Fifa's Infantino predicts Dubai and Abu Dhabi boost from World Cup in Qatar

Fifa president Gianni Infantino expects Abu Dhabi and Dubai to score a tourism boost when the World Cup in Qatar kicks off in November.

The head of the sport's governing body believes the logistical challenges of hosting 32 teams and hundreds of thousands of fans in one city will end up being a positive for the entire region.

Qatar, the smallest country to stage a World Cup tournament, will host 64 games in 28 days at eight stadiums in and around its capital Doha.

While this will allow fans to travel easily from game to game like never before – as some previous World Cups have been held across two host countries let alone a number of cities – it will place huge pressure on Doha's accommodation market.

Infantino said this opens up an opportunity for fans to explore Middle East nations near Qatar.

"There will be accommodation for everyone who wants to stay in Qatar, but maybe somebody then wants to make a day in Dubai or Abu Dubai or Muscat or Riyadh or Jeddah or whatever in the region and they will have the opportunity to go and visit other countries throughout their stay in this region," he told Reuters in an interview.

"That is certainly what we also recommend, because I think one of the biggest experiences in this particular World Cup ... is an opportunity for people to come to a country and a part of the world that they maybe do not know."

Infantino was in Doha on Friday for the World Cup draw.

About 1.5 million visitors are expected to descend on Doha for the tournament, which gets under way on November 21.

But with only about 130,000 rooms provided by hotels, cruise liners anchored off Doha and desert camp sites, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will provide attractive alternative destinations for