Qatar's Education City Stadium to be unveiled in December

It is one of the 2022 World Cup venues set to host the FIFA Club World Cup matches, with European champion Liverpool given a bye to the tournament semifinals.

A bird's eye view of the Education City Stadium, which will host the 2019 Club World Cup semifinal and final.

Education City Stadium is set to be unveiled in December, when it hosts the FIFA Club World Cup 2019 semifinal and the summit clash at the same tournament. Nicknamed the Diamond in the Desert, it will be launched on Qatar National Day (December 18) and become the third of the 2022 World Cup venues to be opened.

Situated in the heart of Education City – in the Al Rayyan district of Qatar – the stadium will host the 2022 World Cup matches up to the quarterfinals stage. Fans can use the Doha Metro Green Line, which is set to open in the coming weeks, to get to the stadium.

Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), said unveiling the stadium on Qatar National Day would be a proud moment for the entire country.

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“The inauguration of Education City Stadium will mark another major milestone on the road to delivering international football’s showpiece event,” said Al Thawadi. “Everyone in Qatar will feel immense pride when this architectural masterpiece is unveiled on our country’s National Day, during the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup, and exactly three years before the Qatar 2022 final takes place.”

Al Thawadi added: “Hosting the FIFA Club World Cup is a golden opportunity to boost preparations for 2022 while giving thousands of fans from across the globe a taste of what to expect in three years’ time. We are immensely excited about hosting this tournament for the next two instalments, as we continue to finalise our plans for the World Cup.”

It has already been confirmed that European champion Liverpool will contest the stadium’s inaugural fixture after it received a bye to the semifinals of the tournament. The Reds qualified for the Club World Cup after winning the UEFA Champions League in June. Liverpool’s opponent in the semifinal will be decided during the tournament, which kicks off on 11 December.

The Club World Cup will be held in Qatar from December 11 to 21. Jassin Bin Hamad Stadium and Khalifa International Stadium are the two other venues that will host the matches. Al Sadd SC (host country representative), Liverpool FC (UEFA), CF Monterrey (CONCACAF), ES Tunis (CAF) and Hienghène Sport (OFC) are the five teams that have qualified for the tournament. The AFC and CONMEBOL representatives will be confirmed in November.