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The US$675 million stadium that Qatar will use for the 12-month World Cup final was placed under its first capacity check on Friday, with a compromise between the Egyptian and Saudi champions.
Seventy-two days since the start of the event, organizers stated that the 80,000-capacity Lusail Iconic Stadium was full for the pre-costume live performance of Egyptian celebrity Amr Diab and the video game through which Al Hilal defeated Egyptians Zamalek on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Lusail became the last stadium to be formally opened and Hassan Al-Thawadi, head of Qatar's organizing committee, referred to it as “an emotional second”.
“It’s the culmination of a 13-year journey,” he told beIN activities.
The stadium, shaped like a standard Arabic bowl, is in the heart of a new city being developed north of the Gulf state's small capital. It will host 10 World Cup games, including the remainder on December 18.
However, no major video games are planned before the event begins on November 20th.
The game was a look at various races for security, the border immigration system and the multi-billion dollar driverless bus metro so that one can take the strain, transporting over a million lovers around Doha for the entire Kingdom Cup.
To get the car out of the main foreign airport, Qatar this week reopened an old airport that had been stored for the use of the ruling family and different VIPs.
Hundreds of Saudi and Egyptian fanatics crossed the Abu Samra border in buses, after leaving their vehicles on the Saudi side.
Everyone had to move on to a special fan ID, the Hayya card, which all fans will need to enter Qatar during the World Cup.
The processing device in a tent in Abu Samra is being used for the first time. Qatari authorities hope that many Saudis will help their national team throughout the tournament.
“We simply entered with our passport and the Hayya card”, said Muhammad Mujahid, an Egyptian resident in Saudi Arabia. “It became basic and well organized.”
“We hope this is a promising start to an excellent World Cup for the entire Arab world,” said another Zamalek fan, Ahmed Mohi El-Din Othman.
The story continues
FIFA's choice in 2010 to award the Kingdom Cup to Qatar was criticized because of the mega-prosperous nation's treatment of foreign workers and the LGBTQ community.
However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said it could be the “greatest ever” World Cup and that foreign fanatics will have an experience like “a child going to Disneyland for the first time and seeing the attractions and toys".
FIFA says that 2.45 million of the three million tickets have been offered and that a final round of online sales could be held later this month.
