World Cup 2022 – A Dream Realized!

So…we decided to head to the World Cup 2022 as it was only a few hours’ drive away from us in Qatar. This was definitely a dream for both of us, and being so close, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.

Tickets

We started by trying to buy tickets back in January of 2022. We registered for the lottery to get a set number of tickets, and…it didn’t work, unsurprisingly. Instead, we had to wait until around April, when the first round of ticket sales went live. We spent about 5 hours just waiting on the computer for a spot in line.

We managed to get in and get to the point of purchase for tickets. The downside of buying tickets at this time was that we didn’t know any of the match-ups. All we could do was buy tickets for specific days and times, though that suited us just fine as we didn’t want to take any days off of work. I’m not sure of the reasoning, but we weren’t allowed to buy tickets for back-to-back games or occasionally on days, so we ended up buying tickets for back-to-back weekends. So we didn’t know who we’d see play…but we were going!

Next was to apply for our Hayya card or Qatari World Cup visa. You weren’t allowed (at least initially, I think) to enter Qatar during the World Cup without one of these unless you were a resident.

Securing this was actually quite easy. We applied online, and it was validated through FIFA with the tickets we had purchased. It took a little longer for ours to get approval since we weren’t spending the night in Qatar, but overall, it was a smooth process. We had to show our Hayya card pretty much everywhere, but that was easy, and it also offered us free metro rides, which were essential in getting to and from the stadiums.

Getting to the Games

We drove to Qatar (about 2 hours, maybe 2.5) south to the border. It was an overwhelming success though easy after having gone to Abu Dhabi.

From there, it wasn’t much further where parking lots set aside. We parked, hopped on the free bus provided to take us to the Qatari border, went through immigration, got back on the bus, and went to Qatari immigration. From there, Qatar was busing people into Doha as it’s probably about a 45-minute drive in your car but closer to 90 minutes on the slower-moving buses. This bus was also free as Qatar, being a small country, was charging people to bring in their own vehicles if they weren’t Qatari citizens or residents.

Overall, this is the process we were most worried about, especially since we were arriving via land (as most people flew in). We weren’t sure how smooth it would go or how long it would take. In reality, it was incredibly smooth, and each time crossing the border, it took maybe 15 minutes at most. But it was really easy and quick.

We arrived in Doha after a nice little driving rest for myself before heading off to our stadium…

Iran vs. Wales

The first game we ended up buying blind tickets for turned out to be Iran vs. Wales. It certainly wasn’t our first choice for that group, which included the US and England. We weren’t rooting for either team but rather just hoping for a good game. We had tried very hard to get USA-England tickets but couldn’t get any within our price range. As it turns out, this was quite fortuitous.

Opening ceremonies for each game were all a little bit different and were really fun to watch.

Iran vs. Wales was an intense game. Wales was the favorite to win, though not by too much. We were also excited to see Gareth Bale play in what is his first and last World Cup. Iran played well and had some chances to score, but going into extra time, it was still 0-0.

This World Cup meant they’d made some rule changes and added more extra time to the end of each half – up to approximately 10 minutes (give or take with stoppages during injury time). Wales, it seems, was not prepared for this as Iran scored the go-ahead goal in the 98th minute!

We were sitting in an overwhelmingly Iranian section, and they went absolutely crazy! It was amazing to see, but it wasn’t over. There were still a few minutes left to play.

Wales looked to strike and tie it up, but Iran, magically, ended up securing the win with a 101st-minute goal (a minute or so extra for injury time during injury time). Again, the crown went nuts as the game came to a close – Iran 2 – Wales 0.

It was amazing to see Iran win, and we were very happy with such an exciting game. As I mentioned, we were initially sad we weren’t able to go to the US-England game, but we also knew we were driving back home that night. As this was a 1:00 pm game, it meant getting back at a ‘reasonable’ hour. The US game was at 10 pm and, as it turns out, a bit of a snoozer as it ended in a nil-nil tie (lame).

Before heading back, though, we did pop ourselves down into Doha’s Souq Waqif for an extremely brief meet-up with one of Ana’s friends from the Dominican who’s teaching abroad now as well. It was a short hang but a nice reunion, and we were excited to go back next weekend and see more of the Souq.

The Metro in Doha, while new, worked incredibly well and wasn’t too terribly crowded. They did a good job of managing crowd control throughout the World Cup to keep people from having to stand idle in line for long periods of time. It was a bit frustrating at times as sometimes their methods didn’t make sense, but overall it seems to have worked well enough.

Portugal vs. South Korea

Portugal vs. South Korea ended up being the second game we were slated to see, and we were even more excited for this one! Ronaldo! We knew it was almost certainly his last World Cup and his last chance to win. Portugal was already through to the group stage by this time, so we were a bit worried he might not play. Korea, on the other hand, was not guaranteed and needed several things to happen to get through to the knockout stage.

Prior to this game, however, we decided to go and explore the Souq and enjoy some of the time we had before the game started. We wandered around a bit and decided to sit down and eat at an amazing little place called Damasca, a Syrian restaurant that was absolutely packed, and for good reason. They had some wonderful food.

This game had a different opening ceremony than the first and was somehow even more entertaining.

As it turns out, Ronaldo did start, though we didn’t get to see him score a goal. However, we did get to see another amazing game. Portugal struck early and took the lead, but about midway into the first half, Korea tied it up.

It was looking like a tie, which at the time meant Kore would not be advancing to the knockout stage, but oh, were we wrong! We reached 90 minutes, and there were three extra minutes tacked on. It took all of one minute for Korea to score, take the lead, win the game, and push themselves through to the knockout stages. It was a fantastic and entertaining end to the game, and we were ecstatic that our 2nd game was just as good as the first.

Overall, we had an absolute blast going to the games. We were able to fulfill a lifelong dream for both of us; we were able to see some great games (this tourney was full of them – just rewatch the final for the absolute best), and we got to see some world-class players, specifically Bale and Ronaldo, in their last World Cups.

We look forward to and hope to attend the next World Cup in the US in 2026. See you there! And if you’re interested in learning more about Doha, check out our three-day guide to Doha!