[theo_luddite]

Have to agree, had a belated look at their players playing abroad. There's plenty of them but very few in the top leagues around Europe

[0762]

Looking at the latest development re how the semi-final fixtures are played out - Wales and Austria play out their semi-final later on this month. So, in reality, the winner of this WC play-off will have about 7-8 weeks to prepare for an eventual final at home while Scotland eventually play out a delayed fixture v Ukraine and then, four days later, the winners must play the final??? Curious eh! Additionally, I notice Scotland will face a fixture logjam in June as some Nations' League fixtures v Ukraine, ROI and Armenia due to be played in June - strong grounds for Steve Clarke to complain!

[0762]

And finally announced yesterday by FIFA that Scotland will face Ukraine at Hampden Park on Wed 1 June. Looks like most Ukrainian players are already training at an unnamed summer training camp. This is turning out to be one of those unenviable fixtures where most people/neutrals will be wanting Ukraine to qualify for Quatar '22. Scotland players and Steve Clarke will just have to apply their full focus and professionalism leading up to this match that would've drawn three times the capacity of the stadium, such is the huge interest in it up here with a huge demand for match tickets.

[WakeyTerrier]

Got my ticket update from the FA last night about Category splits for the England Games in Qatar. As suspected the amount given to the supporters of the qualified countries is very low. I thought I'd share it as it could become relevant if the Tartan Army qualify.

Add on 5 tickets for Wheelchairs and a further 4 tickets for easy access to the the splits listed below.

Hopefully this will be useful info if you know anybody that is thinking of making the trip in November

England v Iran
2489 Tickets in Total
Cat 1 100
Cat 2 595
Cat 3 1785

England v USA
4158 Tickets in total
Cat 1 100
Cat 2 1013
Cat 3 3036

England v Euro Play off(possibly Scotland)
2339 tickets in total (our smallest allocation for the whole tournament)
Cat 1 100
Cat 2 558
Cat 3 1672

The best allocation is for the final
5109 tickets in total
Cat 1 100
Cat 2 1250
Cat 3 3750

[0762]

Yep! Useful info to know that ticket availability is very low indeed, but no surprise. I wonder if they'll have ticket touts in that part of the world eh?

[theo_luddite]

30 camels and 20 goats for a front row seat sir? No problem, make it 40 camels for a pair next to each other.

[WakeyTerrier]

It would seem demand for this World Cup is very low from the England fans. Only 1 game is oversubscribed and that is the game against the European Play off winners.
For every other game it is undersubscribed including the final where as of yesterday just 3882 members had applied for a Final ticket

[0762]

No surprise TBH. Wrong part of the globe, an odd time of the year to have a tourney and the culture and human rights issues attached to Qatar are debatable.

[WakeyTerrier]

No surprise TBH. Wrong part of the globe, an odd time of the year to have a tourney and the culture and human rights issues attached to Qatar are debatable.

I totally get all those points but as a counter argument I see it as the following

Once you've booked flights and accommodation it will be the easiest World Cup ever to attend. No long journeys between grounds 100's of miles apart.

Yes November/December isn't the right time for the World Cup but who doesn't like a bit of Winter sunshine.

The culture, This won't be like any trip I've been on before but I'm looking forward to seeing what Qatar is like. Lots of fans put off by the lack of alcohol available but for me this just makes the trip better, the lack of beer will mean less nobhead fans who just want to get pissed and embarrass the country will travel.

Human rights issues, is rightly a concern and again this in turn has put off supporters from the LGBTQ community. Only time will tell how they will be greeted and treated by Qatar.
The human rights of the workers that built the stadium are again not good but given that they have built the stadiums do we either boycott the tournament which would mean many workers have died for nothing or do we go.

[ritchiebaby]

I was lucky enough to be in Doha during November 2019 and the climate in November is the best it can be for a football tournament in the region. I even saw the Khalifa Stadium and, much the same as any other country, if you behave and respect the local laws, then life will be good. If you don't like any of the laws, then don't go.

Countries like China have poor human rights records, but I don't hear much about boycotting Chinese goods for example. In fact, as a nation, we are desperate for more goods from them.