FIFA World Cup to kick-off on November 21 at Al Bayat Stadium

Courtesy The Gulf Indians
The next edition of the FIFA World Cupâ„¢ will kick-off at Al Bayt Stadium, in Doha on November 21, 2020 at 13:00 local time. The local kick-off times for group matches have been set for 13:00, 16:00, 19:00 and 22:00, with the simultaneous kick-offs for the last round of group games and knockout-stage timings being 18:00 and 22:00. Khalifa International Stadium will be the setting for the play-off for third place on December 17. The final will kick off one day later at 18:00 at Lusail Stadium in front of an 80,000 crowd. The match schedule was unveiled on July 15.

With the aim of providing all teams with optimal rest between their matches, the group stage will last 12 days and, with four matches per day, it promises a full and exciting schedule for fans. The tournament’s compact nature – with no air travel needed to move between the venues – will allow organisers, for the first time, to optimise specific match demands for the benefit and comfort of fans, teams and media.
This will be achieved through the assignment of the group fixtures for each matchday to a stadium and kick-off time only after the final draw, currently planned for after the March 2022 international match calendar qualifying window. Once the pairings are known, the possibility will be discussed of providing a more beneficial kick-off time for audiences at home, or indeed for fans in Qatar with regard to the stadium allocation.

For those eager to book their seats at Qatar 2022, hospitality sales are scheduled to start in late 2020. Ticket sales for the general public will be conducted solely via FIFA.com/tickets, where details on the timeline, phases, categories and prices will be communicated in due course.

Detailed information on the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for each confederation is available on FIFA.com. The latest updates in relation to the international match calendar in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic can be found here and here.

All times mentioned are local. Arabia Standard Time (AST) is UTC/GMT+3 or CET+2.