[Football] World Cup 2022 positives

[Blue3]

We all know the negatives Qatar no football heritage, poor human rights etc

But are there positives that can take forward well here are my thoughts

Has the date of this World Cup finals helped certain nations with December early mid season season for clubs based in Western Europe are they fully up to speed, for teams in Asia their seasons were ending in December and for South American teams their seasons ends in November has this helped with having a full season in the bank, is there a date that best suits all that could be fixed?

Qatar having an almost no alcohol policy has this single-handedly reduced the numbers of trouble I have not heard of any and if so would that be a huge positive to take forward, should all alcohol be limited or even banned at major finals?

With the ever increasing cost of staging these events is it time t select a set of stadiums around the globe with no one country hosting the event?

 

[nicko31]

Very nice weather

 

[Eeyore]

So apart from quality football, excellent timing, well behaved football fans, and an introduction to good old fashioned Puritanism, what has Qatar ever done for us ?

P.S I'm pretty sure there was little trouble in Japan and South Korea. Strange how when the luzzers come up against a no-nonsense law enforcement policy that they start behaving....

 

[Springal]

Qatar having an almost no alcohol policy has this single-handedly reduced the numbers of trouble I have not heard of any and if so would that be a huge positive to take forward, should all alcohol be limited or even banned at major finals?

With the ever increasing cost of staging these events is it time t select a set of stadiums around the globe with no one country hosting the event?

Alcohol is readily available, just within licensed hotels. Most bars were extremely busy, the all you can drink brunches pretty much sold out everywhere. I’d say I saw some worse states than ‘normal’ because it encouraged binge drinking.

I did have a full review of my trip written but not posted it as I can’t really be arsed with the usual comments.

Summary;

Probably fave World Cup I’ve been to (5th one, 9th major tournament) mainly helped by the organisation, transport & the fact all fans are in one place. Contrast to Russia when England wasn’t in any major cities, so barely saw anyone apart from the fans of team we were playing.

Food - we only ate in local cafes / restaurants and ate so well and extremely cheap.

Hospitality wise the locals couldn’t be more welcoming and friendly, met plenty of Qataris, Saudis & those from UAE. As well as traditional Muslims from Yemen etc.

Probably talked to 20-30 migrant workers in cafes, restaurants, taxi drivers and really interesting dynamic. Won’t go into it here and I’m sure there are some treated appallingly or in poor conditions but most were happy to ok and appreciated the opportunities to work and earn money for their families back in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines etc…

 

[bhafc99]

The person I sit next to in the office went to the Brazil game on Friday, and tested positive for Covid today. So that's one.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

You can't tell the difference between empty white seats and the locals sat there in their white thobes so the stadiums look full. Result.

 

[Insel affe]

You can't tell the difference between empty white seats and the locals sat there in their white thobes so the stadiums look full. Result.

Wrong

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Alcohol is readily available, just within licensed hotels. Most bars were extremely busy, the all you can drink brunches pretty much sold out everywhere. I’d say I saw some worse states than ‘normal’ because it encouraged binge drinking.

I did have a full review of my trip written but not posted it as I can’t really be arsed with the usual comments.

Summary;

Probably fave World Cup I’ve been to (5th one, 9th major tournament) mainly helped by the organisation, transport & the fact all fans are in one place. Contrast to Russia when England wasn’t in any major cities, so barely saw anyone apart from the fans of team we were playing.

Food - we only ate in local cafes / restaurants and ate so well and extremely cheap.

Hospitality wise the locals couldn’t be more welcoming and friendly, met plenty of Qataris, Saudis & those from UAE. As well as traditional Muslims from Yemen etc.

This is interesting to read, especially as you're a tournament veteran.

My friend went for a week, it was his first one and he didn't like it. From the off it wasn't great for him and his group.

The guy who organised the trip got Covid the night before they were due to leave. The other three all have varying levels of English from quite good to not much at all. They had to fill in the hayaa app(I think that's the name?) at the airport. Apparently the app is only in English and arabic which made things trickier. Two managed to fill it in successfully the third(the one with limited english) made a mistake. Visa refused. There was no way of rectifying the mistake and reapplying so the poor guy was unable to go. Apparently there were about 10-12 people in the same position on that one flight alone so who knows how many people from around the world were unable to make it.

