Football Fans Can't Believe The Actual Size Of World Cup Host Qatar
As football fans everywhere get ready for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, some on social media are just coming to terms with the size of the Middle Eastern nation.
Set to host the tournament in November, Qatar is spread across just 11,437 square kilometres of land – which makes it roughly the same size as Yorkshire.
To further demonstrate the scale, with just over 2.8 million people it has a population akin to that of Merseyside, which is virtually unheard of for a World Cup host in the modern era.
Some fans who haven't been paying attention have therefore been shocked to discover this reality.
perspective on WorldCup22 that was lost on me. Knew Qatar was small, but the size of DFW? 🤯 All 7 stadiums <40mi apart, some even walking distance, 6of7 fit inside Dallas. Avg distance is <10mi between stadiums. This is a WC 1st!
— peter (@peet2) March 31, 2022
Full steam ahead on #dfwWC34 😉 pic.twitter.com/ilWo6061jq
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As well as the obvious question marks over human rights abuses, critics also point to issues with the oil state's overall infrastructure.
As one Twitter user observes, there are currently only 90,000 hotel rooms in the whole of Qatar, with a stay in Saudi Arabia difficult due to strained political relations that make travel across the border troublesome.
Infrastructure on the whole has been called into question, with Independent journalist Miguel Delaney labelling Qatar as 'Doha super-city'.
Qatar is the smallest nation to ever host a FIFA World Cup, with only Uruguay running them close with a population of 3.5 million people.
If you want to go, good luck finding one of only 90,000 hotel rooms in the country. You can’t really stay in Saudi Arabia and drive in (the two aren’t on great relations). I hope Dubai will run commuter flights every hour. Seems like the only option.
— Seth Andrzejewski (@sethland) April 1, 2022
The Kansas City Metro is almost 2x the size (square miles) of Qatar. Lol.
— scottwildcat (@scottwildcat) April 1, 2022
Before you even get to human rights issues, it is obvious that Qatar - which is really Doha super-city - is too small to host a World Cup. Being here makes you realise the whole idea is even more absurd.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) March 31, 2022
The 2022 World Cup gets underway on 21 November, with the final to be played just before Christmas on 18 December.
Gareth Southgate's England will be aiming to go one better after reaching the final of last year's European Championships.
The Three Lions were beaten on penalties by Italy, but will attempt to win a first World Cup since 1966 later this year, and a first-ever tournament on foreign soil.
Southgate has had to field several questions of late regarding Qatar's human rights record.
Asked whether England would boycott this year's World Cup due to such concerns, the former Aston Villa player responded: "I don't know what that achieves – it would be a big story but the tournament would go ahead."
"It's possible, but it's not a decision that the players or myself would make."
According to The Guardian, more than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since it was announced as the host nation 10 years ago, with 37 deaths directly linked to the construction of stadiums for the tournament.
Tom Fenton