The new Ahmad bin Ali Stadium (), popularly known as 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium located in the district of Rawdat Al Jahhaniya, Qatar, around northwest from the centre of

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches and is 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 Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Umm ...

. The stadium is named after Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani, the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

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 ( ) 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 (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Construction

The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium was one of eight stadiums 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 Limited, abbreviated as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate, with interests in industrial technology, heavy industry, engineering, construction, manufacturing, power, information technology, defence and financial se ...

. 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 was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, which was hosted by Qatar. 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.

Events

The inauguration of the stadium took place on 18 December 2020, which was Qatar's National Day, and exactly two years before the country hosted the

final. The stadium was one of two venues used for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup. The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium hosted four matches for the FIFA Arab Cup 2021. 2021 Turkish Super Cup was played at the stadium. On 23 February 2024, the stadium would host the charity match "Match For Hope". This charity match included many big stars such as

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger or attacking midfielder for Lille OSC, Lille, Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Real ...

, IShowSpeed, Chunkz and many more. The team names were Team Chunkz vs Team Aboflah. Team Chunkz would win vs Team Aboflah 7-5. It eventually raised more than $8.85 million dollars for charity.

Recent tournament results

2021 FIFA Arab Cup

2022 FIFA World Cup

The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium hosted seven matches during the

2023 AFC Asian Cup

On 5 April 2023, the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was chosen one of eight (then nine) venues for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

References

External links

Al-Rayyan Stadium Project
{{2023 AFC Asian Cup stadiums Sports venues completed in 2020 Football venues in Qatar Multi-purpose stadiums in Qatar Sport in Al Rayyan Al-Rayyan SC 2020 establishments in Qatar