusail Stadium


Lusail is a satellite town to Doha constructed very recently, there was mention that it was done just to showcase Qatar as a modern destination during the WC.

What ever that be the case, this stadium is the biggest one created for this WC. Final of the WC also is planned to be conducted at this stadium.

It does look majestic, especially with all the lights in the night.



Around the stadium, the business district at first looks like being made just for cameras.

You get that feeling due to it being both unoccupied and also since it looks like bit too futuristic.




We had arrived some 2 hours before the match, hence the crowd was just building up and people were roaming around the commercial area around the stadium.






The match was between Netherlands & Argentina. Unsurprisingly, Argentina fans outnumbered that of the opponents.

However, the Dutch had literally brought a bus to the game

But that doesn't stop this Argentina supporter to get in front of the bus and take a pic




Soon, crowd gathers and starts dancing to the music being played from the very loud speakers mounted on the bus.

Surprisingly, after few songs they started playing bhangra songs




A while later, we head to stadium. Inside the stadium there were multiple kiosks selling different items.




The exo skeleton of the stadium can be seen while taking the stairs to gallery

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Match!

The stadium was just filling up when we arrived



But soon it gets crowded



Then both the teams step in to warm up




Netherlands team




Argentina team




And the man himself




Soon after, the pre match ceremony starts

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UNF8x3UGPvA&feature=shares

It was an exciting match and it extends to extra time and penalty shootout









Things got a bit heated after the match with both teams almost coming to blows.




Post match revelry




A longer video of the game and pre game events

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KUI7RSjyXy8&feature=shares

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Festivities around town

One of the disadvantage which Qatar had for hosting the event was that Doha is their only town. For an event which is usually hosted in multiple cities / stadiums, that would have been a big challenge.

However, to their credit, they did turn this disadvantage to their advantage by making the whole city one big carnival.

Anywhere you go in the city, you have some or the other event related to WC happening.


Souq Waqif

Location

This is a old marketplace of Doha, I feel its partly touristy and partly proper market. However the place had a charm, though its just a market.





Picture perfect market area







Though it gets crowded too








Things on sale


We visited one of the eateries in one night, food was great. However, the place was too crowded

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Corniche

Next to Souq Waqif is Corniche.

Its a walkpath next to ocean, some 3 KMs long.

The entire walkway is decorated for the WC and there are multiple stages where events keep happening during evening.






Near this was the hour glass, which had countdown to opening ceremony of world cup. Now it just displays time.





On the walkway to the hourglass, on both sides there are flags of countries which qualified for the WC. Once they get eliminated, the flag is removed.

Hope its possible to see an India flag also in this lineup in few years




View towards Doha port side




Doha downtown view



Daily at 4.00 PM there is a flotilla procession with flags of countries left in contention of the cup.




We keep walking towards the other end of the walkway






Fox is the official broadcaster for the event, they have a big temporary media center setup. One can see their interview rooms and offices while walking through. Similarly, CNN had a big center in other side of the town.

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Corniche .. ctd

We continue walking in the same path and reach Costa Coffe, we had planned of having one meal from there just for the views.

Good food, view & clean restroom





By the time we step out, it had started to become dark.






We walk through DECC - Doha exhibition and convention center. Its a huge center, which currently works as back office for the world cup.

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Katara cultural village


This is located between Doha town and Lusail. Its beachside area which is developed to look like an old shopping area, each selling some artifacts.


However, the entry to the village is through a swanky mall









Entrance to cultural village




Its a very spacious area




Beach view from there, note the illuminated dhows kept just for decoration



Dhows have a large role in Qatar's history, since it was a fishing and pearl picking community.

Also, this is one historic link which Qatar has with India. More on that here.

Dhows made in India are in demand here still.








Shops in the cultural village area




Falcon is the national bird of Qatar and also, its kept as pet. Its an expensive hobby, price of falcons are mind boggling.

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FIFA Fan Festival

Around Corniche area, there is a huge area where daily evening live streaming of match along with some musical event happens.

When we visited, it was the day of Portugal - Morocco match.

The news of Morocco holding strong against Portugal was out and suddenly there was a huge crowd of people running towards the festival area.

Qatar has huge Morocco expat population, hence they made out for the biggest crowd there.




The building near Corniche was displaying live score, it was 0-0 when I took the picture. But in few minutes, Morocco scored 1 goal and celebration started all around.




Fan festival entrance




People watching match on big screen







Past match, there was performance by DJ Calvin Harris at the stage



Moroccan fans were still continuing their celebration

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FIFA Museum


Inside fan festival, there is a FIFA museum.

This tells the history of FIFA world cup along with some unique item from each world cup















Fun fact, India had qualified to play for this (1950) world cup. However, it was decided not to send the team and instead attend Olympics which was coming up later.

Guess for a young republic which didn't have the economic might of now, sending team to two events was not prudent. However, wonder how Indian football would be now, if that decision was different.





How the ball has changed




This was how the iconic world cup initially used to look. History of that below




Then you have the 'recent history'.

1986 World cup, which may forever have the 'Hand of god' controversy as its main incident.



The legend




The first world cup I remember of as a kid.

Also, I feel that world cup was start of decline of Maradona and also a reminder on how frailty is a universal trait which does not differentiate between the fans and the gods they idolize.





Its been couple of decades, but the legacy will continue

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World cup!

Then in the middle of the room is the main attraction, the reason we came to this museum.



A beautiful cup, for the beautiful game




If only!

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Corniche during night

The entire Corniche area till Souk Waqif is like a big festival area now. There are multiple small stages, decorations & fire works.








Smaller events enroute














Skyline of Doha downtown area



Fire works which happens every night