All About 2022 FIFA World Cup: Match Schedule, Controversies, and Live Streams

One of the most anticipated and awaited events of the year has been FIFA World Cup 2022. Hosted by Qatar, this is going to be one hell of a sporting event we are going to witness! If you are also a curious fan who wants to know everything about FIFA World Cup 2022, follow our complete guide below.

2022 FIFA World Cup | Overview

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd round of the FIFA World Cup Competition scheduled from 20 November 2022 to 18 December 2022 in Qatar. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is going to be held among the 32 senior national level teams of FIFA, which have been selected out of 61 teams that played FIFA qualifying competitions at first. Each of the qualified teams is given $1.5 million prior to the World Cup for preparation costs. On the other hand, the Champion Team of FIFA World Cup 2022 will get a whopping $40 million as prize money.

A total of 64 matches are going to be played between various teams which will decide the FIFA World Cup 2022 Champion. Earlier this year, on May 19, 2022, FIFA announced a list of 129 personnel that would be assisting in refereeing the matches. Of these, 36 are referees, 69 are assistant referees, and 24 are video assistant referees. This is also the first ever FIFA Men’s World Cup where women referees will be refereeing the game.

2022 FIFA World Cup Teams and Groups

The 32 teams have been divided among 8 groups, with each group having 4 teams. The following 8 groups have been finalized.

• Group A — Ecuador, Netherlands, Qatar, Senegal
• Group B — England, Iran, USA, Wales
• Group C — Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia
• Group D — Australia, Denmark, France, Tunisia
• Group E — Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Spain
• Group F — Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Morocco
• Group G — Brazil, Cameroon, Serbia, Switzerland
• Group H — Ghana, Portugal, South Korea, Uruguay

For Group A, B, E, and F, the matches are going to be held at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, and Khalifa International Stadium. For Group C, D, G, and H, the matches are going to be held at Al Janoub Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, and Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Starting from 20th November, the following match schedule will be followed for FIFA World Cup 2022.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Match Schedule

FIFA World Cup 2022 Controversies

Several controversies have been stirring since the announcement of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Corruption and Bribery in FIFA

One of the biggest scandals of FIFA has been corruption and bribery regarding the 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to a whistleblower, officials and higher personnel from Qatar offered some voters a large sum of money to members of the FIFA Executive Committee in order to become the hosts of the world cup. The entire controversy began immediately after the hosting rights were awarded to Qatar in 2010.

In May 2011, an inquiry by the UK’s parliamentary board suggested that some members from the voting committee including Jack Warner and Nicolas Leoz demanded over $4 million and an honorary knighthood in exchange for their votes.

The Sunday Times leaked some important documents which suggested that Qatari State-run television offered a huge sum of $400 million to FIFA for broadcasting rights. Besides, it was also alleged that an additional $480 million was offered by the Government of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.

US officials also alleged that FIFA officials were bribed to vote in favor of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. According to a report by The New York Times, the United States Department of Justice had a probe launched into the controversy to investigate the problem and concluded that several representatives were working for Russia and Qatar to gain them hosting rights.

The main reason why the entire issue emerged was that Qatar had never taken a part in any of the previous seasons of FIFA and this was a debut. Besides, it was the smallest country ever to hold a FIFA World Cup. These reasons were enough to create a big suspicion about how Qatar was awarded the hosting rights.

However, the government of Qatar denied the allegations. Many members of the FIFA Executive Committee such as Nicolás Leoz and Julio Grondona, died before the investigations could be completed.

Human Rights Violation at Qatar

Another important reason why Qatar came under criticism for the FIFA World Cup 2022 was because of the massive violation of human rights, particularly labor who were migrants or workers from other countries. “Human rights of migrant labor are violated on a mass scale as the workers are highly underpaid and are forced to work in inhumane and dangerous conditions”, as suggested by Amnesty International and reported by The Guardian.

It was also noticed that the workers were forced to work in Qatar. The passports were held by the contractors to ensure the workers couldn’t leave even if they wanted to. Many contractors used to ask for five times the current salary to provide a non-objection certificate so that the workers could leave their job. As this issue made news, several football associations including Netherlands and Germany expressed strong disapproval as well as protests to highlight their disregard.

However, authorities in Qatar were quick to respond to these problems. They ended the Kafala system and workers were no longer bound to take permission from their employers to leave the job. By April 2020, the government of Qatar also provided an additional $824 million to pay for the wages of migrant workers. All these steps improved the image of Qatar as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Problems with LGBT Community

Qatar is an Islamic state where homosexuality is considered illegal. Anyone who indulges in homosexuality is dealt with and punished strictly. However, considering the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the rising awareness of the LGBT community, there was a chance that many people would be coming in. Even one famous footballer named Josh Cavallo, who came out gay in October 2021, suggested that he was scared to visit Qatar due to the laws on homosexuality. However, the head of the tournament, Nasser Al Khater said that Cavallo would be welcome in the country.

The main problem over here was the LGBT Community coming out with their flags and hindering the cultural values of the Anti-LGBT Community. Both in the same stadium would have led to problems including fights and riots. For this reason, Qatari Security Officials planned to confiscate pride flags from spectators as a safety measure so that they would not face any problems.

Climate Issues

Another reason why the 2022 FIFA World Cup was considered odd was that this was the first time that the world cup was going to be held in November-December instead of June-July. The main reason for this was the extremely hot climate and high temperature in Qatar during the months of June and July with temperatures ranging from 29.1 degrees Celsius and 41.5 degrees Celsius.

However, this became a huge controversy because it could interfere with domestic league matches all around the world. Many executives such as Richard Scudamore of the Premier League said that they would consider taking legal action against FIFA and seek monetary compensation. However, the matters were settled when FIFA rescheduled the final to 18 December 2022 which would bring minimal hassle to league matches as well as Christmas time.

Where to Watch the FIFA World Cup 2022?

Television viewers can watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup directly from FOX Sports where it will be broadcasted live in English and Spanish languages. If you are planning to stream live, you can watch it over Peacock, FUBO, SlingTV, and Vidgo.

Ready for Action!

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is going to be one of the most exciting events of all time. Viewers are already excited about it. We are going to witness some of the greatest goals, controversies, and champions of all time.

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