Four years after the Russian FIFA World Cup which was held in Russia, we are yet again eagerly waiting for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Qatar for the very first time. The Qataris have a big job on their hands if they want to surpass the success of the 2018 FIFA World Cup because the tournament was extremely well organised. Historically, the world Cup tournament should have been over by this time of the year because it is usually contested in June when most of the leagues are over, this time around, the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup is going to be held in November/December.
The reason why the 2022 World Cup is taking place in Qatar in November/December is because that is the winter time in Qatar and it is better to play such a prestigious tournament in winter because summers in Qatar are intense and it could have a negative impact on the tournament.
The honest truth is that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has not been met with universal approval, but the same could also be said about the decision to have the same tournament in Africa (South Africa) but it went on to be quite a successful tournament. One of the main reasons why people are quite opposed to the 2022 World Cup tournament is because it will disrupt many leagues which usually play during this period and there is going to be a period is two months taken out of the middle of their season. This is just one of the reasons why people are opposed to the 2022 World Cup tournament but the reality is that the tournament is going to take place in Qatar in November 2022.
The FIFA World Cup tournament kicks off on Monday 21 November 2022 at the Al Thumama Stadium with a match between Senegal take on the Netherlands in Group A. Historically, the home team usually participates in the first match but it is not the case in this world cup, the reason being that all kickoffs are being optimised for home TV audiences and the Qatar match is not the opening match because Qatar is so small and can’t effect attending fans.
Which teams have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 World Cup features 32 teams and these teams will be grouped in eight groups of four. Of the 32 teams, 31 have qualified through regional qualifying matches and Qatar are part of this tournament by virtue of being the hosts.
Below is a list of the teams which will participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup:
Qatar Ecuador Senegal Netherlands
England Iran USA 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 South Korea
It is important to note that various regions provides a different number of nations to the world cup, with Europe being the continents with many nations at the tournament. Below is a breakdown of how many nations qualify from each continent:
Africa: 5 teams
Asia: 4 teams plus 1 playoff qualifier
Europe: 13 teams
Oceania: 1 playoff qualifier
South America: 4 plus 1 playoff qualifier
North/Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 plus 1 playoff qualifier
How many Stadiums will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
The Qatar FIFA World Cup is going to be held in a total of eight state of the art stadiums, with the opening match of the tournament will be hosted at the Al Bayt Stadium, located in Al Khor, about 50 km by road from the capital city of Doha. These eight stadiums are located in five cities in Qatar namely Lusall, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Doha. Below is the list of the stadiums to host the Qatar FIFA World Cup;
Lusail Stadium : Capacity: 80,000 seats
Al Bayt Stadium : Capacity: 60,000 seats
Al Janoub Stadium : Capacity: 40,000 seats
Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium : Capacity: 40,000 seats
Khalifa International Stadium : Capacity: 40,000 seats
Education City Stadium : Capacity: 40,000 seats
Stadium 974 : Capacity: 40,000 seats
Al Thumama Stadium : Capacity: 40,000 seats
World Cup 2022 Groups
The FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and there are some potentially explosive matches and groups at this edition of the FIFA World Cup based on the group draw which was done on the 1st of April 2022. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar kicks off on Monday 21 November 2022 at the Al Thumama Stadium when Senegal takes on the Netherlands in Group A.
There is a total of eight groups, that is, Groups A to H and each group consists of a total of six matches with each time playing a total of three matches. The group stage of the FIFA World Cup will be played over a duration of 12 days from 21 November to 2 December, and group winners and runners up will progress to the round of 16, which is a knockout stage of the tournament. Below are the FIFA World Cup groups:
Group A
Qatar Ecuador
Senegal Netherlands
Group A is an exciting group as it features the host nation and what also makes it exciting as well is that it features teams which have very different playing styles and to be honest, it is a wide open group which is really hard to figure out which of these go through. Realistically though, Netherlands should qualify as group winners, whilst either Senegal or Ecuador will fight it out for the runners up position. It is always not great for the hosts to go out in the group stages but it certainly looks like the likely outcome because.
Group B
England Iran
USA Wales
Group B is a very tough group with some exciting teams, England has a great squad of players but as a team, the three lions find it hard to win silverware and they are hopeful they can do it this time around. Wales are finally at the World Cup tournament and they will be pumped. The United States also has a decent team with the likes of Christian Pulisic so it is going to be exciting to see how these teams will compete against each other. We expect Iran to be the punching bag of this group because they do not normally do well at this tournament. England are expected to win the group and the runners up position will likely be occupied by Wales.
