Qatar wins world cup bid!

The UK bookies who recently pushed Qatar into the the favourite position for the World Cup were right.

Against all odds, Qatar has won the 2022 World Cup.

Admittedly, Edwin Eduardo, writing about Qatar 2022 World Cup chances for QatarVisitor.com earlier this year, had assessed their chances as being extremely good:

Qatar is very close to going down in history as the first ever Arab nation to host the World Cup.

And as we quoted then, the Fifa President was keen on the idea:

The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organise the tournament.

Huge hurdles

But Qatar still had huge hurdles to overcome in winning the bid.

The FIFA team assessed Qatar as having the riskiest bid, while the US queried whether Qatar intended to air-condition the whole country.

Not so often voiced were other problems: the difficulty of a conservative Islamic country playing host to thousands of drunken fans, the issue of Israel...

These hurdles still have to be overcome. But for now Qatar, which will be the first Arab country ever to win the Qatar World Cup, can ignore the inevitable sniping and celebrate.

Also see:

Hundreds of Thousands of New Jobs in 2022 World Cup

Qatar Asian Cup
Qatar Football
Qatar Football Crowd and the Qatar National Anthem

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Brazil v Argentina Football Friendly

The two giants of South American soccer Argentina and Brazil will face off in a friendly international at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha on November 17.

Doha, within easy reach of Europe, is becoming an increasingly popular venue for international football friendlies and with many of the stars of both teams based in Europe the location makes sense. England played Brazil in a previous match last year.

The match is an opportunity to showcase Qatar's increasingly impressive bid for the 2022 World Cup.

Stars who might be on the field include Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Kaka.


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England Brazil Football Tickets Now On Sale

Also checkout: Qatar 2022 Bid: Qatar's not fooling around

Tickets for the England Brazil football match to be held in Qatar have finally gone on sale.

A friend saw a booth for the tickets yesterday - only to find that yesterday's batch had been sold out in three major malls.

Apparently, tickets will start at QAR100, not QAR50 as noted in our previous post.

Update: Football Qatar also points out that you buy the tickets via the Al Jazeera website, while there is a comment below with another website retailer.

2nd Update: According to Qatari Adventures you can now buy the tickets online via the Qatar Football Association.

Qatar Football Update

There's a lot happening with Qatar Football at present, with everything from a major upcoming football tournament to a bid for the World Cup.

Brazil- England Tickets Update

Tickets for the match still seem unavailable in Qatar, although as we noted in Where in Doha are the Brazil England Football Tickets you can buy them via Fifa if you have a fan number.

Our latest understanding is that tickets will be available from 20th October, with basic tickets costing between QAR200 and 250. There is also a thread on Qatar Living which suggests tickets will be sold in all malls which have a Carrefour.

You can check out our comparison of the teams in Tim Sturbridges article on the Brazil England game or check our guide to the game in Doha (ticket info to be added as soon as we have something concrete!)

World Cup FA Bid - but will the heat defeat Qatar?

Still smarting from its failed bid for the World Olympics, Qatar is now bidding for the World Football Cup in 2022.

While England's bid has been slammed as 'light-weight', Qatar apparently impressed officials with their presentation.

However, Soccer America believes Qatar's biggest obstacle will be the heat. Apparantly Qatar has now ruled out building indoor stadiums, as originally planned, but is considering use solar energy to power cooling equipment.

Umm Salal to face Phang Stealers - chance to appear in Club World Cup

Pohang Steelers, third in the K-League, take on Umm Salal of Qatar in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League on the 21st October. Umm Salal sit near the bottom of the Stars League with only one win out of 3 games played so far.

Pohang Steelers have won the Asian Champions League twice in 1997 and 1998 and are favorites to make it a hat-trick of titles this year.

Both teams have much-traveled Brazilian forwards, Magno Alves for the Qataris and Denilson for the Korean club. Both players have played in the Middle East and in East Asia.

The other semifinal features Nagoya Grampus against Saudi outfit Al Ittihad.

The winner of the competition will appear in the Club World Cup in Dubai in December.

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Where in Doha are the England Brazil football tickets?

Update: According to the Gulf Times tickets will go on sale in days, and will cost from QAR50 up. Tickets will be available from a variety of locations including Villagio, The Mall, City Center, Landmark and Souq Waqif.

Frustration is growing among Doha based football fans who are trying to find out where to get tickets to the Brazil England football match in Doha.

