VANCOUVER \u2014 They arrived in Vancouver on a free flight chartered by the Emir of Qatar and are staying at a five-star downtown hotel. <\/p>\n
Mohmoud Alban, 30, said his \u201cking,\u201d Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, picked up the hotel tab too, for him and other Qatar supporters who flew into Vancouver this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s taking care of all of this,\u201d said Alban in an interview. \u201cYou know that\u2019s how Qatar takes care of their people.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll be outnumbered on Thursday, when Qatar plays Canada at BC Place Stadium, but the visiting fans are brimming with confidence after a 1-1 draw with Switzerland last weekend.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve hit the streets of Vancouver, playing traditional darbuka drums and persuading other nations\u2019 fans to don traditional Arab robes for social media videos.<\/p>\n
In the lobby of the JW Marriott Parq hotel, clusters of Qatar fans could be seen in their maroon national jerseys, or designer shirts, Rolexes glittering on their wrists and Louis Vuitton bags slung over their shoulders.<\/p>\n
Other Qatari fans are staying at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel on the emir\u2019s tab. <\/p>\n
Alban said he and his friends were already impressed by Vancouver, and the friendliness of residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is welcoming us even if we are playing against Canada here, and everyone is wishing Qatar a good journey in this World Cup,\u201d said Alban. \u201cAnd I think what Vancouver is doing for the World Cup is amazing, good facilities, everything is safe here. Compared to the U.S., I would say Vancouver did a very good job hosting the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stadium is looking fantastic, and yeah, I\u2019m looking forward to the match.\u201d<\/p>\n
A statement from FIFA said it has reserved eight per cent of the tickets for each match for supporters of the participating member associations, including Qatar, although that does not necessarily mean only eight per cent of the stadium ends up being fans from those countries.<\/p>\n
There won\u2019t be many local Qataris in the crowd. Statistics Canada notes that while about 5,000 people born in Qatar are living in Canada, none describe themselves as Qatari by ethnic or cultural origin, instead, they mostly list their origins as Arab or Indian.<\/p>\n
This reflects the unusual domestic demographic of Qatar, where about 3 million people live, but only about one in 10 are citizens. The vast majority are foreign workers.<\/p>\n
The nation, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, is fantastically wealthy. Qatari citizens enjoy tax-free incomes, high-paying government jobs, free health care and higher education, and plush retirement benefits.<\/p>\n
Abdulla Salem Al-Yafai and friend Aaziz Khalfan Al Haram stood out among the crowds on Vancouver\u2019s Granville Street on Tuesday, dressed in ankle-length robes and traditional head scarves fastened with a black cord.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are optimistic about our team, and we\u2019ll do our part in the stands by giving them even more support and encouragement. As fans, we have an important role to play in motivating the players throughout the tournament,\u2019 said Yafai. <\/p>\n
\u201cGod willing, we will win. Our team is capable of doing it again and qualifying for the next round. Come on, Qatar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mimo Bucko, owner of Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant in Yaletown, said five big groups of Qatari fans have visited his business. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be busy. We\u2019re making special dishes for them as well,\u201d said Bucko. \u201cWe\u2019re doing special whole roasted Moroccan lamb, and they like traditional Moroccan food, pastillas, tagine lamb, and good eggplant stew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Omar Alansari, 27, arrived in Vancouver on Monday after flying in from San Francisco, where Qatar played Switzerland.<\/p>\n
He said he has been supporting the Qatar national team since he was seven. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe qualified for the World Cup for the second time in our history. We were a little bit scared about our national team, but when we saw them in the Switzerland game, they were fantastic. They played very well,\u201d said Alansari, adding that he is hoping Qatar will emerge victorious on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Alansari said he isn\u2019t worried about being outnumbered on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be wearing the traditional clothes,\u201d said Alansari, \u201cYou will hear the drums, you will hear us chatting, and you will see what Qatari fans do on the match day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from Brieanna Charlebois and The Associated Press<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 They arrived in Vancouver on a free flight chartered by the Emir of Qatar and are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[4141,525,226,290,49,95],"class_list":["post-92669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-beverage","tag-business","tag-lifestyle","tag-national","tag-sports","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}