Then once they were in Qatar he wasn't impressed either. He's been to 70+ countries and described Qatar as comfortably the most boring of them all. Apparently there was absolutely nothing to do, no sights or attractions etc. Then at the games there were empty seats and lots of people there who were just looking at their phones and not interested in the games at all.

Obviously the app wouldn't have been an issue for you and people are looking for different things from the experience but I'd be interested to hear how you would rate Qatar as a place to visit and your thoughts on the game atmosphere/disinterested people(or if that's just my friend looking for things to complain about)?

On the plus side he stayed on one of the cruise liners and enjoyed that, mixing with all the other nations.

 

[Springal]

This is interesting to read, especially as you're a tournament veteran.

it’s a requirement for hosting a World Cup to have ‘visa free’ access, same as Russia & South Africa. They hayaa app worked well, except 1 of our group had issues which they got resolved well ahead of travelled. What I’d say is it was available about 6 months ago and well publicised at least by the English FA & FCDO. So if it was left to the last minute and there was issues I could see this being a problem. But no different to turning up for a US flight without having an approved ESTA.

I’d agree it’s a bit boring, unless you want to eat , drink, sit by a pool or wander around there’s not much. Can only comment on the 2 England games I saw, USA struggled for atmosphere because 1) everyone was completely pissed, 2) it was the only ground not fully served by Metro and was 40km out of Doha so was a slog to get there, 3) was a 10pm kick off - see point 1)!

On one day we took a cab over to ‘Salwah’ - 1 hour away by the Saudi border to spend the day at a beach club just to relax / change of scenery. Funnily enough it was Belgiums team hotel, saw KDB & Batsyuhi with their families going to the water park. This day out helped break up a week and the hotel gave us a free bus back to Doha.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

it’s a requirement for hosting a World Cup to have ‘visa free’ access, same as Russia & South Africa. They hayaa app worked well, except 1 of our group had issues which they got resolved well ahead of travelled. What I’d say is it was available about 6 months ago and well publicised at least by the English FA & FCDO. So if it was left to the last minute and there was issues I could see this being a problem. But no different to turning up for a US flight without having an approved ESTA.

I’d agree it’s a bit boring, unless you want to eat , drink, sit by a pool or wander around there’s not much. Can only comment on the 2 England games I saw, USA struggled for atmosphere because 1) everyone was completely pissed, 2) it was the only ground not fully served by Metro and was 40km out of Doha so was a slog to get there, 3) was a 10pm kick off - see point 1)!

On one day we took a cab over to ‘Salwah’ - 1 hour away by the Saudi border to spend the day at a beach club just to relax / change of scenery. Funnily enough it was Belgiums team hotel, saw KDB & Batsyuhi with their families going to the water park. This day out helped break up a week and the hotel gave us a free bus back to Doha.

I did think it was a bit stupid of them to leave it to the last minute, especially as he's a seasoned traveller so getting visas etc are nothing new to him. Still, I felt for the guy who wasn't allowed to go.

 

[Taybha]

Correct extra time! The 4th official has a couple of jobs to do ,tell the time and be able to hold up a board, so no real quantum mechanics involved,since football was created in 1997 the qualities needed for this job have been plainly missing from our top tell the time holdy uppy 4th officials,the 2 minutes bollox of the first half and 5 minutes full time extra bollox status quo routine will hopefully now be replaced with the actual 90 minutes of football fans pay for.

 

[Zeberdi]

I did have a full review of my trip written but not posted it as I can’t really be arsed with the usual comments.

Couldn’t you maybe post it anyway and ignore the arsey comments? I for one would certainly would love to know what Qatar experience was like from others who were actually there.

 

[Springal]

Here you go then;

A few people asked me about Qatar World Cup so wrote up my experience. We went out for the USA & Wales games, with tickets for Semi & Finals if England get there.

Flights - probably 80-90% full on Qatar Airways in Economy. 777 on the way out, A380 on the way back.

Accommodation - we booked through FIFA, 4 bed apartment for £360 per night, good central location near a metro. Good standard and size. Obviously been completely refurbed just before - new furniture, beds , bathroom, toilets etc. No complaints at all and far better than we managed in Russia.

