World Cup Venues

Here we take a look at all eight venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar which will be the last tournament to have the 32-team format.

Lusail Stadium is the biggest stadium at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with a capacity of 80,000 people, although this is set to be reduced to 40,000 once the tournament finishes in December.

The stadium itself was broke for construction in April 2017, before being built in April 2021. Before the World Cup, this stadium will host the Saudi-Egyptian cup between Al Hilal and Zamalek this month.

Qatar’s national side are the only tenant of what is set to be the venue for the 2022 World Cup final. The first fixture that will be held here at the tournament itself will be Argentina against Saudi Arabia on November 22nd. It will hold a match in every knockout round too.

Al Bayt Stadium is a 60,000-seater stadium that was built in November 2021 after being broke in 2014.

This stadium will host the opening match of the World Cup between Qatar and Ecuador on 20th November as well as matches in the Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The first match to ever take place in this stadium came in November 2021 - this was a FIFA Arab Cup tie between Qatar and Bahrain, which the hosts won 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Abdulaziz Hatem.

As well as the Qatar national team, Qatar Stars League outfit Al Khor Sports Club are also tenants of the ground.

The Al Janoub Stadium is a 40,000-seater stadium that was built in 2019 and opened in May of that year.

This is the second-oldest stadium in the tournament and has hosted some notable fixtures in its short lifespan, having held the 2019 Amir Cup final between Al Sadd SC and Al-Duhail SC in front of 38,678 people. On top of this, it held the final of the 2020 Asian Champions League.

At the FIFA World Cup, this stadium will hold six group stage matches, with the first being France against Australia on 22nd November. It was also host one Round of 16 match. Qatari Stars League side Al Wakrah SC play their matches here.

The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium is another stadium that was specifically built for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In 2015, the old stadium was knocked down and it took five years to rebuild and open it back up.

Qatari Stars League outfit Al Rayyan are tenants of this stadium which holds just short of 45,000. This stadium will host notable games in the World Cup such as Wales against England on 29th November, as well as one knockout stage game.

The Khalifa International Stadium is by far the oldest at the World Cup, having first been used in 1976.

This stadium has been renovated twice in 2005, as well as between 2014 and 2017, seeing it hold 45,416 capacity. The Khalifa International Stadium hosted six Asian Cup games in 2011, as well as several international friendlies such as Brazil versus England in late 2009.

The first game that this stadium will host in the World Cup is England against Iran on 21st November. The most high-profile match that will be played here will be the third-place play-off.

The second stadium from Al Rayann is the Education City Stadium which is actually located on the outskirts of Doha.

Built in 2020, the Education City Stadium has held the likes of the FIFA Club World Cup, doing so in the same year it was opened, with the most notable game being the final between Bayern Munich and UANL.

Since then, it has hosted East and West Zone games in the Asian Champions League, as well as five games in the FIFA Arab Cup in 2021.

Stadium 974 is perhaps one of the most interesting venues at the tournament, with its name coming from the 974 shipping containers made to build it.

This stadium is temporary and is getting taken down after the World Cup, despite having a capacity of around 40,000. The venue itself has been constructed on a 450,000 square-meter waterfront site.

The first match that this stadium is set to host will be Mexico against Poland on 22nd November.

The final venue on this list is the Al Thumama Stadium, which is also based in the city of Doha, near the Hamad International Airport.

Notably, there is a 540,000 sq ft public park that surrounds the stadium, whilst the ground itself holds 40,000 people. It was opened in October 2021 and hosted six games in the FIFA Arab Cup last year, with one of these games being Qatar against Algeria.

The first game that it will host in the 2022 World Cup is Senegal against the Netherlands on 21st November.