For decades, Qatar has welcomed the world through sport.
And over time, it has become a meeting point for our region and beyond.
From the 2006 Asian Games in Doha to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, and most recently the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025™ alongside the annual Qatar Grand Prix and the WTA Qatar Open, sport has become one of the most powerful ways Qatar connects with regional and international audiences. Soon, that journey continues with the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
H.E. Sheikh Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman of Media City Qatar, put it simply: “Each event brings competition, excitement, and global attention. But over time, something deeper has taken shape. Sport has become a shared language and .a platform to express who we are and what we stand for.”
“When the final match of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025™ coincided with Qatar National Day 2025 on December 18, it presented a rare opportunity. A moment when national celebration and regional attention could converge on a single stage. The question was not whether to mark it, but how.”
The answer, he concluded, was ‘Qatar SoundBeat’.
From the World Stage to a Shared Regional Voice
This vision builds directly on the success of last year’s ‘Qatar ArtBeat’ initiative, a first-of-its-kind public art project that brought together thousands of individual contributions from across Qatar into one collective artwork, culminating in the setting of an entirely new Guinness World Records™ title. That achievement proved something essential.
When people are invited to participate meaningfully, creativity becomes a shared force.
‘Qatar SoundBeat’ carried that philosophy forward. If last year was about seeing Qatar, this year became about hearing Qatar.
With the final match of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025™ taking place on Qatar National Day 2025, Media City Qatar made a deliberate choice. To use one of the most-watched moments in the Arab sporting calendar to offer a shared cultural experience that could resonate across borders and generations.
Before 89,000 spectators in the stands and millions of viewers across digital and broadcast platforms, the song ‘Nabd Qatar’ was revealed as the centerpiece of ‘Qatar SoundBeat’, presented by Media City Qatar, conceived and composed by regionally acclaimed musician Omar Rahbany, and produced by Rahbani 3.0, our licensed company, in collaboration with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. It was premiered through a large-scale synchronized light show, transforming Lusail Stadium into a coordinated experience of sound and light that reflected continuity between heritage and modernity.
In that moment, sport, culture, and identity played on the same wavelength.
Composing a Rhythm
At its core, ‘Nabd Qatar’ is shaped by sounds that are immediately familiar not only within Qatar, but across the Arab world. From Ardha sword dance chants written by H.E. Mr. Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, former Minister of Sports and Youth, to the hum of desert dunes, the whisper of wind, the flight of a falcon, the echo of an Arabian horse’s gallop, the flutter of the flag, and the beat of a heart, the composition draws on elements that are immediately familiar to audiences in Qatar and around the region. These sounds are woven through three distinct movements that reflect tradition, classical form, and modern expression, coming together to tell a story of a nation.
The lyrics, written by Abdullah Khaled Abdulquddus, songwriter, are grounded in thousands of words and phrases contributed by the public during the ‘Qatar ArtBeat’ campaign in 2024. All contributions were combined into a single narrative, transforming individual expressions into a shared musical identity rooted in unity and belonging.
Following the live premiere before fans from around the Arab world gathered in Doha, the storytelling extended beyond the stadium through an exclusive music video directed by Karim Rahbani. Today, in the opening weeks of 2026, the work has recorded more than one million views across social media and is now available on YouTube, Spotify, and Anghami, allowing the rhythm of ‘Qatar SoundBeat’ to continue resonating well beyond football’s biggest regional stage.
The scale and precision of that moment is explored further in a newly released documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes of ‘Qatar SoundBeat’, capturing the creative process, technical coordination, and human effort behind the live premiere, from composition and orchestration to rehearsals, production, and the final night at the stadium.
Sound as a MENA Cultural Bridge
Performed in Arabic, the work also speaks to the scale and vitality of Arab creativity itself. Spoken by more than half a billion people across over 22 countries, Arabic is not only a language of culture, but a powerful creative medium with global reach.
For Hamad Omar A. Al-Mannai, Chief Executive Officer of Media City Qatar, the significance further lies in reach and timing: “Premiered on one of the most-watched sporting stages in the Arab world, the work moved simultaneously across countries, platforms, and audiences, allowing millions to experience the same rhythm at the same time, regardless of geography.
“For Media City Qatar, ‘Qatar SoundBeat’ reflects a broader commitment to building a future-facing creative ecosystem — one where artists, composers, producers, and storytellers can create work that is culturally grounded, technically ambitious, and regionally and globally relevant.”
Where Next Is Made
Media City Qatar was established with a clear purpose: to ensure that as Qatar opens itself to the world, it also shapes how it is seen, heard, and understood, as part of a wider MENA landscape. It was founded to help build a future-facing creative economy in our part of the world, and invite participation from the Arab region and those seeking to engage with it.
Today, with more than 350 licensed companies across media, content creation, gaming, and digital innovation, the ecosystem is taking shape. Initiatives such as the Guinness World Records™–setting ‘Qatar ArtBeat’ and the debut of ‘Qatar SoundBeat’ at the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025™ final show how culturally rooted work from the region can also be technically world-class and globally relevant, turning community voices into shared meaning that carries regional culture confidently onto the global stage.
This is where media is produced.
This is where the next chapter is defined.
This is Where Next is Made.
Trump’s Iran War Has Clear Winners and Losers
After weeks of intensive strikes, Iran is emerging from the war with potentially more sovereignty, fewer sanctions, and a weaker opposition.