FIFA has released the full schedule for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which is certain to disrupt the domestic and continental campaigns in the 2021/22 season.
The tournament in the Middle East has been heavily criticised since it’s announcement over a decade ago, with investigations into discrepancies in the voting process and accusations of Human Rights violations.
Despite this, the World Cup will be going ahead and the full schedule for the tournament, which is the last 32-team competition before the expansion for th 2026 World Cup in North America.
The opening game, which sees host nation Qatar play at the Al Bayt Stadium, will take place on Monday, November 21 2022 and kick-off will be at 10am GMT and the final takes place less than a month later on Sunday, December 18 2022 at 15:00 GMT.
The group stage of the competition will last for 12 days and will see four matches played daily - with kick-off times set at 10am, 1pm, 3pm and 7pm GMT, with the final group-stage matches being played simultaneously at 3pm and 7pm GMT.
A major change to the tournament structure means that the fixture kickoff times will not be decided at the same time as the group stage draw, with matches potentially being moved to be more accommodating to international audiences and those in Qatar in regards to the stadium allocation.
While the dates for the 2021/22 season are yet to be decided, it is guaranteed that the campaign in English football and in UEFA’s continental competitions will be significantly disrupted and a wealth of fixtures will need to be rearranged.
Full details on the rescheduling will follow in due course from the Premier League, Football Association, EFL and UEFA.
