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 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 final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The tournament is scheduled to take place from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Background
The event was originally scheduled to take place between 8 June and 8 July 2022, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled and moved to November and December of that year. The tournament was originally going to be held in Qatar.
In 2015, Qatar defeated bids from Australia, the United States, Japan, and South Korea to win the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This will be the first World Cup held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country. The selection of Qatar as a host has been controversial and has attracted criticism and scrutiny. Some allegations of corruption have been made against FIFA and its president, Sepp Blatter, in relation to the awarding of the tournament to Qatar.
Qatar has said it will spend $4–5 billion on infrastructure for the tournament. This includes the construction of nine new stadiums and the expansion of three existing stadiums. All of the stadiums are to be air-conditioned in order to cope with the extreme heat in Qatar during the summer.
Format
The tournament will be played in a total of 12 stadiums, with each stadium having a capacity of at least 60,000.
The tournament will be divided into two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage.
In the group stage, each team will play three games, with the winners and runners-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams that advance from the group stage will compete in a single-elimination tournament, with the winner being crowned champion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Schedule
The tournament is scheduled to take place from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Venues
A total of 12 stadiums in 11 cities will be used for the tournament. The following is a list of the stadiums that will be used for the tournament, along with their capacities and locations:
- Lusail Iconic Stadium – Lusail, Qatar (80,000)
- Al Bayt Stadium – Al Khor, Qatar (60,000)
- Al Wakrah Stadium – Al Wakrah, Qatar (40,000)
- Education City Stadium – Doha, Qatar (40,000)
- Khalifa International Stadium – Doha, Qatar (60,000)
- Ras Abu Aboud Stadium – Doha, Qatar (40,000)
- Al Thumama Stadium – Doha, Qatar (40,000)
- Sports City Stadium – Doha, Qatar (60,000)
- Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium – Doha, Qatar (50,000)
- Al Janoub Stadium – Al Wakrah, Qatar (40,000)
- Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium – Doha, Qatar (50,000)
- Qatar Foundation Stadium – Doha, Qatar (45,000)
Qualification
A total of 32 teams will qualify for the tournament. The host country, Qatar, will automatically qualify for the tournament. The remaining 31 teams will be determined through a qualifying process, in which a total of 210 teams from all six FIFA confederations will compete.
The qualifying process will begin in March 2020 and is scheduled to conclude in November 2021.
Draw
The draw for the tournament will be held in April 2022.
In the draw, the 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four. Each group will contain one team from each of the four FIFA confederations.
Group stage
The group stage will be played from 21 November to 5 December 2022. In the group stage, each team will play three games, with the winners and runners-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
Knockout stage
The knockout stage will be played from 9 to 18 December 2022. In the knockout stage, the 16 teams that advance from the group stage will compete in a single-elimination tournament, with the winner being crowned champion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The final tournament will be played in November and December 2022, which is to avoid the extreme summer heat in Qatar. It is to be played across eight venues in seven host cities: Doha (the capital), Al Bayt Stadium, Education City, Lusail, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Wakrah, Al Rayyan, and Qatar Foundation Stadium. The format will remain unchanged from the 2018 tournament, with 32 teams competing in a group stage followed by a knockout stage. The tournament is to be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament. A total of 80 matches are to be played, including 55 in the group stage, 14 in the round of 16, 10 in the quarter-finals, six in the semi-finals, and four in the final. The host country, Qatar, will automatically qualify for the tournament, as will the defending champions, France. The remaining 30 places will be determined through a qualifying process, in which the other 208 FIFA member associations compete.
In conclusion, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be a big event. It will be hosted in Qatar. The country is now investing heavily in infrastructure for the tournament. We can expect to see a lot of new stadiums and facilities being built in order to accommodate the tournament.