Group C
Argentina Saudi Arabia
Mexico Poland
Group C is also a very tough group which features the likes of Lewandowski, Di Maria, Lionel Messi and other superstars. This is probably Messi’s last short at this title and he together with his teammantes will give it their all. Mexico is also another great team and although they have not perfomed very well recently, they pose a threat to their opponents. Any team that has Robert Lewandoski in their team will always have a chance and Poland will be hoping that their chief striker will be firing from all cylinders at the world cup. Saudi Arabia are the underdogs in this group and we do not expect them to qualify for the round of 16. Argentina are the odds on favourites to win the group and Poland will likey be the runners up.
Group D
France Australia
Denmark Tunisia
Group D consists of the defending champions, France who have probably one of the best squads at the tournament. An attack comprising of Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe will surely torment defences and France will surely win this group. The runners up position is quite tricky in this group because there is very little to seperate the three remaining teams Australia, Denmark and Tunisia so it can be either of these three although it might be difficult for Tunisia to qualify due to the historical perfomances of Africa teams at this tournament and that might have a psychological effect on their perfomances.
Group E
Spain Costa Rica
Germany Japan
This is probably the toughest group at this edition of the FIFA World Cup and the match between Spain and Germany is the most immediately attractive tie of the group stage. Both Spain and Germany are no longer the force they were in recent times and they will be hoping to reclaim their status as the best team in the world by winning the world cup and winning the group will be a huge statement. Japan and Costa Rica are also top sides which should never be underrated so this group is really one which everyone is looking at. It is highly likely that both Spain and Germany will qualify to the knockout stage but it is extremely difficult to predict who amongst them will win the group.
Group F
Belgium Canada
Morocco Croatia
Belgium’s golden generation is not the same anymore as the squad is ageing now but to be honest, a team comprising of Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku is a dangerous team. Croatia is also not the same team that dazzled at the 2018 world cup tournament but they are good enough to qualify for the knockout stage. Morocco is a great footballing nation which can compete against any team but maybe the stage is too big for them and lastly Canada will probably be the punching bagsof this particular group. There is a high likelihood that Belgium will win the group and Croatia will qualify to the knockout stages as runners up.
Group G
Brazil Serbia
Switzerland Cameroon
Brazil last won the World Cup in Korea in 2002 and that is quit a long time for a team like Brazil that has a rich soccer history, Neymar an company will be looking at restoring Brazil’s lost pride at this tournament. Serbia, another team in this group qualified unbeaten and topped a group featuring Portugal, this shows that there must be taken seriously. Switzerland and Cameroon are also great footballing nations who should be taken seriously. At the Euros, Switzerland eliminated France before losing on penalties to Spain in the quarterfinals. Cameroon had an impressive qualification in which they won a tough group including Ivory Coast and then beat Algeria in the Play-Offs. Brazil will certainly win this group and the runners up position will be occupied by either Switzerland or Serbia.
Group H
Portugal Ghana
Uruguay South Korea
This is also one of the potentially exciting groups because there is a bit of history to this group, who can forget about the historic match between Ghana and Uruguay when Luis Suarez denied Ghana a spot in the Semi finals when he deliberately handled a goal bound goal, so Ghana will be out for revenge. Veterans Luis Suarez, Ronaldo and Cavani know that this is probably their last chance to win the World Cup so they will try very hard to make sure that their respective teams wins. A Son Heung Min inspired South Korea must never be underated by either of these teams because they pose a real threat. Portugal and Uruguay are likely to come out tops in this group but it is difficult to predict the outright winner of the group.
World Cup 2022 Fixture schedule
The Qatar FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and we are expecting nothing but excitement as the best teams and best players battle it out for the FIFA World Cup title. This tournament is realistically the last chance for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi to get their hands on this title because they will be in their 40s, so they will be giving it their all because that is the missing piece of silverware in their cabinet. Besides these aforementioned top ageing players, players like Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Neymar, Kevin DeBruyne, Paul Pogba, Bernado Silva, Sadio Mane and several others will be part of this prestigious soccer showcase and it is interesting to see who will take the title from France.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament kicks off on the 21st of November 2022 and will be concluded withing a month on the 18th of December 2022 just before Christmas. A total of 32 teams will contest in the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament and they will be put in groups of 4 teams in a total of 8 groups. Two teams from each group will proceed to the Round of 16 which is a knockout round whereby a team which wins qualifies for the Quarter finals and the losing team exits the tournament. Four teams will qualify for the Semi Finals and the remaining four will also exit the competition. Two teams from the Semi Final matches will then proceed to play the final match to decide the World Cup winner whilst the losing Semi finalists will participate in the third place play-off which will determine the bronze medal winner.
