World Cup 2022: What you need to know about the stadiums in Qatar

Created: 11/23/2022, 10:20 am

Lusail Iconic Stadium © IMAGO

A total of eight new stadiums were built in the 2022 Emirate for the 2022 World Cup.

The flagship is the 80,000-seat Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Doha – The award of the 2022 World Cup to the Emirate of Qatar on the Persian Gulf caused astonishment in 2015.

The region is not exactly known for its passion for football, and due to the high summer temperatures, a World Cup had to be postponed to late autumn for the first time.

Another point was the lack of stadiums on the peninsula.

Qatar had two major football stadiums which are used by the local teams and the Qatar national team.

Six additional stadiums were built around the capital Doha especially for the World Cup.

In total, the emirate had the renovations and new buildings cost around 5.8 billion euros.

World Cup 2022 in Qatar: The existing stadiums

The largest stadium in Qatar is the Khalifa International Stadium in ar-Rayyan, which was opened in 1976 with an initial capacity of 20,000.

It is part of the so-called Aspire Zone, a sports complex with other sports facilities where the 2006 Asian Games were held.

In 2019, the World Athletics Championships took place here.

At the 2022 World Cup it is the venue of the Qatar national team - here is an overview of which teams are taking part in the World Cup.

In 2003, the 21,000-capacity Ahmed bin Ali Stadium was also opened in ar-Rayyan and named after the former Emir of Qatar.

It was demolished in 2015 to construct a new 50,000 capacity stadium of the same name on the same site.

Up to 90 percent of the rubble should be recycled for the new building.

World Cup 2022 in Qatar: the new stadiums

The star among the new buildings is the Lusail Iconic Stadium in the newly planned Lusail district north of Doha with 80,000 seats.

A total of ten games are to take place here, including the final of the 2022 World Cup on December 18 - you can find an overview of all the dates and games of the World Cup in our schedule.

In the capital Doha itself, two new stadiums have been built, the Stadion 974, whose name refers to the 974 shipping containers integrated into the stadium building, and the al-Thumama Stadion, whose unusual design is reminiscent of the classic Arabic men's headgear, the takke .

These are complemented by three other new stadiums: the al-Bayt Stadium with its tent roof in al-Khour, the al-Janoub Stadium in al-Wakrah and the Education City Stadium, which combines the other two facilities in ar-Rayyan added.

World Cup 2022 in Qatar: Overview of stadium capacities

The capacities of the stadiums are the same as stadiums in other countries for international competitions, as FIFA stipulates a minimum capacity of 40,000 seats.

However, they are to be partially dismantled after the 2022 World Cup.

The eight sports facilities at a glance:

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• Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, Capacity: 86,250

• al-Bayt Stadium, al-Khour, capacity: 60,000

• Education City Stadium, ar-Rayyan, capacity: 45,350

• Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, ar-Rayyan, capacity: 44,740

• Khalifa International Stadium, ar-Rayyan, capacity: 40,000

• Stadium 974, Doha, capacity: 40,000

• al-Thumama Stadium, Doha, capacity: 40,000

• al-Janoub Stadium, al-Wakrah, capacity: 40,000

World Cup 2022 in Qatar: special features of the stadiums

The special features of the stadiums include the air conditioning systems developed by Qatar University, which are intended to cool down the muggy, warm air in the desert state.

Large fans are set in motion with the help of solar energy.

The air is filtered at the same time and should be particularly clean.

So that the stadiums of the 2022 World Cup do not later stand unused in the small emirate, they are to be partially dismantled or even completely demolished.

The best example of this project is the stadium 974, which used 974 old shipping containers.

They can be easily disassembled later and reassembled elsewhere.

Qatar also attaches great importance to reducing CO2 emissions by connecting all stadiums to public transport.

To this end, Doha's Light Railway System was greatly expanded.