The Qatar Football Association answer neither emails nor telephone tickets, and we ourselves have been recieving email enquiries, to which we sadly have to say we don't know.

According to our football contact, the date and venue of football sales has not yet been announced.

When they are announced, the price will not be cheap - tickets will cost between QAR250 and QAR300 for normal tickets, while VIP tickets are set to cost upwards of a 1000 riyals.

Not a huge amount in English terms, but a shock for Doha residents who are used to ticket being either free - or very very cheap.

Incidentally, you can buy tickets outside Qatar for the Doha game via the official Fifa website - if you have a fan number. You can check it out here.

Check out Tim Sturtbridge's assessment of the English and Brazil teams set to meet in Doha.

The England Brazil Face-Off in Doha: Articles

Also see: Qatar 2022 Bid

With confirmation that England are to face off against Brazil in Doha in October, despite the Qatar football association remaining very quiet on the topic, Tim Sturtbridge assesses the relative merits of the two teams. See Football’s elite descend on Doha as England take on the boys from Brazil.

We have also provided a guide to the game - Check out the England Brazil Face Off in Doha for information on everything from which stadium the teams are playing in to where English fans can get and English breakfast in Qatar.

Also see our blog post, Brazil England Football Match in Qatar, for our take on how Qatar will cope with the sudden influx of thousands of English football fans into their conservative Islamic country.

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Brazil England Football Match to take Place in Doha

A couple of months ago we reported that England could be playing in Qatar against Brazil.

The Qatar football association reported that the match would take place if England succeeded in qualifying for the world cup.

Wednesday saw England doing just that.

Wahabbi Qatar to Meet UK Football Fans

It now seems likely that October will see a huge influx of English football fans into this conservative Islamic country.

Qatar, though far more liberal and tolerant that neighbouring Saudi, practises the strictest form of Islam, Wahabbism.

Many women still cover their faces from public view with black veils or masks, while Muslims who get drunk can be lashed and deported. Meanwhile, "bad smelling" and "badly dressed" Asian labourers are barred from places where they could spoil the view of families relaxing on the weekend.

England football fans, on the other hand, are famous in Qatar for their drinking and fighting.

The Qatari police have little patience for yobbish behaviour in this well ordered country. But Qatar will also have a lot riding on this match.

Future World Cup

Qatar successfully held the Asian Games in 2006.

However, this tiny but very rich country has its eyes on bigger tropies.

Qatar bid for the Olympic Games, and was miffed when its application got booted our early despite being rated high on a technical basis.

The country also has its eyes on a future world cup, and there is little doubt that relevant bodies will have their eyes on Qatar when it holds this friendly.

How it handles belligerent fans could well have an effect on its success at holding larger sporting events in the future.

Alcohol

Things get even more complicated with alcohol.

In Qatar, as we explain in our article Qatar Alcohol, a special permit is needed to purchase liquour outside a few hotels and clubs.

Even buying alcohol in those clubs and hotels can be tricky.

Recently one girl was turned away from a hotel with the explanation that her tourist visa was not sufficient to buy alcohol there. She would only be allowed to buy alcohol in the hotel she was staying at.

England fans, on the other hand, are going to expect alcohol, and lots of it. They may also be unhappy with the price of beer in Qatar, which can easily be three-four times the price of beer in the UK.

Accommodation

Qatar may also be hard pressed to accommodate an extra 10,000 souls.

In the Asian Games, despite chartering three cruise ships, journalists ended up sleeping on people's floors.

There are now more Qatar hotels (see our Qatar hotel guide for details) but this country of less than two million may still struggle to keep up with the sudden influx.

Will for Success

However, despite the cultural differences, football mad Qatar is a huge fan of English football.

The country is also keen to promote itself abroad, both as a cultural destination and as a travel hub.

Despite the difficulties involved, the country will make all efforts to try and ensure the success of the game.

Let's just hope the English fans allow them to do that...

Updates:

Check out our website articles on this topic, including Tim Sturtbridge's assessment of the Brazil and England Games and our Guide to Doha and the Match for Visiting Fans, as well as our chronicle of the confusion over football tickets with Where in Doha are the England Brazil football tickets?

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England v Brazil Football Friendly in Doha

It is thought that the England Football Association is hoping to stage a lucrative friendly against Brazil in Doha in November this year. The match which is planned for 14th November would see top stars such as David Beckham, Kaka and Robinho performing in the Qatar capital.

