Construction on Qatar's largest World Cup stadium to begin this year

Lusail Stadium rendering, as submitted by Qatar during bid process.

Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizers have invited contractors to bid on Lusail stadium, which will host the final match of the tournament.

The facility will also host the opening ceremony of the games.

According to business publication MEED, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SCDL) has asked for work to begin this December and set a maximum bid price of QR2.8 billion (US$769 million).

Last March, the SCDL – which is overseeing construction of Qatar’s World Cup stadiums and training facilities – announced that British architectural firm Foster + Partners had won the bid to design the venue, which will have a capacity of 80,000 people.

Of the eight proposed World Cup stadiums so far, five are currently under construction.

But Lusail and two other locations are still in the very preliminary stages.

All are supposed to be done by 2020, organizers have previously said.

Final design due

Initial renderings for the Lusail stadium design were released when Qatar submitted its bid to host the World Cup, but the actual design has not yet been finalized.

Last year, the SCDL said the “design concept” had been approved, but the final design from Foster + Partners would not be revealed until 2016.

The supreme committee said it had worked with the designers “hand-in-hand to capture a sense of local and regional architecture, reflecting the aesthetics of Qatar.”

Preparatory work, such as studying the soil and water conditions as well as installing on-site offices and 5km of hoarding, was completed on the Lusail Stadium site last year.

Other sites

Lusail Stadium is expected to be the sixth World Cup venue to be constructed in Qatar.

Work is already underway on venues in Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Khalifa Stadium in Al Waab, Education City and Al Rayyan.

Last December, the SCDL unveiled details of what are likely to be the remaining two stadiums to be built for the tournament.

The location of the Ras Abu Aboud stadium and future mixed-used neighborhood.

These will be in Ras Abu Aboud, near Hamad International Airport, and in Al Thumama, which is located west of Najma St. between E-Ring and F-Ring roads.

The Ras Abu Aboud site will be redeveloped into a new “urban neighborhood” looking out toward West Bay after the tournament, according to architects.

Qatar originally submitted plans to build 12 stadiums in its World Cup bid, but it’s widely believed that only eight – the minimum required by FIFA – will be used to host the 64 matches during the international tournament.

Thoughts?