AP Muhammed Afsal

Foot­ball shirts dom­i­nate shopfronts, pre­dic­tions rule ban­ter and flags adorn streets ahead of Qatar’s Asian Cup open­er.

In a bustling Doha restau­rant, Ab­bas Koori shares his love of the sport and com­mand of foot­ball triv­ia with cus­tomers.

Juan­ro Aguiló was born with only one, in­com­plete arm. To­day he is an ace freestyle foot­baller and mo­ti­va­tion­al speak­er.

The song will re­sound across Qatar as the na­tion­al team makes its World Cup de­but on No­vem­ber 20.

Fresh, milky samovar tea is giv­ing its more es­tab­lished broth­er, the evap­o­rat­ed-milk karak, a run for its mon­ey.

How a young ath­let­ics-lov­ing girl from a small vil­lage in In­dia rewrote his­to­ry books on the foot­ball pitch.

Crick­et has gone from friend­ly match­es to com­pet­i­tive fix­tures on dusty fields and car parks.

Anger and fear in the is­lands whose ad­min­is­tra­tor plans a slew of mea­sures that threat­en liveli­hood and ecol­o­gy.