Nov 21 (IndiaToday) – There were contrasting emotions at the end of 90 minutes of football on the opening night of FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium. Ecuador fans were jubilant as Enner Valencia’s men handed Qatar a 2-0 defeat, chanting for beer to be made available in and around the World Cup stadiums in the Arab nation.
On the other hand, Qatar fans had to look for avenues to drown their sorrows. Quite a few of them left well before the final whistle, leading to a lot of empty stands in the 70,000-seater stadium which was decked up for the opening day of one of the most-anticipated FIFA World Cups in the history of the sport.
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As many as 67,000 fans, mostly Qatar nationals, filled up the Al Bayt Stadium to cheer for their national team, which was making its World Cups Finals debut. However, there was disappointment in store for them as Qatar wilted under the pressure of the big occasion. Qatar became the first host nation to lose an opening match at the FIFA World Cup in the history of the tournament.
As the match was heading towards a close, the vocal Ecuador fans started chanting “We want beer”. It was difficult not to ignore the sea of yellow, calling for alcohol to be supplied to celebrate the team’s dominant win in the Group A opener.
The chants of Ecuador fans come days after FIFA World Cup organisers in Qatar banned the sale of alcohol at the stadiums. The beer ban was a late change to the rules as Qatar had said earlier that a limited number of stalls will be put up in the stadia and around the perimeter of the stadiums to sell beer.
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