The 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar

 

The most prestigious tournament in the World is back. The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup starts today on the 20th of October 2022. This will be the first World Cup played in the Arab world. 

The FIFA World Cup is the most viewed sports event on the planet. 1.1 Billion people simultaneously watched the 2018 final when France beat Croatia in Moscow. Put in perspective, that's almost 13% of the global population watching a singular event, mind-boggling. With a surge in technology and coverage, the Qatar World Cup will most definitely shatter these numbers.

The World Cup is the biggest sporting event and the 32 Participating Counties have already named their respective 26-man squads and have already converged in Qatar and are training together.  The 2022 Qatar World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December. 

A Unique World Cup

Due to Qatar's intense summer heat and humidity, this will be the very first time the competition is undertaken in the winter. Making it the first time the tournament will not be held in May, June, or July and will take place in the northern autumn.

The competition will be played in a reduced timeframe of around 29 days. That’s three days fewer than were used to play the 2018 tournament in Russia and the 2014 edition in Brazil. A 32-day tournament using five full weekends wasn’t available this time because of the deal FIFA had to strike with European leagues and clubs in 2015 to drop the World Cup into the middle of their domestic season.

Whereas FIFA World Cup squads were previously comprised of 23 players, each country will now take 26 players to Qatar in 2022. This will also be the first time that teams can make 5 substitutions within 3 windows in-game. This will surely benefit squads with team depth.

Another unique aspect of the 2022 World Cup that most of us are used to by now is that goalkeepers will be required to keep one foot on the goal line during penalties. This will be the first time this rule will be in effect in a World Cup. It will also be the first time female referees officiate a men's World Cup.

Semi-automated offside technology, which is technically an upgrade to VAR will be in effect. The upside is a reduction in time to make an offside decision. The average time it takes to make an offside VAR call is 70 seconds, but thanks to the new technology this will only take 20 seconds.

In Qatar, there will be back-to-back-to-back-to-back games for 11 straight days to squeeze this World Cup into only 29 days. Four separate kickoff time slots are needed to make this tournament work. The group phase will be played from 20 November to 2 December. The knockout phase will run from 3-18 December.

Individual teams also had a very restricted window to prepare for the competition. European domestic leagues played games right up to Nov. 13. Leaving only one week of official preparation time instead of at least two weeks before a normal World Cup.

The Groups




Qatar 2022 stadiums

The 64 matches will take place across eight venues:

Al Bayt Stadium


The opening match of the tournament will be held here, the game between Qatar and Ecuador. Also in the itinerary is a spectacular opening ceremony.  

Khalifa International Stadium


This is the only stadium that stood in Qatar before the commencement of the World Cup preparations. It has been revamped severally after its construction in 1975.

Al Thumama Stadium


The stadium design draws inspiration from the gahfiya, a traditional woven cap worn by men across the Middle East. 

Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium



Lusail Stadium


The 80,000-capacity Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar will be the site for the World Cup final

Stadium 974

Stadium 974 in Qatar is the world's first transportable football arena. Qatar built a 40,000-seat stadium out of 974 recycled shipping containers 
It's made from repurposed shipping containers and can be completely dismantled, transported to another country and put back together like Lego

Education City Stadium


 After the World Cup, 20,000 seats will be removed and donated to developing nations 

Al Janoub Stadium




A Redemptive World Cup

After the Corona Virus pandemic disrupted the world as we know it, with a heavy toll on human lives and economic activities. It's safe to say we have weathered the storm and are steadily making our way back
At a certain point during the Global pandemic, our future and interactive lives were at risk of never returning to normalcy. The 2022 Qatar World Cup shows our ability as a people to overcome diversity and disaster.
I hope you will join me in this celebration of life and the game that we all love, football.

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