Doha, Europe Brief News – The 2022 Qatar edition will be the first tournament hosted in the Middle East and the first to be held at the end of the calendar year in November and December.
Thirty-one nations will earn the right to play alongside host Qatar through regional qualifying matches. It has been predetermined how many nations will qualify from each region:
Africa (CAF): 5
Asia (AFC): 4 (plus 1 playoff qualifier)
Europe (UEFA): 13
North/Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 (plus 1 playoff qualifier)
Oceania (OFC): 1 playoff qualifier
South America (CONMEBOL): 4 (plus 1 playoff qualifier)
Including the hosts, 15 teams have qualified for the 32-team World Cup so far:
Qatar
Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Croatia
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Iran
The Netherlands
Serbia
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
FIFA Chief is Proud
A “unique” tournament and “perhaps the best ever”. This is how FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the upcoming Qatar 2022 World Cup.
“I have never seen a country more ready for a World Cup than Qatar. Qatar also has tremendous capabilities to organise tournaments in a distinctive way. It can benefit from the legacy of the World Cup by organising tournaments at the highest levels annually,” Infantino said.
The FIFA chief also expressed his complete satisfaction with the preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The action begins on November 21st at 1pm local time at the Al Bayt stadium. 60,000 fans will fill the distinctive arena which takes its name from bayt al sha’ar – tents historically used by nomadic peoples in Qatar and the Gulf region.
“What I see from Qatar as a host country is beyond expectations, because the distinctive infrastructure is already part of the sustainability of the World Cup. The stadiums are of the latest style. This is a unique feature of the World Cup,” he said. The fact that parts of the stadiums will be dismantled after the tournament makes the Qatar World Cup exceptional.
