Proud to be part of its construction team: Indian engineer Shahid who contributed to making of Qatar's FIFA WC stadium

Nagpur: Shahid Ali, one of the engineers behind the construction work in the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar for FIFA World Cup 2022, said that it is a proud feeling to be a part of its construction team and it felt good seeing the opening ceremony happen at the stadium.

FIFA World Cup 2022 finally kicked off on Sunday with a glittering opening ceremony, which featured the likes of actor Morgan Freeman and K-Pop group BTS. Shahid recalled that he went to Qatar when the construction work for the stadium had started back in 2017.

"It feels good to see the opening ceremony of the World Cup at the stadium. It is a proud feeling that I was a part of the construction team of the stadium. It was extremely tough to work in Qatar in extreme temperatures," said Shahid to ANI.

The working used to be so tough that they were given breaks every 20 minutes and adequate arrangements for labourers like fans and glucose water was made available.

The engineer said that there were people from more than 35 countries including China, UK and Australia who were working with them.

"There were Indians from the ground level to top management in Qatar," he added.

Shahid said that medical facilities for the workers were good and they had ambulances, doctors and nurses nearby.

Enner Valencia scored a brace to help Ecuador defeat Qatar in the opening game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar on Sunday.

The group A game saw the hosts being dominated by the South Americans, with the match seeing the maiden instance where the opening goal of a World Cup was scored through a penalty kick.

With this win, Ecuador became the first team to beat the host nation in the opening match of the World Cup in the 92-year history of the tournament.

Ecuador is now the early leader of its group. It will now face the Netherlands in its second group match on Friday while Qatar will also host Senegal on the same day.

Today, England will take on Iran at 6:30 PM IST and Senegal will lock horns with Netherlands at 9:30 PM.