The container stadium: the particular story of 974, where Argentina will play vs. Poland

If there was a problem that encompassed the last World Cup venues, it was that of the stadiums. Not at the time of the maximum appointment, but the day after. When the lights go out and the euphoria of experiencing the most anticipated matches of the last four years comes to an end, many of the venues that host the tournament matches are completely uninhabited. almost unused. It is that it is not easy, many times, to be able to build a field suitable for a team from that city that manages to cover the expenses of such a structure. Therefore, they end up being a “white elephant” all abandoned. In that sense, Qatar found a solution with 974site that will be the headquarters of the duel on Wednesday, at 4:00 p.m. (TV Pública, TyC Sports and DirecTV Sports), between Argentina and Poland, due to the closure of group C.

Located on the shores of the Persian Gulf, it has a capacity for just over 44 thousand spectators and is the only one that does not have an air conditioning system. Of course, the roof is open and being in the West Bay area allows a breeze to blow at night that reduces the heat from cross ventilation.

Its construction began at the beginning of 2018 and its construction was completed three years later to be able to be opened in November 2021 with the match between Syria and the United Arab Emirates, on the first day of competition of the Arab Cup.

And although it looks new and totally modern, its use has a very close expiration date, since it only has three games left to receive: the aforementioned Poland-Argentina, Serbia vs. Switzerland for the last date of group G and, finally, it will close after the round of 16 match between the first group G and the second group H.

Now, why is the stadium named after 974 and not a traditional one? There are two reasons: the first is that 974 recycled containers were used that were placed like Tetris pieces to build the World Cup headquarters and, the second, goes through the international code for telephone calls from Qatar. Each container, for its part, has a special color, which was not chosen at random. For example, the bathrooms are painted yellow and the places of sale, blue. In addition, the place has prayer rooms, VIP spaces and more luxuries.

Once the event in the Middle East is over, the stadium structure will be completely dismantled. Unlike the other venues that will be reduced in capacity, in this case Qatar will bet on ecology and will build a green space there so that the residents of the area can go out and enjoy the atmosphere.

Argentina will play its next final in one of the last functions of 974, a modern stadium with an idea that many countries in the world are evaluating to copy after the four stars awarded by FIFA in the global sustainability evaluation.

Will it be the place of the pass to the round of 16?

Mexico-Poland, Portugal-Ghana, France-Denmark and Brazil-Switzerland are the four matches that were played at the stadium in this World Cup.