The 2022 Men's FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup competition. 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.

The tournament is set to be the last with a 32-team field; the field is slated to increase to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.



Due to Qatar's intense summer heat and humidity, this World Cup will be held in the winter, making it the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn; it will be played in a reduced timeframe of 29 days.

The World Cup kicks off at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor on Sunday (16:00 GMT) between Qatar and Ecuador

Host country Qatar are ranked 50th in the world and will be making there first appearance at the World Cup. A tournament hosts have never lost their opening game at a World Cup (including both Japan and South Korea in 2002). And all but one (South Africa in 2010) have advance from the first phase of the World Cup (whether group stage or knockout)

Ecuador, are at their 4th World Cup, with a previous best of reaching Round of 16 in 2006. They are favourites to win the match, being ranked 6 places higher, but are quite a defensive-minded team so its likely there won't be many goals in this opening game.

Qatar 0 Ecuador 2

E Valencia (16'minutes pen, 31'minutes)

Hosts Qatar opened the 2022 Fifa World Cup in calamitous fashion, easily beaten by Ecuador in a humbling defeat at Al Bayt.



A dramatic opening to the contest saw Enner Valencia's header from close range ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee, but the South Americans did break the deadlock shortly after.

Qatar's erratic goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb brought Valencia down in the box and the ex-West Ham forward stepped up to convert the spot-kick.

It got worse for the hosts as Valencia powered in another header before half-time to leave the Al Bayt Stadium silenced at the break.

Monday's 3 games are Group A's other game (16:00 GMT) Senegal v Netherlands, and Group B games (13:00 GMT) England v Iran, and (19:00 GMT) USA v Wales

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England, 1966 World Cup Champions, are at their 16th World Cup, with 4th in both 1990 and 2018 being the best other results. They will be without midfielder James Maddison, who is yet to train in Qatar as he nurses a knee problem picked up playing for Leicester last weekend, and defender Kyle Walker, who is still working his way back to fitness after groin surgery.

Iran at their 6th World Cup have never got past the group stage. They've scored just nine goals in 15 World Cup matches; at 0.6, it's the lowest goals-per-game ratio of any nation to play more than 10 games at the competition. They've only netted more than once in one of their 15 games, a 2-1 win over USA in 1998. There only other win was against Morocco in 2018

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Senegal, the African champions, qualified after a penalty shootout in their final qualifying match. They've been at 2 previously World Cup, 2002 where they reached the quarter-finals, and 2018. They will be without Sadio Mane, who misses the tournament due to a knee injury.

Netherlands, are making there 11th appearance, playing in 3 finals and been defeated in them all 1974 (2-1 vs hosts West Germany), 1978 (3-1 after extra time vs hosts Argentina) and 2010 (1-0 after extra time vs Spain). The Dutch are without forward Memphis Depay, who scored 12 goals in World Cup qualifying, with a hamstring injury.

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USA have been to 11 World Cup, a best result was 3rd in their first appearance in 1930. Two of their most prominent players are fitness concerns, Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, who has struggled with his thigh, and full-back Sergino Dest, on loan at AC Milan from Barcelona, who has adductor issues. But head coach Gregg Berhalter is confident both will feature against Wales, either from the start or as substitutes.

Wales qualify for just there second tournament after 1958 where they reached Quarter-finals. They will be without influential midfielder Joe Allen, whose hamstring injury has kept him out since September, but they're hopeful he will play some part in the group stage.

England 6 Iran 2

Bellingham (35'minutes),
Saka (43'minutes, 62'minutes),
Sterling (45'+1minutes),
Rashford (71'minutes),
Grealish (89'minutes)

Taremi (65'minutes, 90'+13minutes pen)

England's World Cup campaign opened in thoroughly convincing fashion as they outclassed Iran in Doha.



Gareth Southgate's side strolled to victory, with Iran's hopeless plight made worse by the early loss of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion after a clash of heads with a team-mate.

Jude Bellingham got England off the mark in this World Cup with a soaring header from Luke Shaw's cross 10 minutes before the break and the game was wrapped up before half-time thanks to Saka's fine strike and Raheem Sterling's classy volley with the outside of his foot from Harry Kane's cross.

Iran's supporters were given a moment of real delight when Mehdi Taremi scored a fine goal after 65 minutes but it only produced a ruthless response from England as Saka scored his second and substitute Marcus Rashford scored with his first involvement - both smooth, composed strikes.

