The World Cup is here again! Who are you rooting for? Unfortunately, our dear Super Eagles won’t be in Qatar to participate after losing to our close neighbours, Ghana (that match still pains me till now), anyways let me give a quick rundown on what is going to happen in Qatar.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar kicks off on Sunday, November 20 at the Al Bayt Stadium when the hosts take on Ecuador in Group A.
The tournament was originally set to begin a day later with Senegal’s game against the Netherlands at Al Thumama Stadium, but Qatar’s match was moved forward to allow them to open their home tournament. England will now feature on the second day with their Group B match against Iran scheduled to take place on Monday, November 21 with a 1 pm UK time kick-off. The game is just eight days after the Premier League shuts down. After qualifying via the playoffs, Wales’ first game will also be on Monday, November 21. Wales will then play England on Tuesday, November 29 in Group B.
The 2022 World Cup will begin with 32 teams in eight groups of four:
- Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
- Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
- Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
- Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
- Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
- Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
- Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
Four matches will be played each day during the group stage, which will run over 12 days and see winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16.
Unlike Euro 2020, there will be a third-place play-off game on December 17. The final will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Doha a week before Christmas on Sunday, December 18. The Former FIFA president in a recent interview said he regrets awarding this huge project to Qatar calling it a mistake. Is it a mistake for you too?
I think I partially agree, in past editions, these players had several weeks to recover before the tournament’s kickoff, but this time around there is precious little time between the break from club play (November 14) and the start of the World Cup on Sunday, November 20.
There are a significant number of injuries to track as the 2022 FIFA World Cup nears its inaugural match. Here are the biggest names who will miss the tournament in Qatar:
- Paul Pogba (France)
- N’Golo Kante (France)
- Mike Maignan (France)
- Timo Werner (Germany)
- Diogo Jota (Portugal)
- Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands)
- Alexis Saelemaekers (Belgium)
- Diego Carlos (Brazil)
- Arthur Melo (Brazil)
- Ben Chilwell (England)
- Reece James (England)
- Jesus ‘Tecatito’ Corona (Mexico)
- Marco Reus (Germany)
- Giovani Lo Celso (Argentina)
African best Player Sadio Mane is also a doubt for this World Cup, my favorite player, though I hope to see him get better. Anyways I will be supporting Brazil and Senegal in this World Cup. Who will you be supporting?
Good luck to all the 32 teams and may the best team win.
See you next week.
