With Costa Rica beating New Zealand 1-0 in the qualifier and booking their flight to Qatar this winter, all 32 teams have been locked in for FIFA Men’s World Cup 2022.
The 22nd edition of the tournament will also be the last to feature 32 teams with the next edition in 2026 having been announced as a 48-nation competition.
France won the last edition back in 2018 in Russia and were the sixth team to qualify for this year’s World Cup. Qatar were the first to make the list of the 32 countries, an automatic qualification for being the hosts.
Here’s all you need to know about the competition later this year.
Best of Express Premium
Premium
Premium
Premium
PremiumFIFA World Cup 2022 Venues
The 64 match competition shall be played across eight venues in Qatar. The tournament opener will be hosted at the Al Bayt Stadium whilst the largest of all eight venues, Lusail Stadium shall be the home for the final on December 18. Below is the list of all the stadiums, the number of matches they’ll host and their seating capacity.
Group Stage Matches:
November 21: Senegal vs Netherlands, 3:30 PM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
November 21: England vs Iran, 6:30 PM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 21: Qatar vs Ecuador, 9:30 PM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
November 22: USA vs Wales, 12:30 AM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 22: Argentina vs Saudi Arabia, 3:30 PM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
November 22: Denmark vs Tunisia, 6:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 22: Mexico vs Poland, 9:30 PM, Stadium 974, Doha.
November 23: France vs Australia, 12:30 AM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
November 23: Morocco vs Croatia, 3:30 PM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
November 23: Germany vs Japan, 6:30 PM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 23: Spain vs Costa Rica, 9:30 PM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
November 24: Belgium vs Canada, 12:30 AM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 24: Switzerland vs Cameroon, 3:30 PM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
November 24: Uruguay vs South Korea, 6:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 24: Portugal vs Ghana, 9:30 PM, Stadium 974, Doha.
November 25: Brazil vs Serbia, 12:30 AM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
November 25: Wales vs Iran, 3:30 PM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 25: Qatar vs Senegal, 6:30 PM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
November 25: Netherlands vs Ecuador, 9:30 PM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 26: England vs USA, 12:30 AM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
November 26: Tunisia vs Australia, 3:30 PM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
November 26: Poland vs Saudi Arabia, 6:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 26: France vs Denmark, 9:30 PM, Stadium 974, Doha.
November 27: Argentina vs Mexico, 12:30 AM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
November 27: Japan vs Costa Rica, 3:30 PM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 27: Belgium vs Morocco, 6:30 PM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
November 27: Croatia vs Canada, 9:30 PM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 28: Spain vs Germany, 12:30 AM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
November 28: Cameroon vs Serbia, 3:30 PM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
November 28: South Korea vs Ghana, 6:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 28: Brazil vs Switzerland, 9:30 PM, Stadium 974, Doha.
November 29: Portugal vs Uruguay, 12:30 AM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
November 29: Netherlands vs Qatar, 8:30 PM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
November 29: Ecuador vs Senegal, 8:30 PM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 30: Wales vs England, 12:30 AM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 30: Iran vs USA, 12:30 AM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
November 30: Tunisia vs France, 8:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
November 30: Australia vs Denmark, 8:30 PM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
December 1: Poland vs Argentina, 12:30 AM, Stadium 974, Doha.
December 1: Saudi Arabia vs Mexico, 12:30 AM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
December 1: Croatia vs Belgium, 8:30 PM, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 1: Canada vs Morocco, 8:30 PM, Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
December 2: Japan vs Spain, 12:30 AM, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 2: Costa Rica vs Germany, 12:30 AM, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Kohr.
December 2: South Korea vs Portugal, 8:30 PM, Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 2: Ghana vs Uruguay, 8:30 PM, Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
December 3: Cameroon vs Brazil, 12:30 AM, Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
December 3: Serbia vs Switzerland, 12:30 AM, Stadium 974, Doha.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Knockout fixtures:
December 3: 8:30 PM, Round of 16 – 1: Winners Group A vs Runners-up Group; B Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 3: 10:30 PM, Round of 16 – 2: Winners Group C vs Runners-up Group; D Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 4: 8:30 PM, Round of 16 – 3: Winners Group D vs Runners-up Group C; Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
December 4: 10:30 PM, Round of 16 – 4: Winners Group B vs Runners-up Group A; Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor.
December 5: 8:30 PM, Round of 16 – 5: Winners Group E vs Runners-up Group F; Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah.
December 5: 10:30 PM, Round of 16 – 6: Winners Group G vs Runners-up Group H; Stadium 974, Doha.
December 6: 8:30 PM, Round of 16 – 7: Winners Group F vs Runners-up Group E; Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 6: 10:30 PM, Round of 16 – 8: Winners Group H vs Runners-up Group G; Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
December 9: 8:30 PM, Quarter-final 1: Winners Round of 16 – 5 vs Winners Round of 16 – 6; Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 9: 10:30 PM, Quarter-final 2: Winners Round of 16 – 1 vs Winners of Round of 16 -2; Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
December 10: 8:30 PM, Quarter-final 3: Winners Round of 16 – 7 vs Winners Round of 16 – 8; Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
December 10: 10:30 PM, Quarter-final 4: Winners Round of 16 – 3 vs Winners Round of 16 – 4; Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor.
December 13: 10:30 PM, Semi-final 1: Winners Quarterfinal 2 vs Winners Quarterfinal 1; Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
December 14: 10:30 PM, Semi-final 2: Winners Quarterfinal 4 vs Winners Quarterfinal 3; Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor.
December 14: 8:30 PM, Third place play-off: Losers Semifinal 1 vs Losers Semifinal 2; Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
December 18: 8:30 PM, Final: Winners Semifinal 1 vs Winners Semifinal 2; Lusail Stadium, Lusail.
What’s different in Qatar 2022?
Unlike its predecessors, the 2022 World Cup will be a Winter World Cup, the weather conditions in Qatar during the summer being too extreme for football. It is only the second time that the tournament will be hosted in Asia, and the first in Middle East.
The league football season will be halted midway for the international tournament. There have been concerns among the football community if that will affect the freshness with which the players generally arrived at the summit event previously when it was played at the end of the football season.
On the pitch, Italy failing the qualify for the tournament first time for the second consecutive time in their history made up for quite the news. Especially with that unbeaten European Champions tag they earned less than a year ago. For the two most iconic names in the game’s history, one Cristiano Ronaldo and one Lionel Messi, it may be the last dance on the big stage.
Off the pitch, the tournament has already been marred before the ball is kicked. The hosts, Qatar have been under scrutiny over several human rights violations and the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. It all came to brim at the recent FIFA Congress in Qatar ahead of the World Cup draw when Norwegian FA’s first woman president in its 120 years, Lise Klaveness spoke of the issues that circled the host country and the tournament on stage during the gathering.
Among all the criticisms and apprehensions, it remains to be seen how Qatar hosts the tournament in five months from now.
