First-ever permanent FIFA Store opens in Qatar

Qatar has thrown up a FIFA World Cup for the ages, setting a benchmark for such a huge sporting mega event will be organised, both with activities on and off the pitch, starting with eight state-of-the-art venues, that will surely be remembered for decades, while also creating the perfect safe environment for the visiting fans to celebrate their team’s performances on the biggest of stages.

Now, a new milestone has been achieved, as the first-ever FIFA Store was officially opened at the Hamad International Airport (HIA), in partnership with Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the official retail partner of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The FIFA store features clothing, footballs, accessories and FIFA World Cup 2022 official licensed products, as well as items related to the various football FIFA competitions such as emblems, figures, medals, badges and clothing, bags, and other products, most of which are produced coinciding with the events organized by FIFA.

FIFA Stores have been opened in various locations around Qatar, especially around the eight venues of the competition, with another mega store running at the FIFA Fan Festival, the place where all football fans come to celebrate the competition. All of those FIFA Stores are temporary and will be closed after the conclusion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with the big game, the final, scheduled of 18 December, a day which is also the Qatar National Day.

However, this is the first permanent FIFA Store that has been opened outside of the venues in the competition, underlining once again the undertaking by Qatar of setting up the tournament, in a huge effort that also saw the redesign and expansion of the country’s biggest airport, the Hamad International Airport.

The FIFA Store at HIA includes a group of exclusive FIFA products, including football t-shirts, sportswear and accessories, as well as the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Al Rihla, souvenirs and exclusive collectibles for this tournament. Also, the store has a premium selection of official team jerseys and accessories to help fans show support for their favorite teams and the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semi-finals and finals, Al Hilm, which will be used in the last four games of the competition.

There is a special area called ‘FIFA Rewind’ where shoppers can purchase the FIFA classic clothing belonging to some of the most famous FIFA World Cups, including Mexico 1970, France 1998, South Africa 2010, and Uruguay 1930. These include classic t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and more.

Alongside the opening of the store, a public viewing of the one-and-only, solid-gold original FIFA World Cup Trophy was set up, where people can take a souvenir photo with the most iconic symbol in football. This trophy is presented by FIFA to the team winning the World Cup, is made of pure gold and weighs over six kilograms, being introduced in 1974, after Brazil took home the “Jules Rimet Cup” in 1970.

“This current period has been exceptional for Qatar and the QDF’s important role in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The opening of the first store of its kind in the world within the new HIA expansion is a source of pride,” said QDF Vice President Thabet Musleh.

As the 2022 FIFA World Cup comes to a close, hundreds of thousands of fans will then head home after the conclusion of the competition, with the Hamad International Airport still busy, after it recorded over 16.000 flights coming and going since the start of the competition, a new record for one of the best airports in the world.