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What is World Cup?
It is a tournament that was inaugurated in 1930 by the Federation Internationale de Football Association-FIFA which is played after every four years by member national team men.
When will the World cup 2022 be played?
The next World Cup will be hosted by Qatar between November 21, 2022, to December 18, 2022
How many teams will participate in the 2022 World Cup?
A total of 32 teams will participate in the competition with 65 games set to be played in 8 different stadiums. These teams will be the ones that will have qualified from the six continental confederations of FIFA subject to Individual competition held by each member.
Why will World Cup be played in November and December?
Ideally, the World Cup is normally played in the month of May, June, and July but to your surprise, the 2022 World Cup will be held in November and December, but why? With this question in mind, it is important to note Qatar experience Summer in the normal World Cup period of June and July. To this end, it was termed necessary to reschedule it to November-December so as to avoid the huge heat of the summer.
Will World Cup affect league games?
The Premier League will be altered to allow players to join their national teams that will qualify. The plan is to take a break after the November 12 weekend until the final of the World is held then a resumption of League games as from December 26, 2022.
What stadiums will the World Cup get Played?
1.Lusail Stadium
Located at Lusail, it’s the largest stadium with a capacity of 80,000. The stadium will host the opening celebration, five group games, one round of 16 game, one-quarter final, the semifinal, and the finals.
2. Al Bayt Stadium
Located at Al Khor, the stadium has a capacity of 60,000 seats. It will play a host of five group matches, one round of 16, one quarter-final, and a semi-Final.
3. Al Janoub Stadium
This stadium is located at Al Wakrah and holds 40,000 people. Five group games and one round of 16 will be held here.
4. Khalifa International Stadium
Another stadium at Al Wakrah with a capacity of 40,000 shall host five group Matches, one round of 16, and the third-place game.
5. Al Thumama Stadium
The stadium is located in Doha and can hold up to 40,000 people. Here a total of five group games will be played, one round of 16 games and a quarter-final.
6. Education City Stadium
With a capacity of 45, 350, the Al Rayyan-based stadium will host five group games, a round of 16 game, and a quarter-final.
7. Ras Abu Aboud Stadium
A round of 16 games and five group games will be hosted by this stadium that is located in Doha.
8.Ahmed bin Ali Stadium
Found in Al Rayyan with a capacity of 44,740, the stadium will entertain five group games and a round of 16 matches.
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification criteria
Without a doubt, every country would wish to participate in the World Cup but given that only 32 teams take part then the FIFA Council formerly the FIFA Executive Committee makes the decision on which teams will participate. First and foremost, a FIFA Congress was held on May 30, 2015 in Zurich for this purpose.
Following this meeting, the committee announced that all its 211 member associations would organize through FIFA’s six continental confederations a competition through which they will compete for the World Cup slots as allocated for each confederation by FIFA.
Important to note is that no changes were done but the committee adopted the allocation criteria that have been used since the years 2006, 2010, 2014, and the last World Cup of 2018 that was held in Russia.
Wondering what was that criteria? Well the allocation was that the CAF (Africa) gets five slots, AFC (Asia) allocated 4.5 slots, UEFA (Europe) takes 13 slots, CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) with 3.5 slots, OFC (Oceania) 0.5 and finally, CONMEBOL (South America) gets 4.5 slots. Along with the host nation Qatar, a total of 32 teams book themselves a ticket in the competition.
2022 FIFA World Video Assistant Referees (VAR)
In Russia 2018, the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) was introduced in the tournament for the first time after using the goal-line technology (GLT) in Brazil 2014. 335 incidents were subjected to VAR check and 14 of them were changed after review the first check being in a game between France and Australia as France won a penalty following the check.
During the 2020 World Cup qualifiers initial stages, VAR was not used based on risk associated to COVID 19 but the committee held a meeting in July 2021 and held that the system be used in the remaining games effective September 2021. The VAR is used to check there was a goal or no goal, if a penalty should or should not be awarded, whether a foul committed warranty a red card and cases of mistaken identity when issuing a yellow card.
What is the FIFA World Cup 2022 schedule?
As confirmed by FIFA on July 15, 2020, the World Cup 2022 schedule will feature an opening game by host nation Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium. Thereafter, four group games will be played on a daily basis followed by the knockout stage. At Khalifa International stadium, a third and fourth-place finish will be held before the final on December 28, 2022, at Lusail Iconic Stadium.
FIFA World Cup 2022 fixtures
Group stage games
Effective November 21, 2022, six group games for each group will be played until December 2, 2022 with top two teams from each eight groups qualifying for the knock out stage. Below is a breakdown of each group game featuring the dates they will be played.
