DOHA — “Messi’s going dwelling!”

“The place’s Messi?”

“The place’s Messi?”

“The place’s Messi?”

The Mexico followers are in devilishly positive spirits at Doha’s Souq Waqif on Saturday afternoon. Argentina supporters try to drown them out with songs, however they’re no match for the hordes in inexperienced. Argentina vs Mexico is because of be performed 20 miles away on the Lusail Stadium within the day’s 10pm kick-off and, after Saudi Arabia surprised Lionel Messi and Co of their opening sport, the Mexicans sniff an opportunity to get rid of one of many event favourites, and one of many sport’s biggest gamers from his last World Cup.

Souq Waqif – one of many few remaining conventional Souq’s within the Gulf – was for hundreds of years the place the place nomadic Bedouin tribes would go to to commerce items. As such it’s a melting pot of cultures and, as a well-liked vacationer vacation spot, a spot the place the World Cup actually feels alive.

Whereas the World Cup logistics are nice in Doha – the metro runs completely and there’s air conditioning in all places to offer reduction from the suffocating warmth – a lot of Qatar’s capital metropolis has an nearly overly new really feel to it, the brilliant white lighting and huge built-up areas the place there are rows of skyscrapers however little a lot else, could make for a sterile ambiance.

Not so at Souq Waqif, the enormous market a brief stroll from the Msheireb Metro station on the Inexperienced Line, the place followers from all around the world mingle in a pleasant ambiance stuffed with households. The principle road is neglected on both facet by excessive, sand-coloured pure stone buildings, beneath that are eating places serving a various array of cuisines – Iraqi, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, numerous breads and curries and meats (or a burger should you fancy one) – with teams consuming on tables and watching the colors of the world – France’s blue, Mexico and Saudi Arabia’s inexperienced, Argentina’s mild blue and white, Brazil’s yellow – amble by. The favored native shawarmas – meat, salad and chips, with garlic sauce on a flatbread – solely value a number of quid and are pleasant for a fast lunch.

The Souq had fallen into disrepair and was nearly demolished earlier than it was fully renovated in 2004. Now, stalls promoting glittering native knick-knacks, hand-crafted camels, elephants, lamps, brightly-patterned plates and even miniature World Cups, or dearer jewelry, or native clothes, are constructed into the pure stone arches within the authentic Qatari architectural design. And, in fact, the stall house owners are – understandably – cashing in on World Cup fever, promoting something and every part within the colors of the nation of your alternative: flags, garments, head scarves, wrist bands. Stall keepers will make you presents and are open to bartering.

Shisha is widespread on the outside cafes and the candy scents of smoke comply with you thru the crowds. To get out of the glare of the punishing solar, skinny alleyways lead off from the principle road down which it’s straightforward to get misplaced in a labyrinth of multicoloured, patterned cloths, footwear, fragrance, purses, spices and souvenirs.

Male followers from throughout have been queuing up at stalls to be fitted with a gutra – the free headdress in pink and white, or white, folded and positioned on a white cap and held in place by an agal – a stretchy black rope – which is able to set the customer again round 50 riyals – £11.

“We will spend a number of days being like Qataris,” a Mexico supporter says to me as he and a companion are fitted by the stall keeper.

The indoor, mud-coated alleyways are populated by small retailers the place incense regularly burns outdoors, changing the smells of shisha. There are fewer folks than on the broader, crammed major road. The archways have flags from all around the world strung throughout from one facet to the opposite, zig-zagging overhead.

Like the remainder of Doha, the costs range from terribly costly to terribly low-cost. A few of the jewelry retailers promote valuable and semi-precious stones that can set you again.

In contrast, inside one fabric store I used to be seeking to purchase a shawl as a present and after selecting the design and ascertaining it was 12 riyals – £2.64 – the proprietor tried to offer me your complete large roll, earlier than helpfully pointing me to a shawl vendor.

After winding left and proper at random by way of alleyway after alleyway, I see mild on the finish of a tunnel and enterprise again out into the solar, discovering myself proper again the place I started.

The Mexicans are nonetheless asking the place’s Messi, playfully implying that he went lacking towards Saudi Arabia. The Argentinians chant again. They’re the 2 international locations to have despatched essentially the most followers to Qatar. Supporters from different international locations take photos with the numerous in fancy costume, notably the Mexicans of their ponchos, wide-brimmed sombreros and lucha libre wrestling masks.

“Messi’s going dwelling!”

“The place’s Messi?”

It feels identical to a World Cup ought to.