There are plenty of good teams at this tournament including France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, England, Brazil, Argentina amongst others and it is quite a difficult task to predict the tournament’s winner at this point. Below is the full World Cup fixture schedule up to the 18th of December when the final will be played;
FIFA has confirmed the first two rounds of matches will kick off at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm local time (12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm in South Africa).
Kick-off times in the final round of group games and knockout-round matches will be at 6pm and 10pm local time (5pm and 5pm South African time).
The final is scheduled to kick off at 6pm local time (5pm South African time)
Group Stages (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Monday November 21
Group A: Senegal vs Netherlands (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 12pm)
Group B: England vs Iran (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group A: Qatar vs Ecuador (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 6pm)
Group B: USA vs Wales (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 9pm)
Tuesday November 22
Group C: Argentina vs Saudi Arabia (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 12pm)
Group D: Denmark vs Tunisia (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group C: Mexico vs Poland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 6pm)
Group D: France vs Australia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 9pm)
Wednesday November 23
Group F: Morocco vs Croatia (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 12pm)
Group E: Germany vs Japan (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group E: Spain vs Costa Rica (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 6pm)
Group F: Belgium vs Canada (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 9pm)
Thursday November 24
Group G: Switzerland vs Cameroon (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 12pm)
Group H: Uruguay vs South Korea (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group H: Portugal vs Ghana (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 6pm)
Group G: Brazil vs Serbia (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Friday November 25
Group B: Wales vs Iran (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 12pm)
Group A: Qatar vs Senegal (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
Group A: Netherlands vs Ecuador (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 6pm)
Group B: England vs USA (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Saturday November 26
Group C: Tunisia vs Australia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 12pm)
Group C: Poland vs Saudi Arabia (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group D: France vs Denmark (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 6pm)
Group C: Argentina vs Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Sunday November 27
Group E: Japan vs Costa Rica (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 12pm)
Group F: Belgium vs Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
Group F: Croatia vs Canada (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 6pm)
Group E: Spain vs Germany (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Monday November 28
Group G: Cameroon vs Serbia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 12pm)
Group G: South Korea vs Ghana (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group H: Brazil vs Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 6pm)
Group H: Portugal vs Uruguay (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Tuesday November 29
Group A: Netherlands vs Qatar (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 5pm)
Group A: Ecuador vs Senegal (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Group B: Wales vs England (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 9pm)
Group B: Iran vs USA (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Wednesday November 30
Group D: Australia vs Denmark (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 5pm)
Group D: Tunisia vs France (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Group C: Poland vs Argentina (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 9pm)
Group C: Saudi Arabia vs Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Thursday December 1
Group F: Croatia vs Belgium (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Group F: Canada vs Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 5pm)
Group E: Costa Rica vs Germany (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Group E: Japan vs Spain (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 9pm)
Friday, December 2
Group G: South Korea vs Portugal (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Group G: Ghana vs Uruguay (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 5pm)
Group H: Serbia vs Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 9pm)
Group H: Cameroon vs Brazil (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Round of 16 (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Saturday December 3
Winners of Group A vs. Runners-up of Group B (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of Group C vs. Runners-up of Group D (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 9pm)
Sunday December 4
Winners of Group D vs. Runners-up of Group C (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of Group B vs. Runners-up of Group A (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Monday December 5
Winners of Group E vs. Runners-up of Group F (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of Group G vs. Runners-up of Group H (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 9pm)
Tuesday December 6
Winners of Group F vs. Runners-up of Group E (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of Group H vs. Runners-up of Group G (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Quarter-finals (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Friday December 9
Winners of 53 vs. Winners of 54 (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of 49 vs. Winners of 50 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 5pm)
Saturday December 10
Winners of 55 vs. Winners of 56 (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 5pm)
Winners of 51 vs. Winners of 52 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Semi-finals (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Tuesday December 13
Winners of 57 vs. Winners of 58 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 9pm)
Wednesday December 14
Winners of 59 vs. Winners of 60 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 9pm)
Third Place Play-Off (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Saturday December 17
Third place play-off (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 5pm)
Final (Please note the kick off time is South Africa Standard Time)
Sunday December 18
The World Cup final (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 5pm)