With all eight stadiums located within a 35-mile radius of downtown Doha, the 2022 World Cup is the most compact in history. During the group stage, that makes it possible to attend four games a day.
Possible, but it’s not permitted.
To avoid congestion and make more tickets available to more people, FIFA has limited fans and the media to two games a day, with a four-hour window between kickoffs. But that’s still pretty good, right? Watching four of the best teams in the world on the same day?
And with public transportation, free to World Cup visitors, serving all eight stadiums, it’ll be a breeze, the Qataris said.
But then the Qataris have already reneged on everything from human rights and beer sales to bus schedules and the menu in the media cafeteria. So maybe this was another empty promise.
I decided to find out. Armed with nothing more than a media credential and no familiarity whatsoever with Qatar’s Metro system, I set out Wednesday to see Germany play Japan at Khalifa International Stadium at 4 p.m., followed by Canada-Belgium less than 12 miles away at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium at 10 p.m.
I can see Khalifa from my apartment in Doha’s Al Rayyan neighborhood, so that seemed a logical place to start. I left just after noon and the leisurely stroll to the stadium confirmed something I’ve felt since the World Cup began, mainly that the tournament has produced little in the way of buzz and excitement outside the stadiums or the fanfest at the Corniche, Doha’s winding bayside promenade.
During my 30-minute walk, I passed only one person dressed in a German national team shirt. I saw no flags, no one in face paint and nothing resembling a march to the match. The stadium parking lots were empty three hours before kickoff.
But the match itself, which ended in a 2-1 Japan victory, was World Cup-worthy. Germany took an early lead on a penalty kick from Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan, one conceded by Japanese keeper Shuichi Gonda. Gonda was brilliant after that though, making eight saves, which allowed Japan to come back on a pair of goals late in the second half.
The first came from Ritsu Doan, who scored on a rebound, and eight minutes later Takuma Asano put Japan ahead to stay, running on to a long free kick from Ko Itakura, fighting off defender Nico Schlotterbeck, then beating German keeper Manuel Neuer into the roof of the net from a difficult angle on the end line.
The loss was Germany’s third in four World Cup games since it won the title in Brazil eight years ago