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

The only way is with a car and in reality a driver waiting. The nearest public car park to Al Bayt was quite a distance from memory. For the Arab Cup it took us a long time to get away from Al Bayt. Now we waited until after the final whistle, were in a group etc but the traffic was bad.

I think it is too much as you will also be dropped quite a walk from Khalifa I imagine.

In general for doubleheaders

1) 1pm + 7pm or 10pm no problem any combination.
2) 4pm + 10pm no problem any combination.
3) 6pm + 10pm I'm expecting to be fine for the group stage maybe tight
4) 6pm + 10pm for knockouts need no extra time in the early game and def no pens.

M52 - M51 Al Thumama to Al Bayt on Sunday December 4th is my most concerning trip.

I'm going as a neutral so a bit easier but obviously some games are of more interest. In general better to have the 2nd game in a day of less importance.

I was meant to go to Ecuador v Senegal with Welsh friends. They have correctly decided to skip it and focus on Wales v England later that night. I still expect to make kick-off in Al Thumama for Iran v USA but it is totally different when your own country are playing.

For the Arab Cup they had the systems in place for full stadiums eg barriers with long walks in Education City. Those who were in Nizhy Novgorod 4 years ago will understand. They had multiple shuttle buses for the "Al" stadiums. However I still won't make final decisions until I see how it operates in the first few days.

I expect it will be well run like Russia instead of the shambles that was South Africa (Cape Town apart). However the volume of people may make some of this impossible.

 

yeah...I don't know why but it reminds me of japanese tourists in the 80es doing 12 European capitals in 3 days

 

Definitely. Those who start early always get their tickets.

 

I am generally in agreement with this sentiment... If I was there for the group stage I would likely only be opting for one match a day. Or at most two, doing the 1pm to 10pm combo if they were interesting matchups. My one quibble with this is for the QFs. I *really* wish they'd thought that through a bit more and allotted more time between those matches. The possibility of seeing two potential classic matches and having to choose which to see is painful. So, for that reason I'm willing to stress a bit and try to make it to both. If after the first week or two of the tourney it looks like the QF combos are just too unrealistic, I'll sell one back.

 

So are we getting the 16.00 pm tea and snacks drop? I need some challenge..

 

Also because we may never get this opportunity again. I'm doubling up only 2 days because I got Qatar/Senegal in random draw and USA/England is a must. The other game we are doubling is because we got the weak Costa Rica/Japan in random and decided to add Canada/Croatia.

I also don't think there is going to be much to do but we only have one 1pm game our entire trip. So days that we start at 4pm we have all morning to do whatever and think we will run out quickly of stuff to do thats not game related.

 

I'm going for my first upgrade. Have crappy Cat 2 seats for USA/Wales and wanna see if I can get something better.

 

I'm out there for 10 days, 9 full days and am seeing 12 games.

On 3 of those days I have 2 games, all at least 6 hours apart. Two of those days are because I want to see the Wales group games as well as the England ones, the third was to complete the set of stadia as it was the only Stadium 974 ticket I could get.

On the majority of single game days I have the 4pm KO. I reckon this gives me time to take in the atmosphere during the day and in the evening. I only have a couple of other things booked - a visit to the 321 Sports Museum and an England fans gathering.

As a solo traveler I can't be bothered to sort out any more bar visits, with their high pre-payments and reservation palaver. I don't drink enough to justify it and can get my beer fix drinking Bud before or after a game and also soak in the atmosphere around the ground.

I'm there primarily to watch games and see what I can of Doha.

 

Fully agree mate. I've been to virtually every World Cup that England have qualified for going back into the 1980s. Lost count of how many England matches I've seen in that time, but have only been to a couple of non-England matches. These were the Argentina vs Germany final in 1986 (paid around £5 face value on the day) and Croatia vs Mexico in 2002 (to watch Robert Prosinecki who was a Portsmouth player at the time)

 

Doing the Japan/ Costa Rica and Croatia/Canada combo also

 

Agree! I'm aiming for one game a day but only because I will be in Qatar for 5 days.

