FIFA World Cup Qatar: 2022 dates, all qualifiers, groups, schedules, stadiums, fixtures

Every football fan on the planet eagerly awaits December of this year. Not only because of the usual Christmas festivities but also the unique competition that takes place once in four years. The World Cup is a competition that brings people from all walks of life together in support of their national team. Therefore, the FIFA World Cup dates and proper schedule will be one of the critical points of discussion in this post.

The tournament will contain 32 of the best teams in International football, all contesting for one of the most coveted trophies in football. Countries from Asia, Africa, America and other continents will be well represented in the first-ever World Cup tournament in the Middle East.

All teams in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

The Qatar-hosted event will play host to a total of 32 teams. The respective teams qualified for their positions after playing in a series of continent-based qualifier matches. The teams that aced the qualifying rounds earned a spot in the World Cup finals. The following is a list of the teams that will be participating in the 2022 edition;

African qualifiers in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

FIFA has always allocated five spots in the tournament for African countries. However, in 2026 that number will increase once the number of participants increases from 32 to 48. Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, and Morocco have become the teams that will represent the African region at the 2022 edition to be held in Qatar.

When will FIFA start in Qatar?

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 groups

As usual in the competition, the 2022 edition will have 8 groups that are well balanced according to each country's ability. All the groups appear very competitive; thus, every team is expected to work hard and smart to proceed in the tournament. The following is how the groups were organized;

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 schedule

Unlike past FIFA World Cups, which have been held in June and July, the 2022 World Cup will be held in November and December to escape the extreme summer heat in Qatar.

As a result, the competition will be held amid the domestic football leagues' seasons, which begin in late July or August, including all of the major European leagues, who have been forced to include extended pauses into their domestic schedules to accommodate the World Cup.

Domestic leagues that traditionally begin their seasons in the northern spring and continue through the summer, like Major League Soccer, will be able to finish their seasons before the tournament starts.

FIFA confirmed the match schedule on July 15, 2020. The group stage was supposed to start on November 21, with four matches per day; however, the program was later changed by moving the Qatar vs Ecuador game to November 20, after Qatar successfully persuaded FIFA to allow their team to open the tournament.

Kick-off times for the first two rounds of the group stage are 13:00, 16:00, 19:00, and 22:00, and 18:00 and 22:00 for the final round and knockout round matches. The third-place game will occur on December 17, 2022, at the Khalifa International Stadium, and the last will occur on December 18, 2022, at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 fixtures

Unlike previous tournaments, where the match venues and kick-off times for each fixture were determined before the draw, the assignment of group fixtures for each matchday to a specific forum and kick-off time was made only after the group stage draw was completed and the teams in each particular fixture were known.

Germany coach Hansi Flick criticises 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar amid calls for countries to boycott mundial

Football

Because of the venues' proximity, the organizers could optimize stadium allocation for spectators and kick-off times for broadcast audiences. The solely confirmed group stage matchup was Qatar's opening match, which was scheduled to begin at 19:00 on November 21 at the Al Bayt Stadium.

A, B, E, F: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium

C, D, G, H: Lusail Iconic Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium

Following the draw, FIFA confirmed the group stage venue and kick-off times for April 1 2022. On August 11, it was announced that Qatar vs Ecuador had been moved ahead one day, becoming the tournament's opening match, while Senegal vs the Netherlands, which would have begun the tournament under the original schedule, had been reassigned to the freed-up timeslot.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 ball

Adidas announced that the Official Match Ball of the FIFA World Cup TM 2022 would include new connected ball technology, which will be used to improve the VAR system by providing match officials with unprecedented levels of data and information, allowing them to make faster and more accurate decisions on the biggest stage of all.

Following its unveiling in March of this year, Al Rihla will be the first World Cup Official Match Ball to utilize this innovation, providing exact ball data to Video Match Officials in real-time.

When combined with player position data and artificial intelligence, the unique connected ball technology contributes to FIFA's semi-automated offside technology and provides Video Assistant Referees with instantaneous information to help optimize decision making.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 songs

According to FIFA, Gandhi Bilel Djuna, better known by his stage name Maitre Gims, has been chosen to produce and perform the official anthem for the forthcoming 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The legendary French pop singer and songwriter has already produced the World Cup anthem, featuring the Puerto Rican performer Ozuna. FIFA teased the song "Arhabo," which means "welcome" in Arabic, on Twitter.

Gims, a former member of the hip-hop trio Sexion d'Assaut, is a hit-making solo artist who has four times topped the French singles charts. He'll be the first French-language artist to write and perform the World Cup anthem.

Why is Qatar 2022 in November?

Due to Qatar's extreme summer heat, this World Cup will be hosted from late November to mid-December, making it the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to be staged in the northern autumn; it will be played over a shorter span of roughly 29 days.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 dates are from November 20 2022, to December 18 2022. The World Cup is the first ever in the middle east. The Qatar-hosted tournament will be the last 32-team edition.

Sportsbrief has recently posted about Jaden Newman. In the United States, some families are deemed to be influential. The Newman family is one of those families.

In that family, there is one very outstanding figure in Jaden Newman. She is famous for her skills and techniques; according to research, she is fast becoming one of the best female basketballers.

Qatar (Hosts)	Ecuador	Senegal
England	IR Iran	USA	Netherlands Wales
Argentina	Saudi Arabia	Mexico	Poland
France	Australia	Denmark	Tunisia
Spain	Costa Rica	Germany	Japan
Belgium	Canada	Morocco	Croatia
Brazil	Serbia	Switzerland	Cameroon
Portugal	Ghana	Uruguay	Korea Republic