QNA
Doha
The Argentina-Australia match on Saturday evening was a farewell concert for Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium as the stadium hosted the last FIFA World Cup match at its ground. The beautiful stadium had previously hosted 6group stage matches,all weaving stories of brilliance and memories to remain immortal in history.
Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium can accommodate more than 45,000 fans and is located in the Umm Al Afaei area, 20 kilometres west of the centre of Doha.
It hosted the matches of the World Cup that brought together the teams of the USA and Wales in Group B on Nov. 21 with an attendance 41,415 fans. On November 23 it hosted Belgium and Canada in Group C, and on Nov. 29 the one between Wales and England. Again on Dec. 1, the stadium hosted Croatia and Belgium in Group F, and then the match between Argentina and Australia on Saturday in the round of 16.
The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium was inaugurated on December 18, 2020 when it hosted HH the Amir Cup final between Al Sadd and Al Arabi.
The stadium features a stunning exterior facade with elements that showcase aspects of Qatari culture such as family values, the beauty of the desert, plant and animal life, as well as local and international trade.
It is planned to reduce the capacity of the stadium by half after the dismantling of the upper seats.
The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium was built on the site of the old stadium of Al Rayyan club, and its undulating exterior facade is decorated with symbols representing Qatari culture in all its splendor. The perimetre of the stadium includes a green area of 125.000 square metres, along with a large number of local plants with low water consumption for the community to enjoy.
The stadium received three prestigious certificates from the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) awarded by the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD), in the sustainability of design and construction of the four-star category.
The stadium uses environmentally friendly cooling technology (DC) via a central station with a cooling capacity of 16,000 tonnes. The plant supplies the stadium with chilled water through the power plant, to a large number of air treatment units deployed on site to provide the required temperature to the area of the stands and the stadium. At the same time, the building is 20 percent more energy efficient compared to other buildings of this type, and it also uses 20 percent less water.
The Argentinian blue color covered the stadium in the last match. Photos of the inspirer of the world football fans Diego Armando Maradona were present, along with photos of Messi, his teammates and Argentine flags.
The Argentine public believed in the abilities of their country’s national team to accomplish the task, during their country’s match against the Mexicans in the group stage, when Lusail Stadium hosted the largest number of fans, 88,966 people, since the 1994 edition.
Javier, an Argentine fan, said that the national team has managed to register its presence in the round of 16 eight times and in the last edition it lost to France, adding that today there is a hope that the Argentinians will continue and go on to achieve their dream.
The Argentine fan underlined the beauty of the World Cup stadiums in Qatar, which was admired and appreciated by many. He pointed out that Qatar has succeeded in presenting something different in this edition of the World Cup.
The Australian fans were present in the South Stand of the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, which was decorated with yellow and green flags and the “kangaroo”logo.
Some Australian fans said that the atmosphere in Qatar is wonderful and they were keen to take the trouble to travel long from Sydney to Dohato stand by the national team. The fans said that they had planned to visit Qatar a few months ago and had chosen the places they would visit during the trip. Theyexpressed their admiration for everything they saw at the tournament sites and the accompanying mass events, whether in the Doha Corniche or Katara, as well as in some areas around Doha.The Argentina-Australia match on Saturday evening was a farewell concert for Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium
