Fifa World Cup: Indian engineer shares experience of Qatar stadium construction

Shahid Ali, an engineer from Maharashtra's Nagpur, who was a part of the construction team of the stadium in Qatar — where the opening ceremony of the Fifa World Cup 2022 was held on Sunday — recalled the challenging task of building the stadium.

Speaking to ANI, he said:

"It feels really good to see the opening ceremony of the Fifa World Cup 2022 at Qatar Stadium. It is a proud feeling to be a part of the construction team of the stadium. Working in Qatar during extreme temperatures was a challenging task."

"I went to Qatar in 2017 when the construction work for the stadium had just started. People from over 35 countries including China, UK and Australia were working with us. There were Indians from the ground level [labourers] to top management [Directors] in Qatar," he added.

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The biggest extravaganza in football, the Fifa World Cup 2022, started on November 20 in Qatar and will be held till December 18. Eight stadiums across Qatar will be hosting the 64 matches of this tournament, which will be played in just 29 days. A total of 32 teams from five confederations are competing at the Qatar Fifa World Cup 2022 for the biggest prize in football.

Notably, the 2022 Fifa World Cup tournament is the last with 32 participating teams, as the field will increase to 48 teams when Canada, Mexico and the United States will host the 2026 tournament.

France is the defending champion, having won their second title in 2018 after defeating Croatia in the final. French are aiming to defend their crown against a world-class competition offered by the teams mentioned above.

This will be the final World Cup tournament for Lionel Messi, the Argentina striker considered one of the greatest ever footballers of all time. It is also highly likely that 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo will be donning the Portuguese colours for one final time here.

This marks the first time the Middle East is hosting the tournament, and is also the first time the World Cup is being held outside the typical June-July window, in order to avoid the desert heat during the summers in Qatar.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Enner Valencia scored a brace to help Ecuador defeat Qatar 2-0 in the opening game of the 2022 Fifa World Cup at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

With this win, Ecuador became the first team to beat the host nation in the opening match of the World Cup in the 92-year history of the tournament.

The Round of 16 from December 3 onwards will mark the beginning of the knockout stage of the tournament.

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea