The 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international men’s football tournament that occurs every four years between the senior professional squads of FIFA member nations, is scheduled to take place in 2022. Qatar will host it from November 20 until December 18, 2022. This will be the inaugural World Cup held in the Arab region and the 2nd World Cup entirely organised in Asia following South Korean and Japanese events in 2002.
Furthermore, the tournament is planned to be the last with a 32-team field; for the championship in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026, the field is planned to grow to 48 teams. This tournament would be the 1st to be held outside of May or June and will take place in the northern fall; it will be held in a shorter timeframe of around 29 days. The first game will be between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Arena, Al Khor, which is slated for December 18, 2022, on Qatar National Day. France is listed as the World Cup champion.
Which groups will compete in the World Cup?
There will be 32 teams in eight groups of four when the 2022 World Cup debuts:
- Group A: Netherlands, Qatar, Senegal, Ecuador
- Group B: Wales, England, USA, Iran
- Group C: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Poland, Mexico
- Group D: Denmark, Tunisia, Australia, France
- Group E: Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Spain
- Group F: Canada, Morocco, Belgium, Croatia
- Group G: Cameroon, Switzerland, Serbia, Brazil,
- Group H: Ghana, South Korea, Uruguay, Portugal
What venues are there?
Eight stadiums will host the group matches:
- Education City Stadium
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Al Janoub Ground,
- Al Thumama Arena
- Lusail Arena,
- Ahmad Bin Ali Ground
- Ras Abu Aboud Ground
- Khalifa International Stadium.
Team encampments
The 32 national teams will remain and practise at base camps before and during the World Cup competition. FIFA revealed each participating team’s hotels and practice facilities on July 27, 2022. As 24 of the 32 teams are situated in the Doha region and within a 10-kilometre radius of one another, this World Cup is the most condensed since the event’s first edition in 1930. The players may stay at the same training facility for the whole competition for the first time since 1930, as they won’t need to take flights to games.
Official Symbols and Trophy
The official symbol was introduced on September 3, 2019, at parallel events held at the Doha Tower, the Katara Cultural Village Arena, Msheireb Downtown Doha, and Zubarah. It was created by the Lisbon-based branding firm Brandia Central. To represent the “interconnected” nature of the event and the eight host venues, it is meant to mimic the tournament trophy, the infinity symbol, and the number “8.” Additionally, it conjures images of shawls to represent the tournament’s winter schedule and has waves that resemble dunes in the desert. The wordmark for the symbol uses kashida, which is the practice of lengthening particular portions of Arabic characters to give them typographic prominence.
