Going to Qatar 2022: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

Lots of issues for me. Having to walk 20-30 minutes for your chosen mode of transport is crazy. They want people to use buses, but make the bus hubs a long, long way from the stadiums.

Take the metro to Lusail? Great…..nice and smooth, but then you’re made to walk all the way past the stadium and round to the single entrance point and then back on yourself. God help you if your entrance gate is on the other side of the stadium!!

Took 3 hours to get from 974 back to the cruise ship tonight because there is only one lane from the highway which you can use, and its blocked by police and not known to Uber drivers.

Despite telling ours, he missed the lane and then spent an over 90 mins in gridlocked traffic trying to double back.

Ended up getting out and got on the metro. Huge snaking barriers outside the metro despite nobody using it.

Souq metro station was closed because it was too full at 11pm tonight and there were ZERO shuttle buses available.

All in all, I’m giving up trying two games in a day moving forward, its too much aggregation.

The lack of information is appalling and there are no competent people making decisions when something is not working or needs adjustment.

My worst fears about Doha not being able to cope are coming true unfortunately.

All of that is before the issues with the ticketing fiasco.

All of which is a shame because the football has been great.

 

Which gates are closest to the (single) entrance?

 

My favorite one is
"in blockchain"

 

Honestly can’t remember, so tired I can hardly remember my name

 

Sounds awful. Get some rest!

 

Has anyone bought tickets from people outside the stadium ?

 

Yeh, but this is a disadvantage for people doing back to back games

 

Wales v Iran had 17 pages of cat 1 tickets yesterday, then 11 pages of cat 1 this morning.
Now all gone, wonder what caused the random surge of sales.

 

Probably a new resale drop around 3am Qatar time, midnight UK or 7pm ET.

 

For those going to al Janoub. I went to FRA-AUS today (wrote FRA-DEN earlier). Went there by express bus from Souq Waqif. Was going smooth until when we were approaching the stadium and our driver missed the exit to the stadium, even if there was a big ass sign saying Al Janoub Stadium. He eventually had to turn all the way around again and retrace the route. Then he almost missed all the exits from there on again. I mean we had to shout and hand signal directions to him. Don’t think he spoke English or Arabic. What a joke that was. Coming back was smooth though (I was one of the early groups though).

The stadium itself is nice compared to Bin Ali. Has water fountains and actual places where you can stand and eat. Was nice.

 

Gate 20 and the ones around it

 

I'm also having problems with people who do not speak English. I was looking for the ticketing center at Lusail and asked several employees working around the stadium, they did not speak English and started talking in their own native language as if I were to understand.

 

After reading all these comments i am even more confused on what’s the best way to get to the venues…metro, bus or uber? i feel for those migrant workers put into jobs without any training and most likely getting paid peanuts

 

I have to say, Qatar and FIFA found a way to kill the environment’s soul at the games, this is the first Mexico game I’ve been to where the crowd was constantly sleepy, quiet, bored, it felt odd, maybe it’s just me but not being able to get a buzz even before the game has made a deep impact on the people. So far, day 2, worst WC, compared to SA, Brazil and Russia, hope it gets better but I don’t see much room for improvement.

 

What a shame that people enjoy football only when they have booze. I attend Bombonera on a weekly basis, no beer is serve and it’s the best atmosphere you’ll find ever.

It’s the Indian, not the arrow.

 

I was at the game, was running late so got an uber there from west Bay about 60qar.

However we had major issues coming back. I only got on the bus as someone said it stopped near my hotel in West Bay sounds great. However the driver was totally reliant on sat nav which was clearly not working. At one point we were in the middle of nowhere I wondered if we were off to Saudi Arabia.

Luckily we had a French guy and English guy who live in Doha and had to guide him step by step, but even then he was hesitent to take certain turns so we looped round for ages. What should have been around 45/50 mins ended up being 90mins. I'm absolutely shattered after 2 10pm games in a row.

I have 2 games a day on Thurs and Friday but will be dropping down to just the one, I'm not spending up to 5/6 hours a day of my holiday travelling to games.

 

Just

Just calling it like as I see it, you may disagree and find it to be a shame, good, that’s your opinion, but it doesn’t change the fact that beer is a big part of the WC and it reflects on the crowd.

 

You’re the one on the ground there and you feel how you feel but I have to say watching on tv the atmosphere in Mexico v Poland seemed really good, Argentina v Saudi Arabia had an electric atmosphere too. All credit to the fans.

 

We've been lucky thus far. Metro to and from Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was smooth yesterday.

Metro/bus combo to Al Janoub worked fine today going to the game and the direct bus back to Souq Waqif was excellent, getting us back just after 1am (we stayed until the final whistle, hit the restroom, then walked very fast to the bus line and only had a short wait for the bus).

 

I seriously miss having beers at games. I get that some people are totally fine without it and that’s awesome. To each their own I say. And yes, I know in Europe you can’t drink at many stadiums. But it’s pretty easy to get beers or drinks from anywhere before games if you want to. And that makes a pretty big difference.

 

it’s honestly a crapshoot. Today there was little traffic heading to Al Janoub. But I would have thought twice if it was the weekend. Also depends on staffing that day or how people decide to go to games that day.

 

Sorry to hear that. I did 3 games today. Was super late to the first one because we took an uber and they made us walk a marathon around the stadium to the metro station. Plus ticket app issues. Leaving was hectic. But got to 974 with plenty of time. Had ticket app issues again.
Left that game right at final whistle, got to al janoub by min 10. Shuttle line to the metro was crazy long so we took the one to west bay without a wait so we could have some breakfast lol.

 

Can women take a small handbag/purse with them inside the stadium?

 

Yes. Ppl in my group had backpacks

 

I salute you for hustling to get to 3. I’ve done doubleheaders the last two days (and will continue to do them) and my leg muscles hurt from all the walking already. I can’t imagine upping it to 3 and scrambling to make the other game on time.