The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of FIFA‘s member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup, it is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This is the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, and the second held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. At an estimated cost of over $220 billion, it is the most expensive World Cup ever held. France are the defending champions, having defeated Croatia 4–2 in the 2018 final.
This tournament is scheduled to be the last with 32 participating teams, as the field will increase to 48 teams for the 2026 edition. Due to Qatar’s intense climactic conditions, this World Cup is being held during November and December. It is being played in a reduced timeframe of 29 days. 64 matches are being played in eight venues across five cities. The opening match was between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. In their first-ever World Cup appearance, Qatar lost their opening game – the first host nation to do so. After losing their first two games, Qatar were eliminated, the earliest a host team had been eliminated from the tournament, and the second host nation not to progress past the first stage. The final will be held on 18 December 2022 at Lusail Stadium, coinciding with Qatar’s National Day.
The choice to host the World Cup in Qatar has been the source of controversy. Criticism focused on Qatar’s poor human-rights record, particularly their treatment of migrant workers, women, and position on LGBT rights, leading to allegations of sportswashing. Qatar’s stance on the rights of LGBT people is common in various other Muslim-majority countries; furthermore, all kinds of sex outside marriage are illegal in Qatar. Others have cited Qatar’s intense climate and lack of a strong football culture, as well as evidence of bribery for hosting rights and wider FIFA corruption. Boycotts of the event were declared by several countries, clubs, and individual players, with banned former FIFA president Sepp Blatter twice stating that giving Qatar hosting rights was a “mistake”, while incumbent FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the hosting. Others commented that Qatar’s human rights records are much better than those of Russia and China, who received less criticism for similar issues when hosting their own events., while more have criticised the controversies as ‘orientalist’ and hypocritical. The controversies surrounding the World Cup in Qatar were described as a cultural conflict between Islamic monarchies and secular Western democracies.