The 2022 FIFA World Cup is just a week away and it is time to take an in-depth look at the tournament which will take place in Qatar.
(This article was originally published on 14.11.2022)
What: | FIFA World Cup |
Where: | Qatar |
When: | 20st November to 18th December |
How to watch: | SBS |
Odds: | Brazil 4.33 , France 8.50, Argentina 6.50, England 9.00, Spain 9.00 |
For the first time ever the World Cup will be held by an Arab nation and due to the intense summer heat in Qatar the tournament dates were pushed back to November.
This has played havoc with the scheduling for the domestic leagues across the world and they have been forced to take a break to fit in with the World Cup. There are five cities in Qatar that will host the World Cup and eight stadiums will be used.
The five cities are Al Khor, Lusail, Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah. The stadiums are as follows. Lusail Iconic Stadium is based in Lusail and has a capacity of 80,000. The Al Bayat Stadium is situated in Al Khor and hold 60,000. The city of Doha has two stadiums which both hold 40,000 supporters.
They are Stadium 974 and Al Thumama Stadium. Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah also have two stadiums each. Khalifa International Stadium and Education City Stadium are based in the former and hold 45.416 and 45,350 supporters respectively.
Al Wakrah has the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium which holds 44,740 supporters and Al Janoub Stadium which has a 40,000 capacity.
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This World Cup will be the last time there are 32 teams in the tournament. From 2026 there will be 48 teams battling it out. But for now there are eight groups from A to H which are made up of four teams in each group.
Each nation in that group will play each other once and the top two in each group will then go through to the knockout stage and the round of 16. The winners of each round of 16 game will progress through to the quarter-finals. Then of course the semi-finals and final will follow.
There is also a third/fourth place play-off for those sides that lose in the semi-final. The final will be played at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail on 18th December.
Group A – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands.
Group B – England, Iran, United States, Wales.
Group C – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland.
Group D – France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia.
Group E – Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan.
Group F – Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia.
Group G – Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon.
Group H – Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea.
Brazil are many peoples hot fancies to go on and win the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They are currently ranked the number one team in the world and have a squad packed with talent.
Brazil have always had attacking flair but these days they also have a solid defence and world-class goalkeepers. It is a combination that will make them very hard to beat and it is no surprise they are priced at to win it.
Argentina will be looking to make up for a very disappointing tournament in 2018 when they crashed out in the Round of 16 when losing to eventual winners France. With Lionel Messi in the team anything is possible and Argentina will be looking to go all the way.
Holders France will be out to defend their crown, while England, Spain and Germany should also be in the mix.
The Golden Boot is awarded to the player who tops the goalscoring charts at the World Cup and there are a host of top players who will be in the hunt.
France striker Kylian Mbappe will be the hot fancy to scoop the Golden Boot after impressing in the 2018 World Cup with four goals. He has since gone from strength to strength and is arguably the top striker in world football right now.
French teammate Karim Benzema is also expected to get among the goals along with Brazil striker Neymar, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and England star Harry Kane. Kane won the Golden Boot in 2018 when scoring six goals as England made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup before losing to Croatia.
Five or six goals is usually enough to win you the Golden Boot although Brazil’s Ronaldo bagged eight in the 2002 World Cup.