Qatar boasts some cool venues

With a little under 2,022 days until the Qatar World Cup kicks off, the tiny yet ambitious Gulf state will officially unveil the tournament’s first completed venue on Friday.

The Khalifa International Stadium – complete with cooling technology that was central to Qatar’s controversial bid for the World Cup -will host the country’s biggest domestic cup competition, The Emir Cup final.

On the pitch it will be a battle between two of the country’s biggest teams – Al Sadd, skippered by Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez, who called the stadium “fantastic” during a tour on Thursday – and Al Rayyan.