Date of FIFA World Cup 2022: FIFA announced on Thursday that the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will begin a day earlier than planned (August 11). The ruling bureau agreed to hold the opening ceremony and the first match of the host nation Qatar on Sunday (November 20). Originally, the opening ceremony was scheduled to take place before Qatar’s match against Ecuador on November 21, but plans have since changed.
The reason for this could be that it would have resulted in the unusual situation of two matches – Senegal vs. Netherlands and England vs. Iran – taking place before the ceremony.
Reason for Date of FIFA World Cup 2022 changed
Usually, the ceremony takes place prior to the start of the tournament’s first game. After an opening ceremony at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium, Qatar will now make their World Cup debut against Ecuador at 1900 local time.
The change is consistent with the long-standing practise of hosting or holding the first match. The Group A match between Senegal and the Netherlands, originally scheduled for 1300 local time on Nov. 21, has been pushed back six hours to the 1900 slot vacated by Qatar v Ecuador.
The change has no effect on England’s Group B match against Iran or the United States’ opener against Wales, both of which are scheduled for November 21.
A committee comprised of the heads of FIFA’s six regional confederations and President Gianni Infantino approved the plan.
“The decision was made after an evaluation of the competition and operational implications, as well as a thorough consultation process and agreement with key stakeholders and the host country,” FIFA stated.
The change extends the World Cup to 29 days until the final on December 18, and comes after several rounds of ticket sales, with organisers selling 1.8 million tickets so far.
“Ticket holders will be notified via email that the relevant matches have been rescheduled, and their tickets will remain valid regardless of the new date/time,” FIFA explained.
“Fifa will also seek to address any issues that may arise as a result of this change on a case-by-case basis.”
It will be the first World Cup held in the Middle East, and it has been pushed back from its usual June-July date to avoid the region’s punishing summer heat.
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