The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, scheduled to be held from 20th November to 18th December 2022 in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. This upcoming men’s international football tournament, with 32 senior national teams that are members of FIFA associations contesting, has many firsts. For starters, the Arab World is holding the FIFA World Cup for the very first time. Moreover, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted in the Winter season for the first time, and not during May, June, and July. The intense heat of Qatar during the summer months was the reason why the tournament was postponed to the Wintertime. In addition, this tournament will be held for a reduced timeline of 29 days.
However, this year’s football tournament will be the second time that the FIFA World Cup will be hosted in Asia after the 2002 tournament hosted by Japan and South Korea.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament is the last time that 32 teams will be contesting. Hereafter, from the 2026 FIFA World Cup onwards, FIFA is planning to increase the field to 42 contesting teams. Mexico, the USA, and Canada will be the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted at 8 venues and 5 host cities. Among the stadiums that will be hosting the FIFA football matches in Qatar are Al Janoub Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, Lucail Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, and Al Rayyan Stadium.
The opening match of the FIFA World Cup will be held on 20th November 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium from 0930 pm onwards, with Qatar pitted against Ecuador. The final match of the World Cup 2022 is scheduled for 18th December 2022, the Qatar National Day, from 2030 pm onwards; the top-performing teams will play against each other at Lucail Stadium at Lucail.
France is the defending champion of the 2022 World Cup after winning the final match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Croatia, with a 4-2 win.
PRIZE MONEY
FIFA made the announcement of the prizes of the contesting nations of the 2022 World Cup in April 2022. The qualifying teams will receive preparation costs to the tune of $1.5 million before the tournament. Furthermore, FIFA proclaimed that the total prize pool of the 2022 World Cup will be $440 million, which is $40 million more as compared to the previous tournament ($400 million).
ABOUT THE FIFA WORLD CUP
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is responsible for organizing the FIFA World Cup every 4 years. The first FIFA tournament was hosted in Uruguay in the year 1930. Also, from the year 1998 onwards, there have been 32 teams participating in the FIFA World Cup tournaments. More so, as part of the FIFA World Cup tournament, 8 round-robin groups contest, after which knock-out rounds for 16 teams are hosted.