Beers - no problem getting beers at all. We booked a couple of places, a all you can drink brunch on the Friday before the Wales game, a table for the France v Denmark & Argentina v Mexico double header on the Saturday night and Uruguay v Portugal on the Monday night. Rest of the time we just walked in, some places very busy, some nicely busy but all good atmosphere and entertainment. Credit to the Ecuadoreans who smashed through 2 bottles of tequila before their final game!

AB InBev basically own alcohol in Qatar - everywhere had the same beers - Heineken, Budweiser, Guinness, Savannah Cider.

Cheapest pint - £6.70
Most expensive pint - £12.50

Average was definitely in the £6.70-£7.50 range if you knew where to go.

Notable mention for getting done £11 for a 330ml Heineken can at a Hilton beach club !
Food - ate local, exception of the brunch and a day we spent at the Hilton beach resort on the Saudi border. Very cheap to eat out £7-£10 for a good meal with soft drinks. Visited the local kebab shop & 24 hour curry cafe near our apartment multiple times.

Souq waqif was a good area, modernised / commercialised a bit but full of restaurants from all over the region (Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanon etc) all very good and authentic. Had a good buzz around it and many fans congregated before matches which was a great atmosphere. Seemed to be a hangout for UK press as well - saw 1 trying to get his shish pipe taken off the receipt !

Stadiums - the 2 we went to, didn’t feel temporary, well built, security and access wasn’t to bad, but all had a perimeter a long way out so fair bit of walking. Impressive structures and all nicely designed. Food & drink very expensive as expected.

Transport - Went to Al Bayt for the USA game, nightmare to get to - 45mins by cab, or over an hour by metro with coach for the last bit. Did manage to get a taxi after and traffic wasn’t too bad, back in town about 90mins after the game finished. Hangovers kicking in and tiredness kicking in felt a long journey. Wales game much better, Metro worked incredibly well. All brand new, regular service and easy to get around.

Fans - having a tournament in an entire city was incredible for the atmosphere / mingling with fans. One complaint in Russia was we only saw England fans and whoever we were playing so missed that tournament vibe. By the time we got to Moscow for the semis , most other fans had gone home. Met most nationalities but the South Americans by far best represented. Strong US / Canadian support and plenty of Saudis. Plenty of Brighton chat with the Ecuadoreans, Argentinians, Japanese.
Locals - couldn’t be more welcoming, shared tables with Qataris, migrant workers - all welcoming friendly , happy to recommend dishes etc. Even had a few Qatari Uber drivers who signed up just to meet football fans and talk about football during the month.

Migrant workers - chatted to quite a lot - mainly Asians, South Asians, Far East etc. Most working there to send money back home, majority seemed happy with the opportunities they had, a few were fed up but had no opportunities at home and family relying on income which was sad.

Overall it was one of my favourite world cups, Germany probably won’t be beaten because of the sheer numbers and atmosphere with England fans, but definitely better than the rest because of the amount of fans, atmosphere, weather and ease of transport (a huge cost saving - 2026 won’t be cheap with the amount of internal flights) - downsides obviously the cost of life putting it on, the bait/switch on drinking around / in stadiums, how it was awarded and lack of ‘things’ to do apart from drink / watch football, walk around a bit.

Personally I reckon we will see a UAE / Saudi World Cup at some point just based on what and how they delivered this one.

 

[Commander]

Here you go then;

A few people asked me about Qatar World Cup so wrote up my experience. We went out for the USA & Wales games, with tickets for Semi & Finals if England get there.

Flights - probably 80-90% full on Qatar Airways in Economy. 777 on the way out, A380 on the way back.

Accommodation - we booked through FIFA, 4 bed apartment for £360 per night, good central location near a metro. Good standard and size. Obviously been completely refurbed just before - new furniture, beds , bathroom, toilets etc. No complaints at all and far better than we managed in Russia.

Beers - no problem getting beers at all. We booked a couple of places, a all you can drink brunch on the Friday before the Wales game, a table for the France v Denmark & Argentina v Mexico double header on the Saturday night and Uruguay v Portugal on the Monday night. Rest of the time we just walked in, some places very busy, some nicely busy but all good atmosphere and entertainment. Credit to the Ecuadoreans who smashed through 2 bottles of tequila before their final game!

AB InBev basically own alcohol in Qatar - everywhere had the same beers - Heineken, Budweiser, Guinness, Savannah Cider.

