FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is an ongoing international association football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of FIFA’s member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup, it is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This is the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, and the second held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. France are the defending champions, having defeated Croatia 4–2 in the 2018 final. At an estimated cost of over $220 billion, it is the most expensive World Cup ever held; this figure is disputed by Qatari officials, including organizing CEO Nasser Al Khater, who said the true cost is $8 billion, and other figures relate to overall infrastructure development since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010.
This tournament is set to be the last with 32 participating teams, with the field to increase to 48 teams for the 2026 edition. To avoid the extremes of Qatar’s hot climate, this World Cup is being held during November and December. It is being played in a reduced timeframe of 29 days with 64 matches to be played in eight venues across five cities. The Qatar national football team appeared at the event automatically at their first World Cup alongside 31 teams who were determined by qualification rounds. Qatar lost all three group matches, making them the first host to lose their opening game, the earliest a host was eliminated, and are the second host (after South Africa in 2010) not to progress past the first stage.
In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in eight round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These 16 teams will advance to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play to decide which teams would participate in the final, which will be held on 18 December 2022 at Lusail Stadium, coinciding with Qatar’s National Day.
The choice to host the World Cup in Qatar has been a source of controversy. Criticisms focused on Qatar’s human-rights record and climate, and allegations of bribery and FIFA corruption.
