The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be played from 20 November to 18 December in Qatar. It will be the 22nd edition of the competition, and the first played in the Arab world.
The draw for the World Cup group phase took place in Doha, Qatar, on April 1 2022 to set the stage for the tournament.
The final three qualification places were filled in June, with Wales, Australia and Costa Rica completing the 32-team line-up.
The group phase will be played from 20 November to 2 December. The knockout phase will begin with the Round of 16 from 3-6 December.
The quarter-finals will be played on 9 and 10 December, with the semi-finals on 13 and 14 December. The play-off for the third place will unfold on 17 December, one day before the final.
The 64 matches of the tournament will take place across eight venues - Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Lusail Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium and Al Janoub Stadium.
On 19 May 2022, FIFA announced the list of 36 referees, and 69 assistant referees and 24 video assistant referees for the tournament.
Of the 36 referees, FIFA included two each from Argentina, Brazil, England and France.
For the first time women referees will referee games at a major men's tournament.
For the first time women referees will referee games at a major men's tournament.
Stéphanie Frappart from France, Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan became the first female referees to be appointed to a men's World Cup.
Of the 32 nations qualified to play at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 24 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2018.
Qatar are the only team making their debut in the FIFA World Cup, becoming the first hosts to make their tournament debut since Italy in 1934.
As a result, the 2022 tournament is the first World Cup in which none of the teams that earned a spot through qualification were making their debut.
The Netherlands, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon and the United States returned to the tournament after missing the 2018 tournament. Canada returned after 36 years, their only prior appearance being in 1986.
Four-time world champions and reigning European champions Italy failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup for the first time in their history, losing in the qualification play-off semi-finals.
Nigeria went out to Ghana on away goals in CAF's final playoff round, having qualified for the previous three World Cups and six out of the last seven.
Egypt, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Iceland and Sweden, all of whom qualified for the 2018 World Cup, also did not qualify for the 2022 tournament.
Due to Qatar's intense summer heat, this World Cup will be held from late-November to mid-December, making it the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn; it will be played in a reduced timeframe of around 29 days.
The first match played at the tournament will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor.
The final is due to be held on 18 December 2022, which also is Qatar National Day. The reigning World Cup champions are France.
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