Qatar’s World Cup is going well on the commercial side with almost 3 million tickets sold, representing 90% of stadium capacity.
Fifa and organisers on Monday, Oct 17, said there were now only 7% of the stadium seats left on sale, gloating on the amazing success in the sales of tickets weeks before the start of the competition by the end of November.
Fifa’s report says people living in the United States, Saudi Arabia and England topped the list of international ticket buyers.
It is impressive though that Saudi citizens are flocking to the World Cup. However, Qatar is a neighbouring country to Saudi Arabia and is a popular tourist destination in the region.
Another surprise is that Mexico was the biggest market outside the middle eastern country for corporate hospitality sales.
“More tickets will become available before the tournament starts on Nov. 20,” FIFA’s tournament director Colin Smith said at a news conference and reported by theinternational media.
Qatar’s initial ticket sales expectation
The country has earlier said it expects 1.2 million international visitors for the 29-day tournament. It has also prepared extra accommodation and more are being added to avoid any shortage of rooms in the tiny country.
According to Qatari officials, fans have already purchased 2 million separate room nights in hotels, apartments, cruise ships, and some campgrounds.
More info on the 2022 World Cup
32 teams will play 64 matches in a total of eight stadiums spread across five different Qatari cities during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Qatar has built seven new stadiums to accommodate for the World Cup, which will be played between Nov 20 and Dec 18.
The FIFA World Cup 2022, which is slated to be the 22nd edition of the international football competition, is expected to be particularly memorable as it will be the first World Cup to be hosted by a Middle Eastern nation.
Stories relating to Qatar and the 2022 World Cup can be found here.
CAN the number of football fans coming to Qatar seriously offer an indication to the brewing success of the world’s biggest tournament?
Only a little over 765,000 visitors reportedly landed up in Doha in the first two weeks of the FIFA World Cup 2022, falling well short of the expectations of the Arab country.
Qatar, which became the first Arab country to host the showpiece football event, had expected an influx of around 1.2 million visitors.
It’s highly unlikely that the number will double in the next 10 days even as a blockbuster quarter-finals line-up awaits the World Cup. With only eight teams left in action, Qatar is unlikely to meet their expected target, according to multiple media reports.
The report which identified the numbers was prepared by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which organises the tournament. And half of the 765,000 have now left the country at the end of the Round of 16.
PEAK PERIOD
The peak period which the organisers expected for visitor influx was between November 24 and 28 during which the action-packed group stages was heading towards its climax.
There was plenty of action during the group stage as teams like Japan, South Korea and Australia and African sides Senegal and Morocco pulled off a few surprises with former champions Japan and World No. 2 Belgium being shown the door.
The report registered 1.33 million match ticket holders and 3.09 million tickets sold across the eight stadiums for the World Cup, which will end on December 18. The stadium attendance at the first 52 matches was 2.65 million.
Notably, FIFA president Gianni Infantino claimed record-breaking viewership for the group stage, saying the action in the first phase of the World Cup was one of the best in the history of the tournament.
‘INCREDIBLE EXCITEMENT’
“Fantastic atmosphere, great goals, incredible excitement, surprises, small teams beating big teams,” he was reportedly quoted.
“Well, there are no more small teams and no more big teams. The level is very, very equal.
“For the first time as well, national teams from all continents going to the knock-out phase, for the first time in history. This shows that football is really becoming truly global.”
The organisers were expecting more visitors to flock to Qatar for popular matches and after the country lifted entry restrictions for nationals and residents of fellow Gulf states.
It is learnt on Tuesday, hundreds of Moroccan fans flew into Qatar on special flights arranged ahead of their team’s victory over Spain. Similar fights will be laid on to allow last-minute fans to fly in from overseas to watch their teams advance through the tournament’s final three rounds.
POINTS OF ENTRY FOR FANS
The points of entry have also been very restrictive, too. Visitors to Qatar must obtain a Hayya identification card ahead of travel as it doubles as a mandatory entry visa during the tournament period. But on Tuesday, Qatar dropped this requirement for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Some surveys have also shown that the Qatar World Cup stands as one of the most expensive in the history of the sport in terms of tickets, accommodation and alcohol sales, which is also banned at the stadium.
“Staging it for the first time in the Middle East marks massive steps and risks for the organisers,” says award-winning Singapore coach Jita Singh, now in Doha, with his family.
