The new Ahmad bin Ali Stadium (), popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium, is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

stadium located in the district of

Rawdat Al Jahhaniya Rawdat Al Jahhaniya ( ar, روضة الجهانية, Rawḑat al Jahānīyah) is a district in Qatar, located in the municipality of Al Rayyan. It is accessible through Dukhan Highway by road and Al Riffa station by rail. The district is one of th ...

, Qatar, around northwest from the centre of

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled as ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipality in the state of Qatar. Its primary settlement is the city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and largely surrounds Metropolitan Doha and funct ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches and it is the home to

Al-Rayyan Sports Club Al-Rayyan Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club fielding teams in a number of sports such as football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, table tennis, and swimming. It is based at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Umm Al ...

. The stadium is named after

Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, أحمد بن علي بن عبد الله بن جاسم بن محمد آل ثاني; 1922 – 25 November 1977) was the Emir of Qatar who ruled from 1960 to 1972. Qatar's f ...

, the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

from 1960 to 1972. The former stadium, built in 2003, had a seating capacity of 21,282 and was demolished in 2015. The new Al Rayyan Stadium has a seating capacity of 45,032. The stadium is located about 20 km west of

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Construction

The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium is one of eight stadiums being used in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The former Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was demolished in 2015 to make way for the Al Rayyan Stadium. 90 percent of the rubble resulting from the demolition of the stadium is anticipated to be reused either for the new stadium or for public art projects. The construction of the new stadium started in early 2016. This was done by the joint venture between Al-Balagh and

Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, with business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, technology, information technology and financial services, headquartered in Mumba ...

. After the World Cup the stadium will be reduced to 21,000 seats. The new stadium was built for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, which Qatar is currently hosting. The renovation includes a huge 'media facade' with a membrane that will act as a screen for projections, news, commercials, sports updates, current tournament information and matches. Seating capacity was increased to 40,740, and all seats were shaded. The inauguration of the stadium took place on 18 December 2020, which was Qatar's National Day, and exactly two years before the country hosts the

final. The stadium was one of two venues used for the

2020 FIFA Club World Cup The 2020 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament betwe ...

. The stadium hosted four matches during FIFA Arab Cup 2021.

Recent tournament results

2021 FIFA Arab Cup

2022 FIFA World Cup

Ahmad bin Ali Stadium hosted seven matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

2023 AFC Asian Cup

On 5 April 2023, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was chosen one of eight venues for the 2023 Asian Cup.

References

External links

Al-Rayyan Stadium Project
{{2023 AFC Asian Cup stadiums 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums Sports venues completed in 2003 Football venues in Qatar Multi-purpose stadiums in Qatar Sport in Al Rayyan Al-Rayyan SC 2003 establishments in Qatar