2022 World Cup Guide: Dates, Draw, Predictions, Players to Watch & More

The eyes of the sporting world will be on Qatar during November and December as the eagerly anticipated 2022 World Cup is staged.

Thirty-two international teams will take part in the tournament, each of which will be dreaming of getting their hands on the prestigious trophy.

Read on as we provide you with all the key information you need to know about an event that promises to be a thrilling celebration of the world’s greatest sport.

2022 World Cup Dates

Here are the key dates for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar:

·      November 20 – World Cup kick-off.

·      December 2 – Final group stage fixtures.

·      December 3-6 – Round of 16.

·      December 9-10 – Quarter-finals.

·      December 13-14 – Semi-finals.

·      December 17 – Third place play-off.

·      December 18 – Final.

2022 World Cup Draw

There are 32 teams in eight groups of four in the first stage of the World Cup. These are as follows:

·      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.

The top two teams in each group qualify for the round of 16. The World Cup is then played as a straight knockout competition through to the final.

How to Watch World Cup 2022

The 2022 World Cup will attract a massive global audience, with live-streaming services expected to contribute a much higher proportion of viewers than at previous tournaments.

Fox Sports is the main World Cup broadcaster for fans in the United States, and will offer extensive coverage across its channels.

Canadian fans will be able to watch all the action via TSN sports, while selected markets will have access to French-language coverage on RDS.

The 2022 World Cup is free-to-air for fans in the United Kingdom, with the BBC and ITV sharing coverage of every game during the tournament.

SBS will broadcast the World Cup to fans in Australia, while Viacom18 beat off competition from Sony to secure the rights in India.

TV Globo (Brazil), beIN SPORTS (France), ARD (Germany), RAI (Italy), Mediapro (Spain) and TyC Sports (Argentina) are amongst the other broadcasters covering the World Cup.

Players to Watch at World Cup 2022

There will be plenty of top-class talent on show at the World Cup, but one man stands head and shoulders above the rest as the player to watch at the tournament.

Lionel Messi is considered by many people to be the greatest player of all time. While he is undoubtedly in the mix, he is yet to win the World Cup.

The Argentinian maestro has confirmed that Qatar 2022 will be his last appearance at the finals and there would be no better way to go out than lifting the prestigious trophy.

His team are unbeaten in their last 35 matches. They are excellently defensively and supremely talented further forward.

On that basis, the 35-year-old will never have a better opportunity to demonstrate why he is so highly thought of in the game.

World Cup Records

Here are a few noteworthy World Cup records:

·      Only eight teams have won the World Cup – Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (2), France (2), Uruguay (2), Spain (1) and England (1).

·      Germany have made the most appearances in a World Cup final (8).

·      Netherlands have appeared in three finals but are yet to lift the trophy.

·      Italy (1934 & 1938) and Brazil (1958 & 1962) are the only teams to successfully defend the title.

·      Six host teams have won the World Cup - Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), England (1966), West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978) and France (1998).

·      Miroslav Klose (Germany) has scored the most goals as World Cup final tournaments (16).

·      Just Fontaine scored the most goals at a single tournament with 13 for France in 1958.

World Cup 2022 Interesting Facts

Here are a few interesting facts about the 2022 World Cup:

·      Qatar 2022 will be the first World Cup ever to be staged in the Arab world.

·      This is the last tournament with 32 teams. FIFA has increased the number to 48 for the next edition in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

·      Qatar has spent around $220 billion on infrastructure projects.

·      Just eight stadiums will host the 2022 World Cup. This is the lowest since Argentina (6) in 1978.

·      England ranks first in the transfer market value out of all the teams that qualified for the World Cup.

World Cup 2022 Predictions

Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup after breezing through the South American qualifiers ahead of Argentina.

The Samba Kings have a hugely talented squad at their disposal and will be tough to beat when the tournament gets underway.

Despite this, Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002 and they have underperformed at several tournaments since that success.

Reigning champions France will fancy their chances of retaining the trophy despite no team achieving the feat since Brazil in 1962.

Didier Deschamps’ side are hugely talented on their day and should progress a long way, but the semi-finals may be as far as they go.

Germany, Spain and Belgium are amongst the other teams who should be competitive, while it would be foolish to write off Netherlands and Portugal.

However, given their excellent form heading into the tournament, Argentina are the value bet to win the World Cup for the third time.

They secured an impressive success at the 2021 Copa America, with Angel di Maria’s goal handing them a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final.

With Messi desperate to break his duck in the World Cup, Argentina have all the incentive they need to emerge victorious in Qatar.

They should have little difficulty finishing top of their group in the opening phase and are strongly fancied to win the 2022 World Cup.