Football World Cup

The bidding procedure to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. Initially, eleven bids were made for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but Mexico later withdrew from proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian Football Association failed to submit a letter of Indonesian government guarantee to support the bid. Indonesian officials had not ruled out a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, until Qatar took the 2022 cup.

Qualification

FIFA's six continental confederations organise their own qualifying competitions. All FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, are eligible to enter qualification. Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar is obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also act as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup

Venues

1.Lusail Iconic Stadium, (Capacity) 80,000
2.Al Bayt Stadium, (Capacity) 60,000
3.Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, (Capacity) 40,000
4.Al Thumama Stadium, (Capacity) 40,000
5.Education City Stadium, (Capacity) 45,350
6.Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, (Capacity) 44,740
7.Khalifa International Stadium, (Capacity) 40,000
8.Al Janoub Stadium, (Capacity) 40,000

Schedule

The match schedule was confirmed by FIFA on 15 July 2020. The opening match, featuring the hosts Qatar, will be played on 21 November 2022, 13:00 local time (UTC+3), at the Al Bayt Stadium. During the group stage, four matches will be played on each day, with kick-off times being 13:00, 16:00, 19:00 and 22:00 for the first two rounds, and 18:00 and 22:00 for the simultaneous kick-offs of the last round and for knockout stage matches. The third place match will be played on 17 December 2022 at the Khalifa International Stadium, and the final will be played on 18 December 2022 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, both at 18:00.