Introduction
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar in late 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country. The tournament has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams, with Qatar hosting a maximum of 64 matches (60 if it reaches the final).
Background
The Football World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The first tournament was held in 1930 when 10 teams from Europe and South America participated. Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making it the first Arab country to do so. This will be the first-ever World Cup held in the Middle East and the first in an Islamic country.
History
The FIFA World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2014 final match. Qatar was selected as the host nation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the 62nd FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, on 2 December 2010, defeating bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. This will be the first time that the World Cup will be held in Asia, and also the first time that it will be held in an Arabic-speaking country. The tournament is scheduled to take place from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Qualifying
To qualify for the FIFA World Cup, a team must first compete in their confederation’s qualification tournament. For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this entails 200 of the 211 FIFA member associations as Qatar qualified automatically as host. The remaining 11 teams will come from the five remaining FIFA confederations: UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), CONCACAF (North and Central America, and the Caribbean), and CONMEBOL (South America).
In total, 31 slots are available for teams to qualify for the World Cup: 13 from UEFA, five from CAF, four from AFC, three from CONCACAF, and two from CONMEBOL. The number of slots for each confederation was decided by FIFA on May 24, 2018. As host, Qatar is automatically qualified for the final tournament.
The qualifiers will be played from September 2020 to November 2021. The format remains largely unchanged from recent editions of the World Cup; however, there will be an additional inter-confederation playoff involving four teams that have not qualified via their main qualifying route to ensure that in total there are still 32 teams in the final tournament.
Format
The FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The game has been held every four years since 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was canceled due to the Second World War. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd edition of the event and is to be hosted in Qatar.
Venues
The FIFA World Cup is set to take place in Qatar in 2022. With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the venues that have been confirmed for the tournament.
Lusail Iconic Stadium: This 80,000-seater stadium will be the largest at the World Cup and it will host the opening game and the final. It is located just north of Doha in Lusail City.
Al Bayt Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium, which translates to “The Castle”, will have a capacity of 60,000 and it will host one of the quarter-finals. It is located in Al Khor City, around 50 miles north of Doha.
Al Wakrah Stadium: This 40,000-seater stadium will also host one of the quarter-finals. It is located in Wakrah, around 15 miles south of Doha.
Education City Stadium: Education City Stadium has a capacity of 45,350 and will host one of the round 16 matches and four group-stage games. It is located on the campus of Qatar University in Doha.
Schedule
The majority of the games will be played in November and December 2022, when temperatures in Qatar are more bearable. The tournament is expected to start on 21 November and end on 18 December. The final will take place on 18 December at Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Teams
The Football World Cup is an international football tournament, held every four years. It is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with over 3.5 billion people watching the 2014 tournament. The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the event and is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country.
Groups
The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022. It will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country. The tournament will be hosted by Qatar, with matches played in 10 stadiums across eight cities.
There are32 teams competing in the World Cup, broken into eight groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Groups:
Group A: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Uzbekistan
Group B: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay
Group C: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Group D: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama
Group E: Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Scotland
Group F: France, Hungary, South Korea, Syria
Group G: Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Ireland
Group H: Belgium, Japan, Russia, Wales
Conclusion
Overall, Qatar has done an excellent job in preparations for the Football World Cup 2022. They have made great strides in improving infrastructure and facilities, and they have garnered support from countries all over the world. There is no doubt that Qatar will be able to host a successful and memorable World Cup.
