The FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international men's football championship played between the senior national teams of FIFA member countries, is set to take place for the 22nd time in 2022. Qatar will host it from November 20 through December 18, 2022. After the event in South Korea and Japan in 2002, this will be the second World Cup held in Asia and the first World Cup ever to be contested in the Arab world. Additionally, the tournament will include 32 teams for the final time; the game in the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 2026 will have 48 teams instead.
This World Cup will be the first not to be hosted in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn; it will be played in a shorter timeframe of roughly 29 days due to the extreme summer heat in Qatar. The tournament will take place from late November to mid-December. At Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, the tournament's opening game will be played between Qatar and Ecuador. The final is scheduled for December 18, 2022, which also happens to be Qatar National Day. France is the current World Cup champion.
Concerns over the legitimacy of Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022 were first raised in May 2011 following allegations of corruption involving high FIFA executives. Regarding the process by which Qatar was selected to host the event, allegations of corruption have been made. Qatar was acquitted of all violations following an internal FIFA inquiry and report, however, head investigator Michael J. Garcia has subsequently criticized FIFA's report for making "many materially inaccurate and false claims." Swiss federal prosecutors launched an investigation into bribery and money laundering in connection with the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids on May 27, 2015. On August 6, 2018, Sepp Blatter, a former FIFA president, asserted that Qatar had engaged in "black ops.
The treatment of foreign workers engaged in World Cup preparation has also drawn harsh criticism for Qatar. Amnesty International has cited "forced labor" and subpar working conditions, and numerous migrant workers have claimed they had to pay significant "recruitment fees" in order to find employment. According to a report by The Guardian newspaper, many employees are allegedly denied food and water, have their identity documents removed from them, and are not paid on time or at all, thereby turning some of them into slaves.
By the time the tournament is place, up to 4,000 workers could have passed away from poor safety practices and other causes, according to The Guardian. The Qatari government implemented major labor reforms between 2015 and 2021 to enhance working conditions, including a minimum salary for all employees and the abolition of the kafala system. However, Amnesty International claims that there has been no improvement in the living and working conditions of foreign employees in recent years.
FIFA World Cup Host selection
National associations had until February 2nd, 2009 to express interest in hosting the FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022. The bidding process started in January 2009. There were initially eleven proposals for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, however, Mexico eventually withdrew from the process, while Indonesia's bid was ultimately turned down by FIFA in February 2010 because the Indonesian Football Association failed to provide a letter of support from the Indonesian government. Prior to Qatar being awarded the 2022 competition, Indonesian officials had not ruled out a bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. All non-UEFA countries gradually abandoned their bids for 2018 during the bidding process, ensuring that a UEFA country would host the event and disqualifying UEFA states from competing in the tournament.
In the end, five countries submitted bids to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup: the United States, Australia, Japan, Qatar, and South Korea. On December 2, 2010, the 22 members of the FIFA Executive Committee met in Zürich to cast votes for the two tournament hosts. Due to allegations of vote-rigging, two FIFA executive committee members were suspended before the vote. Media pundits criticized the choice to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was regarded as having "high operational risk." Numerous people have criticized it for being linked to the FIFA corruption allegations.
FIFA World Cup Teams Qualification
The six continental confederations recognized by FIFA manage their own qualifying tournaments. All 211 FIFA member associations were allowed to enter the qualification process. As the tournament's hosts, Qatar automatically qualified. However, because the first two rounds served as a qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, the AFC required Qatar to take part in the Asian qualifying stage. Lebanon, who finished in second place and finished fifth overall, advanced in place of Qatar, who advanced to the next stage as group champions. The qualifying rounds were also followed as usual by the defending World Cup champions, France.
Prior to their first match, Saint Lucia withdrew from qualification after initially entering. Due to worries over the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on safety, North Korea withdrew from the qualification round. Before the OFC draw, Samoa and American Samoa both withdrew. After the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami in 2022, Tonga withdrew. Vanuatu and the Cook Islands also withdrew as a result of COVID-19 breakouts in their teams because of the travel restrictions.
24 of the 32 nations that qualified to compete at the 2018 FIFA World Cup participated in that event. The only team competing in their first FIFA World Cup in Qatar, making them the first hosts since Italy in 1934 to do so. As a result, the 2022 World Cup will be the first one in which none of the qualifying teams will be making their debut. Following absences from the 2018 event, the Netherlands, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon, and the United States all participated in this year's competition. After 36 years, Canada made a comeback; its only other appearance was in 1986. Wales made its first appearance in 64 years - a record absence for a European squad, their only prior participation having.
reigning European champions and four-time world champions Italy lost in the qualification play-off semi-finals, and as a result, they were unable to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup for the first time in their history. The only reigning champions who didn't make the cut were the Italians. Following Czechoslovakia in 1978, Denmark in 1994, and Greece in 2006, Italy is the fourth team to have won the previous UEFA European Championship but failed to advance to the subsequent World Cup. Due to their invasion of Ukraine, the previous World Cup hosts, Russia, were barred from competing.
The 2015 and 2016 Copa América champions, Chile, also missed qualifying for the second time in a row. Nigeria, which had previously qualified for three World Cups and six of the previous seven, was eliminated by Ghana in the final CAF playoff round on away goals. The nations that qualified for the 2018 World Cup—Egypt, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Iceland, and Sweden—did not also advance to the 2022 competition.
FIFA World Cup Schedule
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in November and December instead of the traditional June and July dates in order to escape the stifling summer heat in Qatar. Due to the unusual scheduling of the World Cup, it will take place in the middle of domestic football leagues' seasons that begin in late July or early August. This includes all of the major European leagues, which were forced to add extra breaks to their domestic schedules to make room for the World Cup. In contrast, domestic leagues like Major League Soccer, whose seasons normally begin in the northern spring and last through the summer, will be able to wrap up before the event.
FIFA announced the fixture schedule on July 15, 2020. The only group stage game with a site and time set was the opening day match between Qatar and the hosts; it will be held at the Al Bayt Stadium on November 20, 2022. The match was originally planned for the following day, but Qatar successfully pushed FIFA to change the date so that the Qatari team could open the competition. Four matches will be played each day during the group stage, with kickoff times for the first two rounds being 13:00, 16:00, 19:00, and 22:00, and for the final round and knockout round, matches being simultaneously at 18:00 and 22:00. The final will be played at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on December 18, 2022, and the third-place game will be played at the Khalifa International Stadium on December 17, both at 18:00.
The assignment of group fixtures for each matchday to a specific venue and kickoff time was only made after the group stage draw and the teams of each specific fixture were known. This is in contrast to previous tournaments where the match venues and kickoff times for each fixture were set prior to the draw. This is because the locations are so close together, which allowed the organizers to plan the stadium seating for fans and the kickoff times for television viewers. The following stadiums will host the group stage games for each group:-
Groups:- A, B, E, F: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
Groups:- C, D, G, H: Lusail Iconic Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium
FIFA confirmed the group stage venue and kick-off times on 1 April 2022, following the draw. On 10 August, FIFA submitted a proposal for Qatar's opening game against Ecuador to be rescheduled to 20 November, one day before originally planned. Two days later, the decision to move Qatar's first game was officially confirmed by FIFA.
Conclusion
So, you’re all set to witness the best footballing event of the year. Just in case you don't know about any crucial details about this big event then we have prepared a detailed article for you. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get more updates on your timeline soon.
To summarize, here is what you should know about the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.
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