Today is two years before the start of the final tournament of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

21.11.2020 15:00

Photo fifa.com

Today, November 21, is exactly two years before the start of the final tournament of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will be held for the first time in the Middle East and the Arab world. 

In this regard the official FIFA website informed about the state of infrastructure in Qatar and the schedule of further preparation for the competition. 

According to FIFA, the construction of the infrastructure of the World Cup is completed by 90%. Thus three stadiums are already completely ready. These are Khalifa International, Al Janub and Education City. Three more arenas are in the final stages of construction - Al Ryan, Al Bayt and Al Tumama. Most of the work on the last two stadiums, Ras Abu Abud and Lusail, is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Qatar is also upgrading the infrastructure designed for a comfortable stay of fans at the World Cup. Their relocation through the country will be provided by the modern metro of the capital of Qatar, Doha, new roads and the expanded Hamad International Airport, which by 2022 will receive more than 50 million passengers a year.

The opening match of the tournament will take place on November 21, 2022 in Al-Hawri at the arena "Al Byte", designed for 60 thousand spectators. The final will be held on December 18, 2022, on the National Day of Qatar, at the stadium of the same name "Lusail", which seats 80 thousand fans.

World Cup 2022 qualification

Qualifying competitions for the 2022 World Cup have already started in Africa, Asia and South America. In Europe, the CONCACAF zone and Oceania, they are due to begin next year. At the World Cup, Europe will have 13 places, Africa - 5, South America and Asia - 4,5, CONCACAF - 3,5, Oceania - 0,5. Another license went to Qatar as the host of the World Cup.

It will be recalled that the draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the UEFA zone will take place on December 7, 2020 in Zurich (starting at 19.00 pm Kyiv time). The selection, where 13 tickets will be played, should start in March 2021 and end with the playoffs in March 2022.

All 55 teams representing UEFA associations will play in a two-round tournament in 10 groups (five for six teams and five for five). There are 10 windows from March to November 2021. Before the draw, participants according to the FIFA rating on 26.11.2020 will be divided into six pots (five will have 10 teams, one - five).

The starting tour is scheduled for March 24-25, 2021. 10 group winners will go directly to the 2022 World Cup. The 10 second teams of the qualifying groups and the two best teams among the winners of the groups of the League of Nations 2020/2021 (of those who do not get to the top two in the qualification groups of the 2022 World Cup) will play in March 2022 in the playoffs, which will consist of two stages . The 12 participants will first determine the six in the butt semifinal matches, and then in the finals - the three strongest. They will receive the remaining three tickets to Qatar.