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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Mark Wakefield

What time is the FIFA World Cup 2022 opening ceremony in Qatar? And who is Jungkook?

The 2022 World Cup is fast approaching and the eyes of the football world will be on Qatar for the next month. The tournament starts on Sunday, with host nation Qatar taking on Ecuador.

Liverpool have seven players at the tournament. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Darwin Nunez have all been included for their respective countries.

For Everton, they have four of their stars present in Qatar. Jordan Pickford, Conor Coady, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye will all be in the country for their respective nations, too.

Before the first ball is kicked, though, there will be an opening ceremony to kick off the first holding of the competition.

The opening ceremony for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place at 2pm (GMT) on Sunday, November 20 at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Pop star Robbie Williams will be part of proceedings, and there are rumours that Shakira could also perform a version of her hit 'Waka Waka' track from the 2010 World Cup. One person who will definitely be in attendance is BTS star Jeon Jung-kook, who also goes by the single title of Jungkook.

Here is everything we know about the star of the K-pop group.

Who is Jungkook?

Jungkook is 25-years-old and the lead singer of the South Korean pop group BTS. He typically performs vocals for the quartet, and has also recently forged a successful solo career.

His popularity has made him one of the biggest stars in the K-Pop world and subsequently a well-known name in the world of music globally.

Why is he performing at the World Cup opening ceremony?

The official BTS Twitter account confirmed last week that Jungkook will perform at the opening ceremony in Qatar - and that he has contributed to the official tournament soundtrack.

The tweet read: “Proud to announce that Jung Kook is part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Soundtrack & will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony. Stay tuned!”

How to watch the World Cup opening ceremony

The opening fixture between Qatar and Ecuador (4pm GMT) will be shown on BBC One, while the match can also be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC iPlayer app. The BBC’s coverage for the game begins at 3pm (GMT) - and they are also expected to show parts of the opening ceremony beforehand in their build-up to the fixture.

Who else will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony?

As well as Jungkook, plus the Robbie Williams and Shakira rumours, more acts are likely to feature. In September, American rapper Lil Baby tweeted that he will be performing at the World Cup, having released World Cup anthem 'The World is Yours to Take', while Canadian actress Nora Fatehi is expected to sing the official song of the tournament, Light The Sky.

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