As an international association football tournament, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will include the national men's teams from all FIFA member associations. From November 20 to December 18, 2022, Qatar will host the 22nd FIFA World Cup. It was the second time a World Cup has been held in Asia, after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
The Arab world is hosting this World Cup for the first time. At an estimated cost of about $220 billion, it would be the most expensive World Cup history. France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup by defeating Croatia 4–2.
The 2026 competition is expected to feature 48 teams, hence the current edition is likely the last to feature only 32. Since Qatar experiences extremely high temperatures in the summer, the World Cup will be held in the months of November and December.
The original 60-day schedule has been shortened to 29 days. There will be 64 matches spread across 8 venues in 5 cities. The opening match, between Qatar and Ecuador, took place at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The Qataris were the first host nation to lose its opening World Cup match, falling to Mexico by a score of 2-0. As it happens, Qatar's National Day (December 18) in 2022 coincides with the final at Lusail Stadium.
Many people, especially in the West, are unhappy with the choice to have the World Cup in Qatar.
Criticism of Qatar's poor human rights record, including their treatment of migrant workers and women and their attitude on LGBT rights, led to accusations of sportswashing. Some have speculated that payments for hosting rights were paid by FIFA, while others have pointed to Qatar's severe climate and lackluster football culture as evidence of the organization's widespread corruption.
There have been boycotts of the tournament announced by several countries, teams, and players. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter labeled the decision to award Qatar the hosting rights a "mistake" on two separate occasions, but current FIFA president Gianni Infantino has supported the choice. A cultural war between secular liberal democracies in the West and Islamic morality was portrayed as the root of the dispute.
Overview
The FIFA World Cup is a major international tournament for professional association football teams representing different countries.
Since the 1998 edition, 32 countries have competed in the FIFA World Cup, which is held every four years and was originally held in Uruguay in 1930.
The competition begins with eight round-robin groups, then progresses to a knockout stage with 16 teams.
After a 4-2 victory over Croatia in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final, the French national football team is the current winner. Only from November 20th through December 18th will the event be held in Qatar.
The first ever World Cup to be held in the Arab world is being held in Qatar. Spectators did not need to comply with many of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, such as staying away from people, wearing masks, or receiving negative testing.
Schedule
To avoid the oppressive summer heat in Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place in November and December instead of June and July, as was the case with previous editions.
As a result, the World Cup falls smack dab in the heart of domestic football league seasons, which traditionally kick off in late July or early August. Because of the World Cup, all of the major European leagues had to rearrange their domestic calendars to accommodate the tournament. Group stage games at big European competitions have been scheduled before the World Cup to prevent having to be played the following year.
In July of 2020, FIFA released a schedule of all upcoming matches.
The first round of group play began on November 21st and included a schedule of four games per day. After Qatar successfully lobbied FIFA to open the tournament with their team, the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador was rescheduled to take place on November 20. The final game will be played at Lusail Iconic Stadium on National Day (December 18), 2022.
Each group's games will be played at one of the following stadiums:
Al Bayt, Khalifa International, Al Thumama, and Ahmad bin Ali are some of the stadiums that make up Groups A, B, E, and F, respectively.
Al Janoub Stadium, Education City Stadium, and Stadium 974 are some of the venues that make up Groups C, D, G, and H.
It all started on April 1st, 2022, when FIFA revealed the schedule for the group stage. It was confirmed on August 11 that the tournament's first match, originally set to feature Senegal and the Netherlands, would now take place in the time slot made available when Qatar's game against Ecuador was pushed up a day.
In April of 2022, FIFA announced the prizes for all participating nations. Each qualifying team will receive $1.5 million in advance to help with preparation costs, plus at least $9 million in prize money. There will be a total of $440 million up for grabs, which is $40 million more than the last tournament's prize pool.
Saturday, November 26
Group D features Australia vs. Tunisia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 10am)
In Group C, Poland takes on Saudi Arabia (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group D features France and Denmark (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group C include Argentina and Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
Sun., Nov. 27
Matchup between Costa Rica and Japan in Group E (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 10am)
Group F: Belgium vs. Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 1pm)
Group F's Croatia vs. Canada (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 4pm)
Competing in Group E, Germany faces up against Spain (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Monday, November 28th
Team Serbia takes on Team Cameroon in Group G action (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 10am)
H Group South Korea and Ghana (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group G features Brazil and Switzerland as competitors (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group H pits Portugal against Uruguay (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
In the afternoon of Tuesday, November 29
Game 1 of Group A: Netherlands vs. Qatar (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
Group A features Senegal versus Ecuador (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group B pits England against Wales (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)
Group B features Iran versus the United States (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
That Friday the 30th of November
Group D features a matchup between Australia and Denmark (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
Tunisia takes face France in Group D. (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group C includes Argentina and Poland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Group C pits Saudi Arabia against Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
November 30th, a Wednesday
In Group F, Croatia faces up against Belgium (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group F matchup: Canada vs. Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
In Group E, Germany takes against Costa Rica (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Group E features Spain and Japan (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)
Thursday, November 30
Group H's Portugal vs. South Korea (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group H features Ghana and Uruguay (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
Group G features Serbia and Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Group G features Brazil and Cameroon (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
Sat., Dec. 3rd
Round 49: Group A victors versus Group B runner-ups (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
50 - Group C's top two teams take on Group D's runner-ups (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)
During the day on Sunday, December 4th
Match 52: Champions of Group D take on Runners-Up of Group C (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
51. Group B champions versus Group A runner-up (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
November 5th, Monday
Group F's runner-up takes on Group E's champions in Game 53 (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
54 - Runners-up of Group H vs. Winners of Group G (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Tuesday December 6
55 - The champions of Group F face the runner-ups of Group E. (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
The 56th match pits the victorious team from Group H against the runner-up team from Group G. (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
Quarter-finals On Friday, December 9
On Friday, December 9, the victor of Contest 53 will face the victor of Contest 54. (Kickoff is at 3 p.m. at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan).
Winners: 49 vs. Winners: 50 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 7pm)
The 10th of December is a Saturday
Contestants with 55 points vs. those with 56 points in 60 (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
The final score was 51 to 52 in a 59-point game (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Semi-finals Tuesday, December 13th
Versus Tuesday, December 13th, the 57-winners will go on the 58-winners (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
December 14
The winners of 59 and 60 faced off (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
December 17
Third-place playoff on Saturday, December 17 (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Final
On December 18th, the World Cup final was played. (Kickoff: 3pm; location: Lusail Iconic Stadium)
