For the first of its kind in history, hundreds of fans and officials at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar performed Friday prayers outside Ahmed bin Ali Stadium and Al-Thamma Stadium.

الحمدلله ..
اللهم تقبل منا ومنهم صالح الاعمال pic.twitter.com/aHpkA3G3us

— حسن الساعي (@Hassan_alsai) November 25, 2022

Photos and videos shared widely on social media have garnered a lot of interaction, in a scene that many found ‘historically dazzling’.

Outside Al thumama stadium in Qatar today for the congregational Friday prayer. Islam is indeed beautiful. I have every reason to be proud because I am a Muslim. @kiramjoho @khalidjoho @Asmali77 what do you make of that opulent kind of environment? pic.twitter.com/TXHce5sOwg

— Nasirmagan (@nasirmagan) November 25, 2022

Fans from Tunisia, Oman, and India were among those performing prayer, as were a uniformed FIFA officials, children dressed in French soccer kits, and hundreds of men and women from nearby hotels and tower blocks.

The worshippers listened to the sermon in Arabic before performing the prayer in front of the World Cup stadium.

The ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will run to December 18.

This year’s edition is the first tournament hosted in the Middle East, the first in a Muslim-majority country, and the first to be held at the end of the calendar year, in November and December.