Fifa take the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time in 2022 with the 22nd edition of the quadrennial event, so what is the time zone difference between Qatar and the UK?
Europe has hosted the most World Cups over the past 21 editions with 11 tournaments on the continent to date. South America has welcomed the footballing world five times, while North American nations have so far hosted three tournaments, Asia once and Africa once.
The United States of America, Mexico and Canada will share hosting honours for the next World Cup in 2026. It will be the USA’s second, Mexico’s third and Canada’s first, and will also be the first of the Fifa events to feature 48 nations – increasing from the current 32.
When is the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar?
Qatar will raise the curtain for the first Middle Eastern World Cup on November 20 at Al Bayt Stadium. The tournament runs until December 18 with the final at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, which is the country’s largest ground and will host 10 matches throughout the competition.
England begin their World Cup against Iran on November 21 at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. While Group B rivals Wales and the USA start their tournaments at the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium in Al-Rayyan later on the 21st after Senegal face the Netherlands.
The Three Lions kick-off against Iran at 13:00 GMT, while Cymru play at 19:00 following a 16:00 KO between Senegal and Holland. Qatar begin the World Cup at 16:00 on the 20th following the opening ceremony after Fifa brought the game forward as a standalone tie.
What is the Qatar to UK time zone difference?
England’s 13:00 GMT kick-off against Iran equates to a 16:00 kick-off time in Qatar, while Wales’ match with the USA at 19:00 GMT is 22:00 local time, with the host nation for the 2022 World Cup three hours ahead while the United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time.
During the British Summer Time, the time zone difference between the UK to Qatar is two hours. But the time zone difference from Qatar to the UK grows to three hours when BST [GMT+1] – which started on March 27 – ends and the UK returns to GMT on October 30.
The time in Qatar is given by Arabia Standard Time, which operates at GMT+3, and is not affected by daylight saving time like the UK – hence the difference in time zones currently.
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