DStv and GOtv customers will be counting down the days to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with the tournament set to run from November 21 to December 18 and provide the most thrilling distillation of ‘The Beautiful Game’.

On November 21, 2021 there will be just 365 days to go until the kick-off of the 22nd edition of the World Cup. The tournament field is already taking shape, with hosts Qatar already joined by the likes of France, Germany, Brazil and Spain amongst others.

In Europe, there would be the playoff phase – where single knockout matches between runners-up will produce three further qualifiers for Qatar 2022.

Africa, meanwhile, has wrapped up the group phase of qualifying, with 10 teams set to be drawn into five playoff ties (which will be played over two legs in March next year) and the five winners will all qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

Elsewhere, Asian qualification sees Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia looking good to secure qualification – with four matchdays still remaining in their final group phase – Mexico, United States and Canada are leading the way in the CONCACAF region, and South America’s brutal preliminary tournament is as tough as ever.

CONMEBOL’s qualification process still has four further matchdays to be played from late January to late March of next year.

The next major milestone on the road to Qatar 2022 will be the completion of qualification in March, followed by the draw in Doha on 1 April. The two winners of the inter-confederation play-offs will not be known at the time of the draw.

Meanwhile, the opening match of the tournament, featuring the hosts Qatar, will be played on 21 November 2022, at 11am, at the Al Bayt Stadium. During the group stage, four matches will be played each day, with kick-off times being 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm for the first two rounds, and 4pm and 8pm for the simultaneous kick-offs of the last round and for knockout stage matches. The third-place match will be played on 17 December 2022 at the Khalifa International Stadium, and the final will be played on 18 December 2022 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, both at 4pm.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.