To put the gloss on an incredibly dominant display, Jack Grealish slotted home from close range after a good run and pull back by Callum Wilson.

Iran did pull another back in injury time when Taremi slotted in a penalty after a John Stones foul.

Senegal 0 Netherlands 2

Gakpo (84'minutes),
Klaassen (90'+9minutes)

Two late goals from the Netherlands sealed a crucial victory in their World Cup opener against Senegal in Group A.



PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo beat Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to the ball when it was chipped in by Frenkie de Jong to nod the Dutch in front with six minutes remaining.

Substitute Davy Klaassen then pounced on a rebound from Memphis Depay's shot to add a second deep into stoppage-time to confirm the success.

USA 1 Wales1

Weah (36'minutes)

Bale (82'minutes pen)

Gareth Bale rode to Wales' rescue once again as the captain's late penalty salvaged a draw against the United States in his country's first World Cup game for 64 years.



Wales were overrun in a first half dominated by a vibrant USA team, who led as Tim Weah finished smartly after a surging run and pass by Christian Pulisic.

The half-time introduction of striker Kieffer Moore revitalised Wales, whose newfound energy and purpose turned a one-sided affair into a genuine contest as Ben Davies and Moore both came close to equalising.

Then with nine minutes left, the anonymous Bale was clattered in the box by Tim Ream before confidently whipping his penalty into the net to send the travelling Welsh supporters behind that goal into raptures.

Tuesday's games are Group C (10:00 GMT) Argentina v Saudi Arabia and (16:00 GMT) Mexico v Poland, and Group D (13:00 GMT) Denmark v Tunisia and (19:00 GMT) France v Australia
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Argentina the current Copa América champions, are making their 16th appearance, have won the tournament twice (1978 and 1986) and were runners up three times (1930, 1990 and 2014) Tottenham's Cristian Romero is a concern, for the game, The combative centre-back missed the last four weeks of Premier League football and didn't make the bench for Argentina's final pre-World Cup friendly against the UAE on Wednesday. But a surprise inclusion was Paulo Dybala who after sitting out eight matches for Roma with a hamstring problem came off the bench in the final game before the winter break.

Saudi Arabia are at their 6th World Cup, they achieved their best result in there first appearance in 1994 by reaching Round of 16, the only time they've progressed past the group stage. A potential headache coming into the tournament revolved around the availability of forward Salem Al-Dawsari who has just recovered from appendix surgery in time to feature in the final pre-World Cup friendly against Croatia.
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Denmark will be making their sixth World Cup appearance. They've made it out of the group stages in four of their five previous World Cup appearances but have never progressed further than the quarter-finals (lost 3-2 to Brazil in 1998). There are doubts for Goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow whobhas missed Union Berlin's final three Bundesliga matches with a hamstring injury, while Wolfsburg forward Jonas Wind has a muscle issue.

Tunisia are appearing at their sixth World Cup, though they have never progressed past the group stages. They were the first African nation to win a match at the World Cup, beating Mexico 3-1 in 1978. Captain Youssef Msakni missed the 2018 World Cup with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and has struggled with injury again in the build-up to Qatar - but is expected to be fit to face Denmark.
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Mexico have progressed from the group stage at each of the previous eight World Cups they have participated in but have been beaten in the round of 16 at the last seven tournaments. Wolves striker Henry Martin may lead the line instead of Raul Jimenez, after he made his comeback from a groin injury in a warm-up match last week, but is likely to be short of full fitness.

Poland are appearing in their ninth World Cup. They have not made it past the group stage since 1986 and have lost eight of their past 11 matches at the tournament. Captain Robert Lewandowski will return to the starting line-up after being rested in Wednesday's friendly win versus Chile. Centre-back Kamil Glik, 34, is set to win his 100th cap, and would become the fifth Pole to reach the milestone.
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France the reigning world champions, are making their 16th appearance. They also won the 1998 tournament they hosted, but lost the 2006 final 5–3 on penalties to Italy. Striker Olivier Giroud is set to lead the attack after Karim Benzema was ruled out of this tournament because of a thigh injury sustained in training. Raphael Varane is expected to start for the first time since he suffered a hamstring injury in Manchester United's draw at Chelsea on 22 October.

Australia are at their 6th World Cup, they reached the last 16 in 2006 but that is the only time they have progressed to the knockout stage. Winger Martin Boyle was forced to withdraw on Sunday after failing to recover from a knee issue. Defender Harry Souttar and playmaker Ajdin Hrustic will be assessed.