The four-year wait is almost over! The football tournament of the season is about to kick off in Qatar!

Football fans from around the world have been waiting in the wings for this highly-anticipated international sporting event!

 

This year's tournament is hosted by Qatar, between 20 November and 18 December, with 32 qualified teams competing across eight venues.

Here are some trivia about the game for you to impress your friends with!

  1. Qatar is the first nation in the Middle East to host this football tournament, held for the very first time during the northern autumn. It also marks the second time the game is held in Asia in 20 years.
  2. As a result of Qatar’s intense summer heat, with temperatures reaching 40 °C between June and August, this year’s tournament, unlike previous ones, is being held between the cooler months of November and December.
  3. This year's tournament takes place across eight different venues, each boasting unique architecture which incorporates elements reflecting Qatari culture and sustainable design features. To mitigate the extreme daytime heat and provide thermal comfort, football fields, training equipment, and spectator stands are applied with a layer of heat-insolating nano-coating and equipped with solar-powered cooling systems. One of the venues, Stadium 974, has been built with 974 recycled shipping containers and steel supports. It was designed with modularity in mind so that it can be dismantled, retrofitted, and reconstructed like toy blocks. This modular design not only reduces the amount of waste incurred during the production and construction processes, but also cuts back on the time required to finish the stadium. As the world’s first fully demountable football stadium, Stadium 974 has been touted as a symbol of sustainability.
  4. Three of the 36 referees in this year's tournament are female – the first time in history that women referees have been chosen to officiate the game.

How could a night of football thrills be complete without snacks and drinks? Apart from enjoying the football matches from the five-star comforts of home, heading out with friends to restaurants and bars in Lee Gardens is also an excellent alternative. With numerous shops providing a variety of lifestyle products, delectable food, and delicious drinks at Lee Gardens, you will undoubtedly be spoilt for choice! Check out the tournament schedule below and mark your calendars to cheer on your favourite football team!

【Elevate the comforts of home】

When inviting friends over to enjoy football matches, a welcoming and comforting environment is the key to elevating the experience! Why not zhuzh up your home with practical, stylish, and tasteful furniture that helps organise and store away the clutter while freeing up more space to entertain friends? HOMELESS, Umbra and MONOYONO at Lee Garden Three will have everything you need to make your friends feel at home, ranging from cutlery and crockery to cushions and slippers.

【Delectable Food: The essential companion to football matches】

The thrill of watching football matches is simply incomplete without excellent food and drinks!

Find over two thousand types of exquisite wine sourced from over twenty countries worldwide at Watson’s Wine, located at Lee Garden Two. Alternatively, Sake Moment, also located at Lee Garden Two, provides a variety of carefully selected sake, transported directly from Japan to Hong Kong with strict refrigeration equipment to ensure top-notch quality. Any of these drinks will surely bring a smile to your face as you and your friends immerse yourselves in the buzz of football matches.

Owned and run by a Korean native, Seoul Recipe offers a plethora of classic Korean takeaways, including Gimbap, Namul, salads, and seasonal vegetables and fruits. Some items are homemade signatures, such as Gejang, a sweet and succulent soy-marinated crab dish, and Pajeon, a crisp and flavourful Korean-style pancake. A five-star experience awaits at home as you enjoy football matches lounged on your couch, while sinking your teeth in the scrumptious food! What a joy that would be!

 

Shop online for ingredients and lifestyle products beforehand at hy! Lee Garden.

Have them shipped to your doorstep, and you are all set to sit back, relax, and enjoy all the fun that football matches offer!