Khalifa International Stadium or the National Stadium, is a part of the Doha Sports City in Qatar. The Stadium can hold up to 40,000 people. It is commonly termed as a multipurpose stadium. The stadium is named after the former Emir of Qatar, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani.
The Qatar Football Association owns this stadium and is the home-ground to the Qatar national football team.
History
The stadium was initially inaugurated in the year 1976, and was renovated in the year 2005 for the Asian Games to be held a year later. The seating capacity was increased from 20,000 to 40,000.
Previously, the stadium was used extensively for the purpose of football. However, the renovation made way for various other sports to be played at the stadium.
The stadium underwent redevelopment and renovation again and was opened in the year 2017 with highly equipped and new technologies.
Major Matches
Since the year 1997, the annual track and field event, Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, which is now as part of the IAAF Diamond League is hosted at the Khalifa International Stadium.
On 14 November 2009, the stadium hosted an international friendly football match between Brazil and England. The Brazilian team once again visited the stadium a year later to play a friendly against rivals Argentina.
The stadium has been chosen as a host venue for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. The stadium will witness few quarter-final matches of the quadrennial event. Also, the stadium will host the 2019 Athletics World Championships.
