A third cruise ship was hired by the world cup  in Qatar yesterday to operate as a soccer fan hotel docked in Doha Port to add much-needed rooms for the tournament.

Geneva-based MSC Cruises announced the agreement only six weeks before the world cup is scheduled to start on November 20, The 1,075-cabin MSC opera will be available from November 19 to December 19.

Qatar does not have the hotel capacity for all teams, workers, volunteers and fans at the World Cup and is creating camping and cabin sites, hiring cruise ships, and encouraging fans to stay in neighbouring countries and fly in for games.

MSC previously signed a deal with the Qatari government in 2019 to provide two ships with about 4,000 cabins as floating hotels to help house the expected 1.2 million international visitors.

The high-end flagship MSC World Europa is starting work at the World Cup after being built in France.