FIFA World Cup 2022 Schedule: Full Match Fixtures

Gambian referee Bakary Gassama and Argentine assistant referee Juan Pablo Belatti are among the officials to serve at their third World Cup. Other returning officials include referees César Arturo Ramos of Mexico and Janny Sikazwe of Zambia, and Iranian assistant referee Mohammadreza Mansouri. 1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name. Brazil's Mário Zagallo, West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer and France's Didier Deschamps are the only people to date to win the World Cup as both player and head coach. Beckenbauer won in 1974 as captain and in 1990 as head coach, and Deschamps repeated the feat in 2018, after having won in 1998 as captain.

He broke Ronaldo of Brazil's record of 15 goals (1998–2006) during the 2014 semi-final match against Brazil. The fourth-placed goalscorer, France's Just Fontaine, holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup; all his 13 goals were scored in the 1958 tournament. Coincidentally, one of the last two matches pitted together the top two teams , and the other was between the bottom two teams. Uruguay v Brazil is often considered the de facto final of the 1950 World Cup.

It is designed to resemble the tournament trophy, the infinity symbol, and the number "8", reflecting upon the "interconnected" event and the eight host stadiums. It also evokes imagery of shawls to signify the tournament's winter scheduling, and contains waves resembling desert dunes. The typography of the emblem's wordmark incorporates kashida—the practice of elongating certain parts of characters in Arabic script to provide typographical emphasis. FIFA confirmed the group stage venue and kick-off times on 1 April 2022, following the draw. Stadium 974, formerly known as Ras Abu Aboud, is the seventh FIFA World Cup 2022 venue to be completed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy .

The arrests continued in the United States, where several FIFA officers were arrested, and FIFA buildings were raided. The arrests were made on the information of at least a $150 million corruption and bribery scandal. In April 2020, the government of Qatar provided $824 million to pay the wages of migrant workers in quarantine or undergoing treatment for COVID-19. The official match ball, the "Al Rihla", was unveiled on 30 March 2022. It was mainly inspired by the culture, architecture, iconic boats and flag of Qatar. The ball was designed with sustainability as a priority, making it the first ever official match ball created with water-based glues and inks.

According to a report released in April 2013 by Merrill Lynch, the investment banking division of Bank of America, the organisers in Qatar have requested FIFA to approve a smaller number of stadiums due to the growing costs. Bloomberg.com said that Qatar wishes to cut the number of venues to eight or nine from the twelve originally planned. Stéphanie Frappart from France, Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan became the first female referees to be appointed to a men's World Cup.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd running of the FIFA World Cup competition, the quadrennial international men's football championship contested by the senior national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world, and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. In addition, the tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The first match played at the tournament will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final is due to be held on 18 December 2022, which also is Qatar National Day.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and the US, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win the World Cup.

Although the way things turned out, the final group game of the tournament acted as a final of sorts. Brazil had obliterated most teams in the tournament, and needed only draw against Uruguay to win the Cup. Still, Qatar has had to relax its regulation of alcohol for the 29-day tournament starting Nov. 20. It is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors including fans from 31 other nations to the tiny Emirate. GENEVA — Organizers of the World Cup in Qatar have finalized a policy to serve beer with alcohol to soccer fans at stadiums and fan zones in the Muslim-majority country.