AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — Icy air blasted the greater than 67,000 followers packing the Al Bayt Stadium on the World Cup’s breezy opening evening within the coastal Qatari metropolis of Al Khor.The cool evening, made chillier by the air-conditioned outside stadium, left some followers wishing that they had dressed hotter.“Really, it’s too chilly,” mentioned Faisal Rasheed, a 40-year-old Qatari fan who had come to see the host nation tackle Ecuador after the seven-act opening ceremony. Carrying a maroon sweatshirt within the coloration of Qatar’s nationwide flag and uniform, Rasheed mentioned the air-conditioning was “working nicely,” however puzzled whether or not it was wanted on the windy, desert evening.Qatar misplaced the match 2-0 on an evening when the surface temperature peaked at 23 levels Celsius (74 levels Fahrenheit).The World Cup is being held within the winter months as a substitute of the standard June-July window after organizers moved it in 2015, 5 years after Qatar gained the internet hosting rights, over issues about how followers and gamers would fare below the nation’s searing summer time warmth. Qatar spent billions constructing seven air-conditioned, open-air World Cup stadiums. Organizers have trumpeted the expertise behind the cooling techniques within the lengthy runup to the event, repeatedly saying that temperatures within the stands and taking part in area would hover round 20 levels Celsius (68 levels Fahrenheit), no matter outdoors situations.The 974 Stadium in Doha is the one venue that won’t be cooled, however it’s going to host solely evening matches.The Bedouin tent-shaped Al Bayt Stadium has a cooling station that sends chilled water to a number of air therapy models contained in the venue. Among the water used within the cooling course of is recycled wastewater, stadium engineer Saud Ghani mentioned.Mario Sanchez, a 33-year-old U.S. fan, mentioned he had traveled to Qatar from Chicago to observe 28 of the event’s 64 matches.“It truly feels sort of chilly tonight,” Sanchez mentioned, “however that’s as a result of it’s actually windy.” He mentioned the expertise’s actual take a look at would possible come on Monday through the first daytime match, between England and Iran, at 4 p.m. native time.“We’ll see how that goes,” Sanchez mentioned. ___