“But most view it, even including me, as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see thebest football tournamentover a month.”
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.
With deluxe match packages selling for thousands of dollars and five-star hotels doing a brisk trade, a sheen of glamour coats Qatar’s World Cup despite football’s working-class roots.
A penchant for luxury in the energy-rich Gulf state, which has one of the world’s highest GDPs per head, has rubbed off on an unusually high-end edition of a tournament for the masses.
If you’re able to spring $4,950 for a VIP ticket to a group game, you can enjoy drinks, a six-course meal and entertainment at a lounge overlooking the halfway line at Lusail Stadium, north of Doha.
Those with bottomless budgets in the resource-rich region have attractive accommodation options too, with one third-party site offering $4,000-a-night hotel rooms and $26,000 for a “head of state” suite — with a 30-night minimum stay.
Things are a little different for ordinary fans.
Cheaper options include a steel bed in a shared room in the semi-desert near the capital at $84 a night, or accommodation on docked cruise ships from $179 to $800.
Stadium crowds will include Qatar’s migrant labourers, who were offered some tickets at 40 riyals ($11) to watch a sport whose players and core supporters are traditionally blue-collar.
According to Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, the onus on “premium” experiences has left some fans cold.
“It’s clear that there’s a focus on a type of premium tourism, but the vast majority that go to a World Cup are middle-class,” Evain told AFP.
“They’re not the sort of people who can afford to stay on a cruise liner at $5,000 a week.”
– ‘Solution is to cancel’ –
The hordes of ticketless fans that usually descend on a World Cup will be reduced in number, as only ticket holders and up to three guests each can enter Qatar during the November 20 – December 18 tournament.
Many supporters will stay elsewhere in the Gulf and board the estimated 100-200 World Cup shuttle flights a day from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.
Even those options do not come cheap.
In Dubai, an hour’s flight away and expected to be a major destination, an official World Cup package costs $1,500 for four nights in a shared room, including one return flight to Doha but no match tickets.
The Qatar World Cup is at least compact, with all eight stadiums in and around Doha — eradicating the cross-country travel needed at previous editions such as Brazil 2014 or Russia 2018.
“The problem with the World Cup in Qatar is that there are very few alternatives,” said Evain.
“At a World Cup in Brazil or Russia, you can take a train, hire a car, stay 200 kilometres (120 miles) away or come just for the day of the match.
“None of that is possible in Qatar. Either you can’t find accommodation or accommodation is too expensive,” he added.
“People are looking for a solution and for quite a few people the solution is to cancel, because they can’t afford this sort of budget.”
– High-end experiences –
However, Sue Holt, executive director of Expat Sport, the UAE agent for the official World Cup package provider, said there was a range of accommodation “to suit most budgets”.
The United States, Britain, France, Mexico, China and India were among the countries where fans were showing most interest in packages for the UAE, she said.
“Sports tourists generally tend to be older and travel in groups, which can be families, friends or sporting groups,” she said.
“Part of the appeal of this type of travel is that it is a collective, shared experience watching your favourite team or player together.”
These supporters “will include people who have never ventured to this region before”, added Holt.
According to Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, hosting the World Cup is about “prestige” for Qatar, a monarchy of just 2.8 million people, overwhelmingly expatriate workers.
“What the Qataris don’t want to happen is get stuck with an oversupply of tourism infrastructure for a segment of tourists unlikely to be a regular, consistent presence in the country,” he said, explaining the limited options.
“I suspect that the Qataris will keep looking to attract wealthier tourists from elite circles,” added Mogielnicki, who is also adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University and George Washington University.
“Lots of the momentum behind regional tourism projects, especially in Saudi Arabia, does seem to focus on high-end, luxury experiences these days.”
More articles related to the 2022 World Cup can be found here.
How Much It Will Cost You To Watch A World Cup Match
Most football fans will not be able to make it to Qatar to watch a match in a lavish stadium that is specially built for the occasion but how would it cost you if to watch a World Cup match in Qatar?
The Qatar World Cup, mind you, will be the most expensive ever for soccer fans. A trip will cost as much as $20,000 per person and there is no short-cut to this whopping amount as flight tickets alone could take up more than 40% of this amount.
