It's Easy to be a Sports Fan in Doha

Hanging out with Andrew and Yahia

For a country with such a small population (~ 2 million, 75-80% of who are expats), there are a lot of major sporting events in Qatar. Tickets are very cheap to this events and sometimes even free! In the last few weeks, we have seen the Asia Qualifiers for the Beach Soccer World Cup and Spain vs Uruguay in a friendly soccer match. Next week we’ll see the Women’s Tennis Qatar Open tournament (we have tickets for the finals) and next month we’ll attend a soccer match between Canada and Japan. 

View from the stadium

We loved the beach soccer tournament; and it was free so we were happy to go back three days in a row! The teams were competing for a spot in the Beach Soccer World Cup in Tahiti later this year. The 3000 seat stadium was down at Katara Beach with a view out to the water and The Pearl. The games were fast paced and exciting. There was a kids area outside with a huge bouncy castle and a soccer pitch. The music and atmosphere were lively, all the seats were great, and there was plenty of entertainment at the half-times and in between the games. 

Cheering for Thailand

A few nights ago we saw the Battle of the Champions soccer match between Spain and Uruguay at Khalifa Stadium with 60,000 other fans. Tickets to see some of the best players in the world cost us about $30. There was a big fan zone set up outside the stadium, where the kids won hats and inflatable hands to cheer for Spain. The boys were mesmerized by the “heliosphere”, a huge helium balloon with a spiralling, spinning and seemingly weightless acrobat suspended underneath. 

Go Spain Go!

The Heliosphere

The game was exciting and the boys loved it. Spain won 3-1. The kickoff was at 9pm - pretty late for a school night, but the boys did really well only starting to slow down and yawn at about 11pm. What a great atmosphere inside the stadium!

Soccer fans: Ben, Isaiah, Will and Andy