The match is to be sponsored by Al Jazeera Sports Channel and organized by the Qatar FA.

Qatar Football Association general secretary Saud Al Mohannadi confirmed the match will take place as long as England have completed qualification for the 2010 World Cup by then.

Update: You can now see Tim Sturtbridge's assessment of the English and Brazil teams who will be facing off in Doha, as well as our guide to the friendly (including tips on accommodation - and where to get an English breakfast!) for English football fans.

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Qatar Football: The Italian Opera

by Wanderer

They came, they saw, and they left us completely in awe.

AC Milan, on their second trip to Doha in 110 years, did what only a few others before them have managed to do in Qatar – bring together an excited, chanting, colourful crowd to a sporting event. The game was well contested by Al Sadd and the final result, 2-1 in favour of the Italians, was just.

Doha Asian Games scenes?

In scenes reminiscent of the Doha Asian Games football final between Qatar and Iraq, the Al Sadd Stadium filled almost to capacity with star-struck fans of the Italian giants. The flow of love for Al Sadd’s outgoing captain Jaffal Rashid was not any less. The raving chants and the beating drums reverberated throughout the venue, modelled along the lines of Manchester United’s home stadium.

Enter the teams

The players from the two teams filed into the field for a 30-minute training session amid catcalls and standing ovations. They obliged the crowd with deft passes and lavish waves of hands. Beckham, ever the perfect gentleman, was the most interactive of the players. And then finally, the moment of truth arrived.

Slow start

With two of their biggest Brazilian stars – Kaka and Ronaldinho – on the bench, the Italians started slowly. They took time to establish their rhythm. When they did, it was more like a slowly building up opera rather than the team’s more familiar ‘instant rock-and-roll’. David Beckham produced some magical moments up front while Paolo Maldini took care of their defensive needs.

Pato, Mohammad Golam and Luca Antonini…

The trio made the farewell game memorable. Brazilian sensation Pato struck in the 16th minute, just as Al Sadd were settling down. He instantly made the game come alive. The first goal inspired the fans to try out several attempts at a Mexican wave, which never materialised.
Mohammed Golam pulled his club level in the 36th, if only for under a minute. Luca Antonini scored the winning goal of the day soon after.

No mean feat

The Italians may have taken the game easy, but their failure to score a third goal, in 53 minutes, speaks volumes about Al Sadd’s resilience. They played with heart and ended the game with their heads held high. Al Sadd were initially intimidated, but they gradually caught on. Although they tried hard, an equaliser was not in their stars.

Football is the winner

AC Milan may have won on paper, but the real winner was the beautiful game. It kept its audience spellbound for almost 95 minutes in a scenario begging to be replicated. The game was enough proof that good matches attracted big crowds. It should act as an eye opener for local authorities. If it succeeds in doing so, then one can safely call the AC Milan game one of the most important football matches in recent memory.

Also see:

Qatar Football
Our Guide to the English Brazil Football Friendly in Doha
An Assessment of the English and Brazilian Football Teams Set to Meet in Qatar

Game Highlights

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Qatar Football: The Italians’ Desert Safari!

by Wanderer

In less than 36 hours, Qatar will get their second taste of vintage Italian football.

For only the second time in their 110-year-old journey, Italian giants AC Milan will visit the country for a friendly game, against local powerhouses Al Sadd. The match, scheduled to be played on Wednesday at the club grounds, is organised as a testimonial event for their long-serving captain Jafal Rashid Al Kuwari. The only other time AC Milan has visited Qatar was in December 2002, when they locked horns against a select Qatar national side.

Final Game for Beckham?

AC Milan, the eighth wealthiest club in the world, will field their first-string team in Qatar. It’ll be a rare treat for Qatari fans, who will see the past – Ronaldinho and David Beckham, the present – Kaka, and future –Pato, all on their favourite ground. With his return to the MLS League looming nearer, this could also be Beckham’s final game for the Italian side. All these factors have whetted audience interest considerably.

Qatar are no strangers to international football stars in their midst. The Qatar League, which started in 1974, has seen many of the world’s prominent players in it. Former Argentinian superstar Gabriel Batistuta, Brazilian World Cup winner Romario and Dutch twin sensations Frank and Ronald de Boer have all spend a part of their career here.

Promoting the Country

AC Milan’s trip to the country is not surprising. Qatar, with their ambitions of becoming the Middle East’s sports capital, has always encouraged staging of high-profile events. The football game at Al Sadd is just the latest in a series of steps taken to project the country as a favourable destination for big events.

