 before deteriorating (he can't find my hotel). That, it turns out, is Gareth Southgate's fault. I'm staying at the Souq Al Wakra Hotel Qatar by Tivoli, which will be England's base for the tournament – and the famously prosaic Southgate has selected accommodation that is stuck safely out in the suburbs, miles away from the glitzy skyscrapers and big-city buzz of downtown Doha. So while the USA team, for instance, are staying in the heart of things at the Marsa Malaz Kempinski, where the cheapest suite goes for £628 a night, the England squad will be sequestered in their £73-a-night billet next door to a small, provincial-looking beauty salon called Desert Rose. (More bad news for the boys: a sign on the salon's door says 'Ladies onl){kind=link}
Will our footballers appreciate the glories of the Museum of Islamic Art, asks our writer, and will the Wags all buy their own falcons?
Harry Maguire bends his 6’4″ bulk to examine the exquisite intricacy of the medieval Quranic calligraphy; Harry Kane’s world-weary eyes widen at the delicate floral design on an Ottoman clay dish; and thug-coiffed Phil Foden feels the stirrings of a spiritual awakening as he contemplates a Mamluk-era Syrian incense burner, alongside the other aesthetes and amateur theologians of the England football team.
It’s a slightly far-fetched scenario, perhaps, but with long hours to kill between their World Cup matches in Qatar this month, it’s not impossible to imagine the England team visiting the country’s leading tourist attraction, Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art.
And if they don’t, then there’s slightly more room for the rest of us. Qatar is expecting 1.2 million international visitors during the month-long tournament – and 6 million a year after it. So last month I went out to the tiny Gulf state to see what Gareth Southgate’s men, and all those who follow them, can expect from the controversial host country.
In a pattern with which England fans will be all too familiar, things start well (my taxi driver from the airport chatters excitedly about the tournament, and the opportunities it has provided for both native Qataris and migrant workers) before deteriorating (he can’t find my hotel). That, it turns out, is Gareth Southgate’s fault. I’m staying at the Souq Al Wakra Hotel Qatar by Tivoli, which will be England’s base for the tournament – and the famously prosaic Southgate has selected accommodation that is stuck safely out in the suburbs, miles away from the glitzy skyscrapers and big-city buzz of downtown Doha.