You need to fasten your seatbelts as we are about to land in Qatar. Yes, this winter, millions of world tourists will flock to this middle-eastern country single or with friends. The world of football will have its best show of talent, skills, and passion in the form of the Football World Cup 2022, and Qatar is the tournament host.
Before discussing World Cup Qatar 2022, let’s have a look at the FIFA world ranking just before the ball is kicked off.
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Argentina
- France
- England
- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Denmark
FIFA World Cup 2022 Schedule
World Cup Qatar 2022 will open on November 20, Sunday and run through to December 18, Sunday. Men’s world cup is being held for the first time this season between autumn and winter in the region of the Persian Gulf.
Stadiums
Eight stadiums in Qatar are organizing the matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022. The name of the stadiums are
- Lusail Iconic Stadium
- Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Stadium 974
- Khalifa International Stadium
- Al Thumana Stadium
- Al Wakrah Sports Complex
- Education City Stadium
Qatar World Cup will also be a densely packed, as the maximum distance between the two stadiums will be only seventy kilometers.
Qatar populates almost three million people, with its capital Doha populating more than 80% of the total population.
FIFA 2022 Qualifiers
Thirty-two countries have qualified for the FIFA 2022 World Cup tournament. The countries are:-
Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, England, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Croatia, Uruguay, Denmark, Australia, Poland, Wales, Japan, Mexico, Senegal, USA, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Iran, Ghana, Serbia, Korea Republic, Canada, Morocco, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
Groups
There are eight groups for thirty-two teams, each with four teams. The tournament’s first phase will have teams playing against the other countries of their groups. Winners will get three points, and both teams will get one point if the match is drawn. Two teams getting the highest points from each group will qualify for the next rounds, called the knock-outs, starting with the round of sixteen.
Teams to miss out on FIFA World Cup 2022
The most fantastic football show in 2022 will miss some great players and teams. The World Cup winners of four times and current European champions Italy will not play this World Cup.
Big teams from Africa and South America, not only Europe, will not play in the tournament. Apart from Italy, Russia, Sweden, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Algeria are the teams to miss this World Cup.
Qatar World Cup schedule
Hosts Qatar from Group A will kick off the tournament against Ecuador on November 20 at 7 pm local time/4 pm CET/3 pm UK/. The opening match will be played at Al Bayt Stadium.
Qatar world cup dates
- Opening Ceremony- November 20, Qatar vs. Ecuador will be the opener match (Group A)
- The final round of the group matches will be played on December 2
- Round of 16 will be played from December 3- December 6
- Quarterfinals will be held on December 9- December 10
- Semi-final games will be played on December 13- December 14
- The match deciding the third place will be held on December 17
- The final game will be played on December 18
7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th December are the rest days.
Tickets
More than 2.5 million football lovers have already bought tickets for World Cup Qatar 2022; others can get those from the website Fifa.com, but they need to hurry as the last phase of ticket bookings is going on now.
People with official match tickets will only be allowed to enter Qatar during the tournament.
Stars to Watch at
It will probably be the last World Cup tournament for two of the biggest names in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonel Messi. CR7 is thirty-seven, and LM10 is thirty-five. So, it is pretty apparent that these two players catch all the eyes. Apart from Messi and Ronaldo, there are other players too.
- Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, Antonie Griezmann- France
- Neymar, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, Grabriel Jesus, Richarlison, Casemiro, Thiago Silva, Dani Alves- Brazil
- Harry Kane- England
- Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford- England
Luis Suarez from Uruguay, Romelu Lukaku, and Kevin De Bruyne from Belgium, among others.
FIFA’s announcement
FIFA announced to distribute an amount of 209 million dollars to the clubs that release international players for the Qatar World Cup. This system was introduced in the 2010 South Africa World Cup to make the European Clubs Association release its members comprising a maximum number of players in any international competition. Every club will get ten thousand dollars this year for each day the players stay with the national team during the World Cup.
World Cup Opening Ceremony
Every football fan must be eagerly waiting for the opening ceremony of the World Cup, which will be held at the AI Bayt Stadium in the city of Jor in the middle-eastern nation on November 20.
It is yet to be confirmed by FIFA who the performers are, but rumors are going on that it will be BTS, Shakira, and Dua Lipa.
BTS, the trendy K-Pop band of Korea, will debut on the opening stage of the World Cup, whereas Shakira, the famous Colombian singer whose “Waka Waka” is still remembered, will get other artists as well to accompany her. Though FIFA didn’t confirm it, the rumors are enough for the fans to get excited.
It is officially confirmed that Nora Fatehi will have a dance performance in the opening ceremony of FIFA 2022.
Official songs of Football World Cup 2022
It’s been a tradition since 1962 for different countries to identify the beginning of the World Cup by their songs.
The 2022 World Cup will have the “Hayya, Hayya, Better Together’ song by American Trinidad Cardona, Qatari Aisha, and Nigerian Davido.
As decreed by FIFA, all major TV networks and OTT platforms will telecast the opening ceremony through their channels, streaming platforms, and mobile applications.
World Cup Mascot
La’eeb, the Arabic word, means a super-skilled player. As FIFA described on its official Twitter page, La’eeb has come from the mascot verse. It intends to bring happiness and self-belief to everyone and make people believe in the present.
Trophy
The gold trophy, which has been used since 1974, will be used this year also for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Controversies
World Cup Qatar 2022 is not exempted from controversies either. There are controversies with the players’ shirts of Denmark and the number of visitors.
The players of Denmark will wear shirts with the name and logo of the team’s sponsor brand. There have been many talks regarding the issue, and the controversy is not yet over, and the situation could be challenging for the organizers if anything unpleasant happens during the tournament.
Managing the visitors will be another challenge as more than three million people from around the globe are likely to visit Qatar during November and December, which is enormous for a country with three billion people.
The hosts have, however, prepared themselves well with instructions to keep offices and educational institutions closed. Traffic arrangements are being made, and immigrant workers have been told to leave Qatar temporarily and return after the World Cup.
Useful transport information
- Metro services in Doha will run from 6 am to 3 am.
- Metro stations will have private parking.
- There will be a transportation plan with separate arrangements for pedestrians.
- Hayya cardholders will get free transportation from November 10 to December 23.
- There will be over 2,300 buses of six different types for the visitors.
- New bridges, intersections, and tunnels have been constructed to support smooth transportation during the FIFA World Cup 2022.
- There are special transport arrangements in all the airports for the visitors to reach their destinations, including taxis and shuttle buses.
- Locals are being asked to use private vehicles to reach the stadiums so that visitors get comfortable on metro and bus journeys. There will be direct buses to stadiums from all the key locations.
- There will be other services, too, like plate management and traffic diversions, to maintain discipline and peace all over the country.
FIFA president Infantino said in a video that Football World Cup 2022 is likely to be the best edition of the FIFA tournament ever. The world is eagerly waiting for the World Cup to begin, and Qatar is also fully prepared.
