Ever since I was a kid and whenever I saw the FIFA World Cup being telecasted on television, I dreamed of attending a FIFA World Cup Match live at a stadium amongst die-hard crazy football fans from Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia. And Qatar World Cup, happening so close to India, gave me a chance to fulfil this dream. I always felt Qatar was the closest country I could get to watch the World Cup, and in this rush, I made my last-minute bookings to Doha to witness the spectacle. I am not that big a fan of football, so my major objective in attending the World Cup was to experience the massive fandom for the game and also the transformation of Qatar from a conservative middle eastern country to a progressive nation focused on healthcare & sports it has envisioned itself to be. While FIFA World Cup is still on its way, no one can predict who will win the Qatar Fifa World Cup 2022.
How to Reach Qatar from India?
Doha is the capital of Qatar, and all the planes land at Hamad International Airport. Qatar Airways is the national Flag Carrier and the Best Airline in the world as per my experience of flying in after 100+ Airlines. And I was lucky enough to get an Rs.28000 Delhi-Doha return flight via Qatar Airways. Top Notch service and the most comfortable seats.
Visa Requirements for Qatar
Qatar had made Hayya Card as a substitute for Visa for World Cup 2022. Otherwise, Qatar offers visas on arrival to Indian Passport holders. The Hayya Card was issued to every passport holder who had 1 Match ticket for the World Cup and accommodation booked in Qatar for three nights in advance. The process is simple, you present your Match Ticket voucher code and accommodation booking number and a Digital Hayya Card is issued in your name within 24 Hours. This Hayya Card is mandatory for entry into Qatar, gives you unlimited access to public transport in Qatar, and is issued free of cost.
Accommodation in Qatar
As expected, the room tariffs were touching the roofs during the World Cup Schedule, so I was not able
To find any accommodation less than 500$ a night and even hosting Couchsurfing and Airbnbs were not allowed for World Cup without the government permission by citizens of Qatar. So I finally figured out the concept of Fan Villages that had been established especially for the World Cup. And finally managed to get a one-bedroom apartment for me at 128$ a night which is around Rs.10,000 a night for three nights.
Booking Match Tickets
One of the most important questions on every football fan’s mind who plans to watch a FIFA world cup match live in the stadium is, “how much is a ticket for World Cup Qatar 2022?” I thought the tickets would be very expensive and the process to get them would be quite complicated, but it turned out to be one of the simplest processes. One should only purchase tickets from the Official FIFA Ticketing website as all the other platforms might not issue you ticket vouchers even after payment deduction. While there was a long list of matches that I could have watched from the FIFA world cup 2022 list but , I went on to the FIFA website, looked up the Qatar world cup 2022 schedule, zeroed in on the matches I wanted to watch live in the stadium, scouted for their tickets, and secured two tickets for two different World Cup 2022 Group stage matches.
1. Uruguay vs South Korea — Category 3 ticket -Cost 250 Qatari Riyal equivalent to Rs.5500
2. Brazil vs Serbia — Category 2 Ticket — Cost 600 Qatari Riyal equivalent to Rs.13000.
Category 2 offered better views than Category 3, and I will specify more about this below in the blog. I also got two tickets at the last minute through the FIFA Resale platform.
3. Argentina vs Mexico — Cat 2 tickets — Cost 630 Qatari Riyal equivalent to Rs.13500
4. Australia vs Tunisia — Cat 3 tickets — Cost 280 Qatari Riyal equivalent to Rs.6000.
Read More About:- FIFA world cup 2022 in Qatar
