My World Cup diary: sing when you're winning, sailors on parade and an evolving nation

So we come to the final 16 of the 2022 World Cup and I find myself once again in the Al Bayt Stadium, this time for England v Senegal. There seem to be many more England fans, they are in good voice and the stadium, which is the second largest for the World Cup in Qatar, is buzzing.

The Senegalese crowd are resplendent in their green and yellow match attire but drowned out by England fans, who seem to have doubled in number from the Wales match that I attended last week. The noise levels are deafening.

It is quickly clear that the non-partisan spectators are not cheering for England, especially as it is often the plucky underdog that gets the support in these situations. However, as the match progresses and England begin to dominate play, the crowd recognises the skill and deft touch from our players and the volume from the red and white crowd is at 11 by the time the final whistle is blown and a 3-0 victory delivered.

The game is absorbing but I still take the opportunity to look up at the retractable roof, which stays open the whole game. I am struck by the fact that the venue, designed by Dar Al-Handasah, will be deconstructed and reconfigured from its current 68,000 capacity down to a 32,000-seat stadium after the World Cup has ended.

>> Also read: Part I and Part II of Richard Steer’s World Cup diary

Over the past few days I have been joined by other senior members of the Gleeds team – from a business perspective the spectacle of the World Cup also provides networking opportunities.  

Having an active business in the Middle East is a vital part of our organisation and the World Cup has given us the opportunity to rub shoulders with change-makers of the Middle East property and development community in this booming part of the globe. Here the Foreign Office has been playing its part and enabled us to host a reception at the British embassy. 

Over 180 guests mingled in this little oasis of the United Kingdom, made all the more formal by the presence of some members of the Navy in full tropical uniform. It was a very different atmosphere to what one might currently experience at a pre-Christmas drinks event in London, fighting the wintry cold weather.

I am a seasoned traveller in this part of the world and yet I still find its rate of development astounding, and Qatar hosting the World Cup has only amplified that transformation. It is not the West – and nor is it supposed to be. Qataris have their own rules, beliefs system and culture but, at the same time, much is changing in Qatar, which is often obscured by poor publicity.

One of the things the World Cup has done – attracting football fans from around across the globe – is to give the Qataris a taste of life outside their own country. It is also worth remembering that, of the two million or so population, only just over 300,000 are native Qataris and so exposure to customs and attitudes from all over the world is eye-opening and progressive for this traditionally conservative population.

From my own personal experience the locals have been nothing but courteous and helpful. The much decried alcohol ban around stadiums has presented the game of football in a much better light.

I do not believe the sight of drunk, leery and aggressive young men squaring up to each other outside the ground does much to enhance the reputation of the “beautiful” game. As for the future, when the next World Cup is hosted in the USA, it will be interesting to see if there is the same furore over the recent removal of women’s rights in that country as there has been over the attitude to human rights here.

At the end of the day, it has mainly been about the football and Sunday night’s game epitomised what it is all about: huge crowds, massive expectation, pressure and nervous exhilaration at the end.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to witness one of the world’s great spectaculars first hand, where differences can be sorted out in a controlled manner by nations kicking around a small ball in front of a large crowd with an uncomplicated binary outcome. If only the rest of life was like that…

Richard Steer is chair of Gleeds Worldwide