Cheapest pint - £6.70
Most expensive pint - £12.50

Average was definitely in the £6.70-£7.50 range if you knew where to go.

Notable mention for getting done £11 for a 330ml Heineken can at a Hilton beach club !
Food - ate local, exception of the brunch and a day we spent at the Hilton beach resort on the Saudi border. Very cheap to eat out £7-£10 for a good meal with soft drinks. Visited the local kebab shop & 24 hour curry cafe near our apartment multiple times.

Souq waqif was a good area, modernised / commercialised a bit but full of restaurants from all over the region (Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanon etc) all very good and authentic. Had a good buzz around it and many fans congregated before matches which was a great atmosphere. Seemed to be a hangout for UK press as well - saw 1 trying to get his shish pipe taken off the receipt !

Stadiums - the 2 we went to, didn’t feel temporary, well built, security and access wasn’t to bad, but all had a perimeter a long way out so fair bit of walking. Impressive structures and all nicely designed. Food & drink very expensive as expected.

Transport - Went to Al Bayt for the USA game, nightmare to get to - 45mins by cab, or over an hour by metro with coach for the last bit. Did manage to get a taxi after and traffic wasn’t too bad, back in town about 90mins after the game finished. Hangovers kicking in and tiredness kicking in felt a long journey. Wales game much better, Metro worked incredibly well. All brand new, regular service and easy to get around.

Fans - having a tournament in an entire city was incredible for the atmosphere / mingling with fans. One complaint in Russia was we only saw England fans and whoever we were playing so missed that tournament vibe. By the time we got to Moscow for the semis , most other fans had gone home. Met most nationalities but the South Americans by far best represented. Strong US / Canadian support and plenty of Saudis. Plenty of Brighton chat with the Ecuadoreans, Argentinians, Japanese.
Locals - couldn’t be more welcoming, shared tables with Qataris, migrant workers - all welcoming friendly , happy to recommend dishes etc. Even had a few Qatari Uber drivers who signed up just to meet football fans and talk about football during the month.

Migrant workers - chatted to quite a lot - mainly Asians, South Asians, Far East etc. Most working there to send money back home, majority seemed happy with the opportunities they had, a few were fed up but had no opportunities at home and family relying on income which was sad.

Overall it was one of my favourite world cups, Germany probably won’t be beaten because of the sheer numbers and atmosphere with England fans, but definitely better than the rest because of the amount of fans, atmosphere, weather and ease of transport (a huge cost saving - 2026 won’t be cheap with the amount of internal flights) - downsides obviously the cost of life putting it on, the bait/switch on drinking around / in stadiums, how it was awarded and lack of ‘things’ to do apart from drink / watch football, walk around a bit.

Personally I reckon we will see a UAE / Saudi World Cup at some point just based on what and how they delivered this one.

Interesting read, thanks. The media in this country have been absolutely desperate for it to be a shit world cup, so it's interesting to here someone's perspective who was actually there.

 

[nicko31]

Here you go then;

A few people asked me about Qatar World Cup so wrote up my experience. We went out for the USA & Wales games, with tickets for Semi & Finals if England get there.

Flights - probably 80-90% full on Qatar Airways in Economy. 777 on the way out, A380 on the way back.

Accommodation - we booked through FIFA, 4 bed apartment for £360 per night, good central location near a metro. Good standard and size. Obviously been completely refurbed just before - new furniture, beds , bathroom, toilets etc. No complaints at all and far better than we managed in Russia.

Beers - no problem getting beers at all. We booked a couple of places, a all you can drink brunch on the Friday before the Wales game, a table for the France v Denmark & Argentina v Mexico double header on the Saturday night and Uruguay v Portugal on the Monday night. Rest of the time we just walked in, some places very busy, some nicely busy but all good atmosphere and entertainment. Credit to the Ecuadoreans who smashed through 2 bottles of tequila before their final game!

AB InBev basically own alcohol in Qatar - everywhere had the same beers - Heineken, Budweiser, Guinness, Savannah Cider.

Cheapest pint - £6.70
Most expensive pint - £12.50

Average was definitely in the £6.70-£7.50 range if you knew where to go.

Notable mention for getting done £11 for a 330ml Heineken can at a Hilton beach club !
Food - ate local, exception of the brunch and a day we spent at the Hilton beach resort on the Saudi border. Very cheap to eat out £7-£10 for a good meal with soft drinks. Visited the local kebab shop & 24 hour curry cafe near our apartment multiple times.

Souq waqif was a good area, modernised / commercialised a bit but full of restaurants from all over the region (Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanon etc) all very good and authentic. Had a good buzz around it and many fans congregated before matches which was a great atmosphere. Seemed to be a hangout for UK press as well - saw 1 trying to get his shish pipe taken off the receipt !

Stadiums - the 2 we went to, didn’t feel temporary, well built, security and access wasn’t to bad, but all had a perimeter a long way out so fair bit of walking. Impressive structures and all nicely designed. Food & drink very expensive as expected.

Transport - Went to Al Bayt for the USA game, nightmare to get to - 45mins by cab, or over an hour by metro with coach for the last bit. Did manage to get a taxi after and traffic wasn’t too bad, back in town about 90mins after the game finished. Hangovers kicking in and tiredness kicking in felt a long journey. Wales game much better, Metro worked incredibly well. All brand new, regular service and easy to get around.

Fans - having a tournament in an entire city was incredible for the atmosphere / mingling with fans. One complaint in Russia was we only saw England fans and whoever we were playing so missed that tournament vibe. By the time we got to Moscow for the semis , most other fans had gone home. Met most nationalities but the South Americans by far best represented. Strong US / Canadian support and plenty of Saudis. Plenty of Brighton chat with the Ecuadoreans, Argentinians, Japanese.
Locals - couldn’t be more welcoming, shared tables with Qataris, migrant workers - all welcoming friendly , happy to recommend dishes etc. Even had a few Qatari Uber drivers who signed up just to meet football fans and talk about football during the month.

Migrant workers - chatted to quite a lot - mainly Asians, South Asians, Far East etc. Most working there to send money back home, majority seemed happy with the opportunities they had, a few were fed up but had no opportunities at home and family relying on income which was sad.

Overall it was one of my favourite world cups, Germany probably won’t be beaten because of the sheer numbers and atmosphere with England fans, but definitely better than the rest because of the amount of fans, atmosphere, weather and ease of transport (a huge cost saving - 2026 won’t be cheap with the amount of internal flights) - downsides obviously the cost of life putting it on, the bait/switch on drinking around / in stadiums, how it was awarded and lack of ‘things’ to do apart from drink / watch football, walk around a bit.

Personally I reckon we will see a UAE / Saudi World Cup at some point just based on what and how they delivered this one.

I curious, would anyone go to Qatar for a holiday if we World Cup wasn't on or would there be an reason to stop there onroute to say Australia?

I'd like to go to Oman, I think that would be interesting Middle East country

 

[Springal]

I curious, would anyone go to Qatar for a holiday if we World Cup wasn't on or would there be an reason to stop there onroute to say Australia?

I'd like to go to Oman, I think that would be interesting Middle East country

Probably not. It’s my third visit and one of those was a 22 hour layover to Aus where Qatar airways put me up in the Westin hotel.

Pleasant enough l spend 24 hours and if you were in a nice hotel with a pool maybe 48 hours but we actually met an England fan who had been through Oman and he really enjoyed it.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Infantino is the nowhere man in this bonfire of greed, vanity and despotic power | Barney Ronay

Fifa is expected to rake in a record £6.3bn from this messiest and most divisive of all World Cups, while the global game spins out of control

www.theguardian.com

Other than some wonderful bits of play from some incredibly talented players on the pitch, there are no positives to this World Cup.

 

[Zeberdi]

Overall it was one of my favourite world cups,

Thanks for the report- apart from the negatives which have been done to death, good to know that fans are having a good experience out there!

 

[nicko31]

Infantino is the nowhere man in this bonfire of greed, vanity and despotic power | Barney Ronay

Fifa is expected to rake in a record £6.3bn from this messiest and most divisive of all World Cups, while the global game spins out of control

www.theguardian.com

Other than some wonderful bits of play from some incredibly talented players on the pitch, there are no positives to this World Cup.

I wonder if Infantino given back the Order of Friendship medal given to him by Putin?

 

[GT49er]

Would the likes of Infantino give away anything voluntarily?