Qatar are about to kick off the World Cup when the 2022 host nation and Ecuador clash on Sunday. So, HITC Football has taken a look at how many games are played in each round.
FIFA has allocated the first match to Qatar and Ecuador in a standalone encounter with the opening ceremony on November 20. The fixture raises the curtain for Group A at the 22nd edition of the quadrennial tournament. It is also the first edition played in the Middle East.
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Qatar won the right to host the World Cup back in 2010 and has had the past 12 years to prepare. The New York Times notes the nation in the Arabian Peninsula has spent more than $220billion (£185bn) on building stadiums, motorways, a metro system and a new airport.
As well as hosting the maiden World Cup in the Middle East, Qatar is also hosting the first winter edition. The tournament runs from November 20 to December 18 and will feature 32 nations from five FIFA confederations. UEFA is the best represented with 13 countries.
How many games will be played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
A total of 64 games will be played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar across the group stage, Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. Four matches will be played on each day of the group stage, bar the first two days, across a 12-day period to decide the last 16.
FIFA brought forward Qatar against Ecuador to be a standalone fixture, leaving England vs Iran, Senegal vs the Netherlands and the USA vs Wales on November 21. The remaining 44 ties across all eight groups will run four a day from November 22 through to December 2.
Each nation will play three group stage fixtures, taking on each of the three other teams in their four-country group once. Only the top two from each group will progress into the last 16, with the winning countries then taking on the runners-up from a corresponding group.
The Round of 16 will run with two games each day from December 3 to December 6 for a total of eight fixtures. FIFA has then scheduled a two-day break once the total number of games played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has reached 56 before the quarter-final ties.
From four games a day down to just one for the final at Qatar 2022
From starting with four games a day during the group stage, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will whittle down to just one during the semi-finals, third-place play-off and the final itself. The quarter-finals on December 9 and December 10 follow the last 16 with two each day.
Also like the last 16, the two quarter-final games each day will kick off at 18:00 and 22:00 Arabian Standard Time (AST). The games kick off at 15:00 and 19:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Clocks in Qatar run at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) plus-three – the UK is +0.
The two semi-finals both kick off at 22:00 AST (19:00 GMT), with one match on December 13 and the other tie on December 14. While the third-place play-off will start at 18:00 AST (15:00 GMT) on December 17. The final held on December 18 also kicks off at 18:00 AST.
So, with 48 group stage games, eight Round of 16 ties, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a third-place play-off and a final, 64 games will be played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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