From a marketing perspective, the AC Milan clash has already become a successful. Ticket sales have been brisk and the cash registers have not stopped ringing. If the initial bookings are any indication, the stadium will resemble the final of the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where Qatar beat Iraq to win the gold medal for the first time in history. On Wednesday, all roads will lead to Al Sadd Stadium.

Poor Timing for Al Sadd

However, from the club coach’s perspective, the timing of the game could not have been more unfortunate. Al Sadd, who are engaged in a three-way battle with Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa for the Qatar Stars League title, has lost their focus. They lost to Qatar SC 1-3 in the League last week.

“We have a very young team. I suspect that they had been thinking more about their game against AC Milan, which led them to lose focus on the field against Qatar SC. We paid the price for it. The League is at a crucial and decisive phase now and we cannot afford to make mistakes. I hope that my boys can do better in the remaining matches,” he had said at the post match Press conference.

Improving Standards

Even at the youth level, several international teams including Chelsea, AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid have visited and played friendly games against ASPIRE Academy students. Football aficionados in Qatar will fervently hope that the AC Milan visit will open the floodgate for more European teams to visit Qatar. In addition to attracting a good crowd, it could go a long way in improving the game’s standard in the country.

Also see: Qatar Football

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Qatar World Cup?

Football mad Qatar believes it has a good chance of getting the World Cup to Qatar.

Image by Nicholas Magowan

Having obviously moved on from their failure to proceed to the next round of the Olympics, which many saw as a personal snub, the country have set their eyes on the football competition.

Possible problems

English Fans in Qatar

Qatar is a conservative Muslim country. While far more liberal than Saudi Arabia, it is hard to imagine Qataris putting up with aggressive English fans fighting, drinking and throwing up in the streets.

Accomodation

Qatar Accomodation has expanded massively. However, much of this is the high range, expensive accomodation - not the cheap guest-house style place many football fans will budget for.

Heat

Qatar can and will build underground football stadiums to accomodate the games. That still doesn't distract from the fact that it will be unbearably hot outside - meaning no German-style huge tv screens for those fans without tickets.

Qatar's chances...

Qatar has proved before (with the Asian Games) that it can host a big event, and host it well. However, they have some tough competition to overcome (including Australia and England) and they will have to work hard to convince Fifa they can overcome the problems above.

Also see: Qatar Football

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Qatari Football Supporters

Enthusiastic football supporters at the Bahrain-Qatar world cup qualifying match in Al Sadd football stadium, Doha. A heady start saw Qatar scoring in the first few minutes of the game and dominating the first half of the match, with Bahrain going down to ten men prior to half time. Qatar proved distinctly lacklustre in the second half, and Bahrain both outplayed Qatar and equalized in the second half, despite their numerical advantage.


Also see: Qatar Football & Qatar Tennis

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Exciting time for Qatar Football

This is an exciting time for Qatar Football. Not only have Qatar just beaten China 1-0 with a penalty at half time during their away game, the country is also now joint first with Australia after Australia's shock defeat at the hand's of Qatar. The upcoming Saturday game against Australia will prove interesting, although the heat is likely to preclude dramatic play from either of the two sides. Check out the discussion on the I love Qatar forum.

More could be coming, according to an article in the Guardian entitled Qatar plans Shock Bid for 2018 Tournament, which suggest that Qatar is likely to apply for the Games. However, Qatar is likely to be cautious this time around after being rejected from the Olympic Games bid despite tying joint third with Chicago on technical points. (Rio de Janeiro, which was behind on points, was accepted in this preliminary round.)

The move could see them in direct opposition with the UAE, which has also been discussing bidding for the 2018 world cup.

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Football at the Marriot

Following in the footsteps of the Intercontinental, The Marriot Hotel have sent us their flier for the Euro 2008. Starting, well, from yesterday (we only received it today - honest!) you can watch the Euro 2008 live at the hotel until the 29th of this month. at the Pearl Lounge, Salsa, Cafe Trettoir and Shisha Terrace. You can also find information about the Euro 2008 and its schedule on our partner website Soccerphile.

Also see: Qatar Football






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Qatar To Host Asian Cup 2011

Qatar will be the host nation for the 2011 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced today.

Qatar was the only country from West Asia to submit a bid to host the competition and was duly awarded the event by the AFC ahead of today's Asian Cup final between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Jakarta.