 

Same here.

 

Epic fail from the organizing committee.

Got an email asking me to fill a form with my information to speed up checking in. I'm staying at Free Zone. The email was sent without hiding all the email addresses... Now, some are responding to all and sending us all their personal details. Painful to watch...

 

W

Wow...people are so dumb not to notice that fail

 

Well, first of all, as you said. This WC will give you a unique opportunity to see a lot of matches with only local commutes. I was following ARG in Russia and we were lucky enough to play in both Moscow and SP, and only needed a 4 hs trip to Nizhny Novgorod. So I was able to mix tourism with games. I had tickets to SPA POR for instance, and was not planning to fly all the way to i don't remember which city, see one game, and pay 500 usd for a plane ticket. so i saw 5 games in 3 cities, in 10 days.
Now, on the other hand, it doesn't look like there is gonna be a ton of (genuine) things to do in Doha for 15 days in a row. And at the same time, a lot of us don't have the opportunity to see Messi, Cristiano, Kevin De Bruyne, Mbappe, Neymar, etc on a weekly or even in a monthly basis. So that is why we take the opportunity to see them all.

 

Different World Cups offer different experiences. The beauty of this one is the proximity of stadiums and the simplicity of seeing more than one game a day or even a game a day.

Some days I'll do one game, others multiple. There's no 'right way' to do a World Cup. This is my fifth, each one has it's own magic and challenges. Given that Qatar, even without a World Cup, is no hotbed of culture I dont think soaking up the local culture is a primary draw. If I wanted to see Arab culture, there's a whole host of countries in the region I could do that. Based on my experiences in the Gulf, I'm not even expecting to meet any Qataris.

I like football, I like World Cups, overdosing like this is likely to be a once in a lifetime experience.

 

Oh......My.....God!!!!! Sounds like an intern who hasn't heard of BCC for sending group emails...now might be a good time to change your passwords!

No way would this be allowed to happen in the UK or EU due to GDPR. As a civil servant who deals with peoples' personal details every day, I'm just speechless....

 

GDPR doesn't in and of itself prevent these sorts of things from happening... It simply imposes consequences if/when they do.

 

- easy access to watch a ton of players live that I would never get a chance to see while living in North America (and way easier ticket access than there will be in 2026)

- relatively cheap tickets (I get that they are more expensive than previous World Cups but by NA standards Cat 3 are super cheap)

- Not entirely sold on the bar/fan fest scene; expensive drinks, capacity limits, not much interest in standing in the heat during the day if I don't have to

- Would much rather go other MENA countries for cultural purposes and can knock off museums etc in the AM and still go to matches

 

All valid points. I might add one detail: the overwhelming gender imbalance would surely make these fests a bit less intriguing for me...

 

Any idea how we can sign up to the e-sim option? I can't find it in the app

 

I guess it’s also a good time to remind everyone to please be wary of phishing and scams related to tickets, entertainment, etc. this is the first World Cup going fully digital (ofc minus hospitality and VIP). If it’s too good to be true, it definitely is. Don’t ever send someone money digitally if they’re a nobody in the community or have zero references. And just watch what you click on! Last thing any of us wants is to have our accounts compromised and tickets stolen.

 

I know - I meant to say that it's meant to act as more of a deterrant to sloppy practices like this and encourage a culture of being extremely careful with peoples' personal data.

This has got me thinking though - what else could have happened over there to compromise our personal data that we have yet to hear about?

 

Is 12 games in 8 days or whatever really that big a mystery? You do it because (i) you can, uniquely, and (ii) there really isn't a lot else to do in Qatar

I would agree that doing back-to-back games in the Group Stage feels a bit too achievement oriented, for my taste. To each his own.

 

Yes definitely another reason. I am a big house guy but DJ sets with no/expensive alcohol, minimal women and (although I think this is overblown) the fear of reprisal for any interaction with said women doesn't make them super intriguing to me. Would rather pay the money to sit up top for a match.