Fans coming back a little sluggish from their half-time libations are nothing new, and with Al Bayt Stadium’s new fridges full of Bud Zero, who could blame them?
But as the clock ticked towards the hour mark, it became clear that a good 10,000 Qatari fans in the crowd of 67,372 — the stadium’s capacity according to organizers is 60,000 — had gone AWOL.
When this migration was pointed out on Twitter, some culturally sensitive souls, perhaps inspired by the opening ceremony, suggested they might be praying. After all, the last call to prayer of the day had been given during the tournament’s opening ceremony, so perhaps the fans were making up for missing out.
Fortunately, Athletic was sitting next to three friendly journalists from the host country, one of whom had already told us he had studied at Sunderland. He didn’t say what he studied and it didn’t seem fair to ask.
“Excuse me. People on Twitter are wondering if fans who aren’t here might be praying. Is that correct?” we asked
“Crying?”
“No, praying.”
“Oh no. They just left. I left early, too, when Sunderland went down.”
So there you have it. Despite everything that divides us, we are truly united through football.
There were thousands of empty seats well before the end of the opening World Cup match (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Well, what else did we learn from today’s opening match of this most anticipated World Cup?
Well, in chronological order, we can say that Al Khor, the city where this game was played, is not Watford.
It had been suggested that the eight stadiums used here were indeed part of the greater Doha conurbation, in the same way that the aforementioned Hertfordshire city is linked to London. This comparison only works if we think of Elstree, Bushey and Stanmore as deserts. This has also been suggested before, but is not true.
Al Bayt Stadium, which looks like a giant Bedouin tent, is also the only World Cup venue not on the Doha metro system. It might be an idea to move the tent a little closer, then, as the traffic outside was truly world-class.
There were long queues outside the stadium before the first match (Photo: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
This, of course, could explain why so many Qatari fans gave up early. Presumably, they were the ones who couldn’t book a place at the stadium’s helipad. Still, guys, and especially guys, you’ve been waiting 12 years for this, it’s cost at least $200bn (£168bn), numerous lives and it’s only 2-0 with half an hour to go.
But we’ll come back to all that.
Before the game there was a good buzz about the place. The yellow shirts of the Ecuador fans added a nice pop of color and the hundreds of volunteers did their best to point people in the right direction, which was especially helpful as no one had any idea where were going.
Ecuador fans were able to celebrate a 2-0 victory in their match against Qatar (Photo: Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
The opening ceremony was…why am I telling you what an opening ceremony was like? You’ve seen them all. If you’re trying to complete the 92 sports-adjacent mascot and music combinations, our Nick Miller has all the details.
The only thing perhaps worth noting is that the co-star of the show was the venerable Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman.
He was last seen in a soccer-related setting, in the final presentation of the US bid before the vote to decide who will host this World Cup in December 2010. He must have impressed someone at the time , But.
Watching all this singing, dancing and appealing to humanity’s noblest instincts were a star cast of VVIPs in posh seats.
The first to take his seat was “Father Emir” Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013, when he handed over the reins to his fourth son, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
Sheikh Hamad is perhaps best known outside of Qatar for his celebrations when Sepp Blatter pulled Qatar’s card from his envelope that day in Zurich almost 12 years ago. I didn’t have much to cheer about here, though.
Seated next to him, to his right, was King Abdullah II of Jordan, and then there were two empty seats to his left, before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Not just soccer royalty, then.
Those two seats were taken at exactly 5.40pm, 20 minutes to start, when the main man, Emperor Gianni Infantino, arrived alongside Sheikh Tamim.
The latter duly kissed his father’s hand and Infantino took his seat between the current rulers of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t long ago that the man better known as MBS was trying to wreck Qatar’s economy, force FIFA to give the 2022 World Cup some love, and fill the channel between these two neighbors with toxic waste.
Water under the bridge now, it seems.
Gianni Infantino mingled with royalty as he addressed those in the stadium with a pre-kick-off speech (Photo: Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images)
MBS also sat alongside Infantino in the opening match of the previous World Cup. A glutton for punishment.
He then watched his team get beaten 5-0 by Russia. He probably (secretly) enjoyed today’s game a little more.
Once the Korean dancers and pop stars had been removed from the pitch (and hopefully carried far away), Sheikh Tamim gave a speech in Arabic before ending with a warm smile and the English words “welcome and good luck everyone.”
Infantino, FIFA’s human C-3PO, said pretty much the same thing in Arabic, Spanish and English, before we all, including David Beckham, sat down for the football!
David Beckham is Qatar World Cup ambassador (Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Oh, but did anyone tell the home team? Or the guys in the semi-automated offside tech closet?
Because within minutes of the start, goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb fluttered in a cross (it would become as much a theme of the night as the suspiciously choreographed singing of the Doha All-Male choir in the singing section behind their goal ) and ex West. Ham and Everton striker Enner Valencia was nodding at the back post. Mark the South American celebrations.
But then, as the players returned to their positions and Qatar were about to restart, VAR ruled out the goal for offside.
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Speaking to reporters on Friday, FIFA’s top referee Pierluigi Collina had assured us that the latest iteration of VAR would be faster, more accurate and easier to explain to the watching public. That will be no; if possible; and, uh, I’m still not sure I get it, then.
Whatever. Ecuador were all over Qatar, who have spent the last six months in camp together, training as a club team. A League Two team apparently.
Valencia would get their goal on 16 minutes when he turned for Al Sheeb, only to be brought down by a textbook tackle. That decision was not to be overturned and the 33-year-old, now with Fenerbahce in Turkey, got up and took the penalty. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would have liked that.
Ecuador’s night got better in the 31st minute when Qatar’s stage-frightened defenders made another clearance: right-back Angelo Preciado put the ball on the bat and Valencia’s front did the rest.
That, as far as football was concerned, was about it.
Ecuador spurned a couple of decent chances, never getting out of third gear.
Qatar, the 2019 Asian champions, woke up, a little. But they still didn’t get a shot on goal. And the stadium was half empty—sorry, let’s be positive, half full—with 10 minutes to play.
No matter, only African champions Senegal and the Netherlands, ranked eighth in the world, will make it to Group A.
And at least now everyone will focus on the poor Qatar team, how plastic their fans are and when MBS will be able to see how his national team will host one of these first World Cups, instead of focusing on all these negative things.
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(Top photo: David S Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images))