Now, if you calculate hotel charges, transport and food, it appears the $20,000 could be an average and it could go higher and higher as the days to the opening of the World Cup tournament in Qatar approaches. That is if you are not an early bird.
Image of Iran vs Nigeria in the 2014 World Cup, from Wikipedia.
In comparison, some experts say a trip to Russia during the 2018 World Cup came up to $4,000 for two weeks, per person. That is if you were to go solo to Qatar to watch the matches.
But this depends if you booked flights and hotel rooms earlier and bought the tickets to the stadiums in advance, for early birds do get a better deal.
But the $4000 may just be an average since you have to spend more on food and other temptations that will increase your spending.
Yet, there are millions of people who are rushing to Qatar this month to watch a few matches and only a limited number of people will be able to stay for the entire competition, that is until December 18, when the final is played.
Imagine how much it would cost a person to stay in Qatar for entire duration of the World Cup!
A Polish financial services firm, Conotoxia says not only are tickets for games in Qatar the priciest in World Cup history, but travel and accommodation prices are also sky-high.
With COVID-19 restrictions still on the cards and not completely removed, the costs are also rising.
Ticket costs for the World Cup
Tickets are discounted for locals but for group-stage matches, the tickets are between $70 and $220. For the knockout matches, they are between $600 and $1,600!
Reports are that the tickets for the final on Dec 18 at the Lusail Stadium are already 46% higher than the final match in Russia.
Care to know that if you are a lazy bird and want to fly out now to reach the World Cup matches, the tix for the group stages are SOLD OUT.
You will have to buy them on the black market, surely and at exorbitant prices.
FIFA is operating an official resale platform for those who can no longer attend until the end of the tournament, though.
Not counting the tickets in, Conotoxia estimates that the cheapest two-person, 10-day trip to Doha during the tournament would cost $5,400, including flights from New York, lodging, car rental, and money for food and drink.
That’s not the end of the dark tunnel for fans. Other studies show that without a budget of $9,600 each, you won’t make it to Qatar.
Flights and accommodation are rapidly selling out and this will add to the higher prices this week itself for bookings for group stage matches.
Booking.com says a seven-day stay in Doha with flights from New York for the third week of the tournament costs anywhere between $4,600 and $18,500 per person, without ticket money. Whopping!
In 2022, it is probably better to save the money and watch some of the matches in the comfort of your home with your wide-screen TVs and fast internet.
However, it is not prohibited to dream and to plan such a trip. Watching a World Cup with the biggest stars in sports on earth live in front of you? Well…it’s a dream yet to come true.
FIFA 2022 is back again for the fans to cheer and rejoice for their favorite team when they play on the field. There have been so many changes in the team players and the fans have been waiting to watch them play in the new environment. We know that FIFA is the international Football League that is enjoyed by all age groups. The traditional way to watch the matches, in the past few years has changed.
The upcoming edition of the most awaited annual football tournament FIFA 2022 is going to be held in Qatar this year. The tournament begins on 21st November 2022 and gets over on 18th December 2022. before that, there are going to be qualifying matches as per groups. All the information regarding the tickets and the booking is going to be guided by us to you on this page.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Tickets Booking Details (Price, Offline, Online Booking Guide)
Here we give you the guidance to check out the how-to book tickets for FIFA World Cup matches. The football governing body had announced that the tickets will be given on the basis of First Come, First Serve only. One of the most convenient ways of booking is Online. You just have to choose the match date, seats and the number of seats you want and you can book the tickets for yourself by sitting at home. The payment is also very simple in the case of Online Ticket Booking.
You can refer to the official website of the tournament which is fifi.com to refer the all the details for online booking of the matches.
What is the Price of Tickets? FIFA World Cup 2022
Here we bring you all the prices of the categories and Categories that people might want to know, The Stages include, Group Stage, Round of 16, Quarter Finals and Finals. The prices here are according to individual tickets. All the prices mentioned below are depending on the fixtures.
Group Stage
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 800 ($220)
QAR 600 ($165)
QAR 250 ($69)
Round of 16
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 1000 ($275)
QAR 750 ($205)
QAR 350 ($96)
Quarter-finals
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 1550 ($425)
QAR 1050 ($288)
QAR 750 ($205)
Semi-finals
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 3480 ($955)
QAR 2400 ($660)
QAR 1300 ($357)
Third-place playoffs
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 1550 ($425)
QAR 1100 ($302)
QAR 750 ($205)
Final
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Ticket price
QAR 2200 ($605)
QAR 3650 ($1002)
QAR 2200 ($605)
What are Travel Packages for FIFA World Cup 2022?
