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World

Aaron Morris

When does the Qatar World Cup 2022 start? Important dates, TV schedule, kick off times and more

World Cup Al Rayyan (Geopolitical Entity) Al Khor Qatar 2022 Qatar World Cup Doha Lusail Al Bayt Stadium Lusail Iconic Stadium

The prestigious 2022 World Cup in Qatar is fast approaching, with players, managers and fans all eager for the opening day.

The last tournament four years ago saw England slamming through the competition, hopeful of capturing the same glory brought home in 1966 - the side's only ever win on the world stage.

However, the Three Lions' side ultimately left empty handed after being served a narrow 2-1 loss to Croatia in the semis.

This year's competition couldn't be any further apart from Russia's summer competition in 2018 however, being hosted in the Middle East for the first time and taking place in the winter.

As we draw closer and closer to the opening day of proceedings, here's everything you need to know about Qatar's 2022 World Cup - from the full schedule, to knockout groups and TV times.

When does the 2022 World Cup start?

The opening day of the World Cup this year is on November 20, and will take place at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. In the initial fixture, hosting country Qatar will take on Ecuador in a Group A matchup.

Important dates -

The group stage will last 12 days in total - with four games being played each day - before the round of 16 will begin on December 3 . Winners and runners up from each group will be promoted to this round with 3rd and 4th place being knocked out from the tournament completely.

The quarter finals take place on December 9 and 10 respectively, with the semis following on December 13 and 14 .

A third place play-off will take place on December 15 - with the coveted final landing exactly a week before Christmas on December 18 at the Lusail Stadium in Doha.

Who is playing in the 2022 World Cup?

In total, 32 teams have qualified for this years World Cup, with qualifying games taking place between June 6 and June 19. A grand total of 206 teams put their names in the hat for this years tournament, only to be whittled down to 32 finalists.

Here are the teams taking part at this year's World Cup, as well as the groups they have been placed into:

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, USA, 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, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

Full TV Schedule -

Here is a list of all of the World Cup games to take place, as reported by The Mirror. All games will be shown on either the BBC or ITV and are free to watch.

Group stages:

Sunday November 20

Group A: Qatar vs Ecuador (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Monday November 21

Group B: England vs Iran (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group A: Senegal vs Netherlands (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 4pm)
Group B: USA vs Wales (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)

Tuesday November 22

Group C: Argentina vs Saudi Arabia (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 10am)
Group D: Denmark vs Tunisia (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group C: Mexico vs Poland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group D: France vs Australia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 7pm)

Wednesday November 23

Group F: Morocco vs Croatia (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 10am)
Group E: Germany vs Japan (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group E: Spain vs Costa Rica (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 4pm)
Group F: Belgium vs Canada (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)

Thursday November 24

Group G: Switzerland vs Cameroon (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 10am)
Group H: Uruguay vs South Korea (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group H: Portugal vs Ghana (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group G: Brazil vs Serbia (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Friday November 25

Group B: Wales vs Iran (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 10am)
Group A: Qatar vs Senegal (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 1pm)
Group A: Netherlands vs Ecuador (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 4pm)
Group B: England vs USA (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Saturday November 26

Group C: Tunisia vs Australia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 10am)
Group C: Poland vs Saudi Arabia (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group D: France vs Denmark (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group C: Argentina vs Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Sunday November 27

Group E: Japan vs Costa Rica (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 10am)
Group F: Belgium vs Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 1pm)
Group F: Croatia vs Canada (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 4pm)
Group E: Spain vs Germany (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Monday November 28

Group G: Cameroon vs Serbia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 10am)
Group G: South Korea vs Ghana (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 1pm)
Group H: Brazil vs Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 4pm)
Group H: Portugal vs Uruguay (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Tuesday November 29

Group A: Netherlands vs Qatar (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
Group A: Ecuador vs Senegal (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group B: Wales vs England (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)
Group B: Iran vs USA (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Wednesday November 30

Group D: Australia vs Denmark (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
Group D: Tunisia vs France (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group C: Poland vs Argentina (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Group C: Saudi Arabia vs Mexico (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Thursday December 1

Group F: Croatia vs Belgium (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group F: Canada vs Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 3pm)
Group E: Costa Rica vs Germany (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Group E: Japan vs Spain (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)

Friday, December 2

Group G: South Korea vs Portugal (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Group G: Ghana vs Uruguay (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
Group H: Serbia vs Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Group H: Cameroon vs Brazil (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Round of 16:

Saturday December 3

R16 1 - Winners of Group A vs. Runners-up of Group B (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
R16 2 - Winners of Group C vs. Runners-up of Group D (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)

Sunday December 4

R16 3 - Winners of Group D vs. Runners-up of Group C (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
R16 4 - Winners of Group B vs. Runners-up of Group A (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Monday December 5

R16 5 - Winners of Group E vs. Runners-up of Group F (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
R16 6 - Winners of Group G vs. Runners-up of Group H (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)

Tuesday December 6

R16 7 - Winners of Group F vs. Runners-up of Group E (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
R16 8 - Winners of Group H vs. Runners-up of Group G (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Quarter-finals:

Friday December 9

QF1 - Winners of R16 5 vs. Winners of R16 6 (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
QF2 - Winners of R16 1 vs. Winners of R16 2 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)

Saturday December 10

QF 3 - Winners of R16 7 vs. Winners of R16 8 (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
QF 4 - Winners of R16 3 vs. Winners of R16 4 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)

Semi-finals

Tuesday December 13