Group A
| Date | Fixture |
| November 21, 2022 | Qatar vs Ecuador |
| November 21, 2022 | Senegal vs Netherlands |
| November 25, 2022 | Qatar vs Senegal |
| November 25, 2022 | Netherlands vs Ecuador |
| November 29, 2022 | Netherlands vs Qatar |
| November 29, 2022 | Ecuador vs Senegal |
Group B
| Date | Fixture |
| November 21, 2022 | England vs Iran |
| November 21, 2022 | USA vs WAL/UKR/SCO |
| November 25, 2022 | England vs USA |
| November 25, 2022 | WAL/UKR/SCO vs Iran |
| November 29, 2022 | WAL/UKR/SCO vs England |
| November 29, 2022 | Iran vs USA |
Group C
| Date | Fixture |
| November 22, 2022 | Argentina vs Saudi Arabia |
| November 22, 2022 | Mexico vs Poland |
| November 26, 2022 | Argentina vs Mexico |
| November 26, 2022 | Poland vs Saudi Arabia |
| November 30, 2022 | Poland vs Argentina |
| November 30, 2022 | Saudi Arabia vs Mexico |
Group D
| Date | Fixture |
| November 22, 2022 | France vs AUS/UAE/PER |
| November 22, 2022 | Denmark vs Tunisia |
| November 26, 2022 | France vs Denmark |
| November 26, 2022 | Tunisia vs AUS/UAE/PER |
| November 30, 2022 | Tunisia vs France |
| November 30, 2022 | AUS/UAE/PER vs Denmark |
Group E
| Date | Fixture |
| November 23, 2022 | Spain vs CRC / NZ |
| November 23, 2022 | Germany vs Japan |
| November 27, 2022 | Spain vs Germany |
| November 27, 2022 | Japan vs CRC / NZ |
| December 1, 2022 | Japan vs Spain |
| December 1, 2022 | CRC / NZ vs Germany |
Group F
| Date | Fixture |
| November 23, 2022 | Belgium vs Canada |
| November 23, 2022 | Morocco vs Croatia |
| November 27, 2022 | Belgium vs Morocco |
| November 27, 2022 | Croatia vs Canada |
| December 1, 2022 | Croatia vs Belgium |
| December 1, 2022 | Canada vs Morocco |
Group G
| Date | Fixture |
| November 24, 2022 | Brazil vs Serbia |
| November 24, 2022 | Switzerland vs Cameroon |
| November 28, 2022 | Brazil vs Switzerland |
| November 28, 2022 | Cameroon vs Serbia |
| December 2, 2022 | Cameroon vs Brazil |
| December 2, 2022 | Serbia vs Switzerland |
Group H
| Date | Fixture |
| November 24, 2022 | Portugal vs Ghana |
| November 24, 2022 | Uruguay vs South Korea |
| November 28, 2022 | Portugal vs Uruguay |
| November 28, 2022 | South Korea vs Ghana |
| December 2, 2022 | South Korea vs Portugal |
| December 2, 2022 | Ghana vs Uruguay |
Knockout Stage
Round of 16
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
| December 3, 2022 | Group A winner vs Group B Runner-up (Match 49) | Khalifa International Stadium |
| December 3, 2022 | Group C winner vs Group D Runner-up (Match 50) | Ahmed bin Ali Stadium |
| December 4, 2022 | Group D winner vs Group C Runner-up (Match 51) | Al Thumama Stadium |
| December 4, 2022 | Group B winner vs Group A Runner-up (Match 52) | Al Bayt Stadium |
| December 5, 2022 | Group E winner vs Group F Runner-up (Match 53) | Al Janoub Stadium |
| December 5, 2022 | Group G winner vs Group H Runner-up (Match 54) | Ras Abu Aboud Stadium |
| December 6, 2022 | Group F winner vs Group E Runner-up (Match 55) | Education City Stadium |
| December 6, 2022 | Group H winner vs Group H Runner-up (Match 56) | Lusail Iconic Stadium |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
| December 9, 2022 | Match 53 winner vs Match 54 Winner (Match 58) | Education City Stadium |
| December 9, 2022 | Match 49 winner vs Match 50 Winner (Match 57) | Lusail Iconic Stadium |
| December 10, 2022 | Match 55 winner vs Match 56 Winner (Match 60) | Al Thumama Stadium |
| December 10, 2022 | Match 51 winner vs Match 52 Winner (Match 59) | Al Bayt Stadium |
Semi-finals
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
| December 13, 2022 | Match 57 winner vs Match 58 Winner (Match 61) | Lusail Iconic Stadium |
| December 14, 2022 | Match 59 winner vs Match 60 Winner (Match 62) | Al Bayt Stadium |
Third Place
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
| December 17, 2022 | Match 61 Loser vs Match 62 Loser (Match 63) | Khalifa International Stadium |
Final
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
| December 18, 2022 | Match 61 Winner vs Match 62 Winner (Match 64) | Lusail Iconic Stadium |