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam, himself a Qatari, said of the decision:

"I think it will be a great tournament. The Asian Cup from now on will be different from what we've seen in the past, in terms of organisation, in terms of popularity and in terms of standard. This is my promise to you."

Qatar previously hosted the Asian Cup in 1988 and along with Iran (1968 and 1976) is now the only country to host the event more than once.

The tournament will most likely be staged in January, as the weather in a July tournament would be too hot for the players in the Gulf state.

Qatar successfully hosted the Asian Games in 2006.

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Qatar Exit Asian Cup

Qatar may have exited the 2007 Asian Cup with their last-gasp defeat to Gulf rivals the UAE but the team and coach Dzemaludin Musovic can leave Vietnam with their heads held high.

A stoppage time goal by Faisal Khalil gave UAE a 2-1 win over Qatar in Ho Chi Minh city.

Uruguay-born striker Sebastian Quintana netted his third goal in three Asian Cup games from a re-taken penalty kick just before half-time. UAE had the better of the second period with Saeed Alkas equalizing on the hour mark before Faisal Khalil's late, late goal sank the young Qatari team.

Both Qatar and UAE failed to make the second round as Japan and hosts Vietnam progressed from Group B. Amid wild scenes in the Vietnamese capital, the home team reached the knockout stages despite a 4-1 hammering from the defending champions, Japan.

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Asian Cup Soccer Qatar 1 Vietnam 1

Despite going a goal down in the first half, Qatar were unlucky not to come away with more than a 1-1 draw with co-hosts Vietnam in My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi.



Uruguayan-born striker Sebastián Soria Quintana was on target for the second match running after his last-gasp equalizer in Qatar's opening game with defending Asian Cup champions Japan.

Quintana scored in a second-half that Qatar largely bossed. The press in Doha lamented their team's inability to put away the game but are hopeful that Qatar will progress to the second round with a victory over local rivals UAE.

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Qatar draws again

Once again Uruguayan-born striker Sebastian Quintana saved Qatar from defeat against Vietnam in their second game of the Asian Cup. Prior to the start of the games Vietnam were widely regarded as a pushover and Japan and UAE seen as the challenge to Qatar. However, buoyed by home support, Vietnam inflicted a surprise 2-0 defeat on the UAE.

Qatar went into the game today without two of their best players: Khalfan Ibrahim, the first Qatari to win the Asian Football Confederation player of the year award, is off due to injury while striker Hussein Yasser was enduring a one match ban after being red carded. Despite this Qatar dominated much of the game and was unlucky to concede an unlikely goal to Phan Than Binh. Luckily, the Asian Games champions equalised 11 minutes before time with a header from their South American striker. Their fate now hinges upon their performance against old rivals the UAE on Monday.

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Qatar in draw with Japan

Qatar held defending champion Japan to a surprise draw in their opening match of the Asian Cup today.

Japan were favourites to win, but Bosnian coach Dzemaludin Musovic's strategy of concentrating on defence held them off for much of the game.

However, the Japanese took the lead in the 61st minute with a goal by Naohiro Takahara. The Japanese must have been feeling sure of their victory when, with only two minutes to go, Qatar's Sebastian Quintana equalised with a twenty metre free-kick.

Although the draw is an excellent result for Qatar, it was marred at the end of the game when Hussein Yasser was sent of with a red card during injury time for a tackle on Hideo Hashimoto. Even worse, Musovic was sent to the dressing room for protesting this decision.

Still, it's a great result for Qatar, and their chances must have been improved still further after Vietnam's surprise victory over Qatar's great rivals and Gulf Cup champions, the UAE.

Related Articles: Press Reaction in Qatar and Japan

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Qatar to hold Asian Cup

Qatar seems likely to hold the next Asian Cup in 2011, after being the only country to get its act together enough to submit its bid prior to the deadline.

The Asian Cup is usually held every four years. However, this year the Asian Cup is being held a year early due to a rather full sports calandar next year. Starting on July 7th, the current games are being co-hosted by Indonesian, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Qatar will meet Japan in the first round of the cup in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 9th July. Qatar have yet to win an Asian cup, although they hosted it in 1988, but they may be feeling confident after winning the Asian Games Football inside a packed out Al Sadd Stadium. (See this post for report and pictures.)

Both the Asian Cup and the Qatar-Japan game next week will be covered in detail by our sister site Soccerphile.

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