A traditional dhow floats in the Corniche Bay area with tall buildings of the financial district in the background. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the wealthy oil- and gas-producing Gulf nation with giant look-at-me ambitions that belie its small size, is shaping up as a unique experience. (Saurabh Das, File/Associated Press)

Cooled, modern stadiums. Fans traveling from the Middle East and beyond, to a region anxious to prove it can put on a show and have its own brand of fun.

All against doubts about whether women, gays and beer-drinkers will feel comfortable.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the wealthy oil- and gas-producing Gulf nation with giant ambitions that belie its size, is shaping up as a unique experience.

As plans jump from architects’ tables to lay bricks and mortar on what used to be desert, Qatar officials putting together the first World Cup in the Middle East detailed — in exclusive interviews with The Associated Press — what the fan experience may look like in eight years.....Continue Reading

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