2022 World Cup: Everything you need to know

Every four years, for one month, soccer fans around the world forget about local teams’ rivalries and come together with their fellow fans to cheer on their own national team and dream of becoming world champions. As you may know from our show Quest to Qatar, we’re breaking down all of the details of the FIFA World Cup, but also want you to know the details and history of this year’s game.

World Cup Qatar Rules

To keep the game exciting, Word Cup Qatar rules having to do with the number of substitutes, tiebreakers and even more intervention by technology and the VAR. We break down everything you need to know about World Cup Qatar rules in our Quest to Qatar microsite.

When is the FIFA World Cup 2022?

This year, the World Cup will be held in Qatar, from November 20th to December 18th. Although, historically, the FIFA World Cup has always been played in May, June and July, Qatar during those months has an average temperature of 98.6°, so it was decided by the organizers to postpone the date to autumn.

There will be 64 matches in total, with teams from 32 different countries participating —which were defined in the playoffs.

On April 1st, the fixture of the championship was drawn defining which teams will face each other in the 48 matches of the first stage, which will take place between November 20th and December 2nd. The opening match will be played at Al Bayt Stadium and the Qatari team, the host, will face Ecuador.

The winners of that first stage will play in the knockout stages. Between December 3rd and December 6th there will be two matches per day, where it will be defined who will go to the quarterfinals, to be played on December 9th and 10th. 

The semi finals will take place on December the 13th and 14th, and the final game will be played on Sunday, December the 18th. That day we’ll see which lucky team will win the cup that was held by the National France team for four years, the winner of the Russia 2018 World Cup. If you want to check the full fixture, you can see it on the official FIFA web page.

Why is Qatar 2022 controversial?

The election of Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup has created several controversies. On one hand, there are cultural aspects that could cause a Westerner fan to end up in prison if they partake in certain behaviors, such as drinking alcohol in public. On the other hand, there have been allegations of human rights violations, since thousands of people have died in accidents during the construction of the stadiums where the matches will be held.

But beyond all this, both those who’ll travel to the Middle East to watch the matches live, and those who’ll wake up very early to watch them on TV (due to the time difference) will surely share the passion of cheering on their country’s team (or of a favorite).

So go out and buy a shirt or a hat with the colors of your national team, and on the day of the matches, prepare a drink and something to snack on, knowing that on that playing field much more than a soccer match is taking place: it is the illusion of thousands of people who are dreaming of their country becoming the world champion.