FIFA, Qatar Airways, and USA Match Hospitality have provided a very convenient way of watching the matches in Qatar for all the people who live overseas. They have provided different travel packages which range according to the weeks. Here take a look at the packages below that Qatar Airways will be offering. It includes accommodation, flights and matches tickets too.
FIFA and USA Match Hospitality offer different packs than Qatar Airways which do not include accommodation for the finals in Qatar.
Support Your Team – Week One and Two (four-game package) – from $6,590
Early Groups – Week One (three-game package) – from $4,950
Later Groups – Week Two (three-game package) – from $4,700
Knockouts – Round of 16 (two-game package) – from $3,800
Knockouts – Quarterfinals (two-game package) – from $4,050
Knockouts – Semifinal and Final (three-game package) – from $7,300
Knockouts – Final and third-place game (two-game package) – from $5,600
What are the venues of the match? All you need to know
Since there are going to be 4 locations where the matches are going to be held namely, Doha, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, and Al Rayyan. People will be traveling to and fro to watch the matches of their favorite teams in these locations. There are car rental services also that will be available for them some of them include,
Europcar Qatar
Al Taif Rent a Car Co
United Car Rentals Qatar
Oasis Rent a Car
Auto Z Car Rental
Total Rent a Car
Al Saad Rent a Car Co Wll
Fifa Boss Tells Nations To Focus On Football, Put Politics Aside
Finally, a great message from the boss of Fifa Gianni Infantino, who has taken the pain to write to all the 32 nations competing in the Qatar World Cup, urging them to “let football take the stage’.
An unusual plea indeed and in his letter, Infantino attempts to defuse concerns over the running of the game.
He says there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world, in an attempt to deflect criticism about Qatar and the problems other countries and some NGOs or right groups perceive as inherent to the Muslim nation.
Rightfully so, Infantino says football should not be expected to have an answer to every one of the political and social problems that crop up around the world.
Regarding concerns over the safety of travelling fans in the country he reiterates a promise that “everyone is welcome regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality”, a more detailed commitment than that currently made by the hosts.
Why so much focus on safety when Qatar is known to be a safe nation to visit, no one knows.
Nevertheless, his message is aimed at the nations that are planning protests during the game or countries that have football stars who want to make a political statement during the matches.
Meanwhile, in Qatar things are moving at a rapid pace with the sounds of building work and heavy machinery still filling the air.
Video displays in the capital city of Qatar are displaying the countdown to the start of the competition that will put the wealthy Gulf state at the centre of the sporting world.
Fifa is urging the nations involved not to focus on the problems internal to the country but to give the most beautiful game a chance to show what the stars are made of, certainly after two harrowing years of lockdowns, deaths and fears of infections from one of the deadliest viruses the world has known.
The Fifa World Cup is to kick off in less than three weeks. Being the most prestigious sports and international event in the world, it will bring a lot of attention to Qatar.
But certainly, most of the fans will shun the criticism against the country and would want to keep watching the games, though they are not unaware that things could be better for some in the Emirates.
But the thing is, it will be the month of football soon and people want to watch great games, great goals while the stars get to showcase their talent and grit on the hot pitches in Qatar.
Since he took over as Fifa boss, Infantino has frequently says the country will deliver the “best ever” Fifa World Cup as well as arguing that the presence of the world’s most popular sporting event will help bring about lasting change in the country.
Qatar’s Population Increase due to the Fifa World Cup
On another note, Qatar’s population grew by 13.2 percent in 2021, as the country hired thousands of foreign workers in preparation for the World Cup 2022, which Doha will host in November.
Qatar’s population reached 2.94 million in September, according to data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority, after 370,000 people arrived in the country last year, the majority of whom were migrant workers.
There are approximately 380,000 Qatari citizens, with the remainder of the population consisting of low to medium-income migrant workers and some high earners with residency and working visas.
Qatar has spent $229 billion to construct highways, seven football stadiums, hotels, skyscrapers, and infrastructure in preparation for hosting the World Cup in 2022.
