Stadiums

DOHA - "Stop! Can't you see the metro station is full? Stop!" a frazzled supervisor shouted as green-vested marshals linked arms to contain thousands of fans streaming from the stadium that will host soccer's World Cup final in Qatar.

It was after midnight on Friday and, for hours, nearly 78,000 people had been filing out of the stadium after a near-capacity match tested the small Gulf state's readiness for the tournament, which kicks off on Nov. 20.

A record National Women's Soccer League crowd is expected to be on hand Sept. 17 when the San Diego Wave host Angel City FC in a battle of expansion teams.

The Wave said more than 32,000 tickets have been sold for the game, which will be the team's first at the new Snapdragon Stadium. The venue will host its first sporting event on Saturday when San Diego State's football team plays Arizona.

The NWSL attendance record of 25,218 was set in 2019 at Providence Park in Portland when the Thorns hosted the North Carolina Courage.

A congratulations is in order to the people of Harrison, New Jersey, who'll likely be counted among the last to have witnessed one of the final live performances of Lionel Messi in an Argentina jersey.

Organizers have sold 2.45 million tickets for this year's World Cup in Qatar, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday, with more than half a million of them sold in the last sales period from July 5-16.

FIFA said the biggest number of allocated tickets were for group stage matches like Cameroon vs. Brazil, Brazil vs. Serbia, Portugal vs. Uruguay, Costa Rica vs. Germany and Australia vs. Denmark.

The Premier League kicks off this weekend as Crystal Palace hosts Arsenal at Selhurst Park, a modest yet perfect example of what soccer stadiums should and can be. With so many teams, and especially the giants, boasting opulent cathedrals of sport, it's only necessary to determine which are the biggest for the 2022-23 season.

LONDON - Thousands of England soccer fans dressed in red and white were descending on London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday for the final of the Women's Euro 2022 tournament that has gripped the country this summer.

Ahead of the sold-out final against Germany, fans including many young girls were dressed in the kit of England's Lionesses, while a helicopter provided television footage of the team's coach making its way to the stadium.

It looks increasingly likely that the NFL's Chicago Bears will leave Soldier Field for a new stadium in Arlington Park, but that hasn't stopped the city and Mayor Lori Lightfoot from unveiling plans for a massive renovation to the 98-year-old facility and the 57-acre Museum Campus it sits on (home to the Shed Aquarium and Field Museum).

Processions across the Midwest came to a rest at Wisconsin’s most hallowed ground on Saturday night. Fans of Germany’s Bayern Munich and England’s Manchester City packed into Lambeau Field to watch the first-ever soccer match played at the home of the Green Bay Packers.

As thousands of spectators arrived, streams of fans in sky blue and bright red paraded through the small town with the behemoth that is Lambeau Field lying in their sights. For many who see soccer as their religion, this was about to be their evening service.