FIFA World Cup 2022

For all the success stories written across the football world in 2021, none of FIFA’s 211 member associations enjoyed a year to match Canada’s. Olympic gold for the country’s women would have made it an Annus Mirabilis regardless of how the men fared, especially with decades of male mediocrity having taught Canadians the value of modest expectations. As it is though, a FIFA World Cup™ year has dawned with John Herdman’s side unbeaten in the final stage of qualifying and perched at the summit of Concacaf’s standings. Back-to-back wins over Costa Rica and Mexico in November also confirmed the Canucks as the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking’s most-improved team of 2021 , capping a rise from 94th to 40th during Herdman’s time in charge. Kamal Miller has been a mainstay of the side throughout that remarkable ascent, and has earned rave reviews for his performances at the heart of Canada’s defence. The 24-year-old centre-back is part of a new generation resetting the nation’s expectations and,...

Amid rain, wind and plummeting temperatures, Iran was warmed yesterday by a single, hugely-significant goal. Mehdi Taremi’s strike, coolly dispatched early in the second half of their Qatar 2022 qualifier against Iraq, secured a 1-0 win and guaranteed the team’s presence at a sixth FIFA World Cup™. It also sparked joyous scenes at the Azadi Stadium, where a crowd that included a healthy contingent of female fans helped roar the team to victory. Celebrations soon followed on the streets of a country shivering through a mid-winter cold snap, as crowds gathered, songs were sung and car horns were sounded. "I am very happy [because] I could make the Iranian people happy. It’s our pleasure," said the national team’s Croatian coach, Dragan Skocic. “I would like to congratulate my players as they gave an excellent performance. "We had some difficulties prior to the match because we missed some players after they got infected with COVID-19, and our European-based players also j...

T he Tonga Football Association has informed FIFA of its decision to withdraw from the OFC preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ as a consequence of the recent natural disaster that has ravaged the region. Tonga had been set to play off against the Cook Islands in a single-legged qualifying match to decide who would earn the right to feature in Group A of the preliminary competition. The winners of the preliminary competition, which is set to be staged in Qatar, will represent Oceania in the intercontinental play-offs. The withdrawal means that the qualifying match, which was scheduled for 13 March, will not take place and the Cook Islands will instead automatically join the Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu in Group A.

Alisson was sent off and reprieved by VAR twice during Brazil’s wild and chaotic 1-1 draw with   Ecuador   in a World Cup qualifier. The Liverpool goalkeeper somehow managed to complete the game in Quito, during which two players were given their marching orders inside the opening 20 minutes. Casemiro put Brazil ahead in the fifth minute when he hammered home from close range after a goalmouth scramble before the red cards started coming out. The Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez was sent off for a reckless challenge before the Tottenham right-back Emerson Royal was dismissed for a second yellow card following a clumsy challenge. Alisson was handed his first lifeline on the the half-hour when he caught Enner Valencia in the head with a high boot. The referee was sent to the pitchside monitor and downgraded the initial red card to yellow after replays showed the keeper had kicked the ball first. Felix Torres headed Ecuador level 15 minutes from time and the hosts...

England fans are being offered £150-a-night packages at the World Cup - including all-you-can-drink deals on a cruise ship.   Members of the official England supporters’ club have received details and a chance to put their names down on a waiting list for different accommodation options for Qatar. And the most eye-catching of all is the 3,898 cabins - or 9,977 guests - available on a cruise ship which includes an all inclusive package. The travel details boast: “A number of cruise ships will be moored at the top of the Corniche - the palm tree lined, waterfront promenade which runs along the Doha bay to the city. “They will offer all inclusive deals which we were told should come in at around $200 per person per night. Food and (importantly for many England fans) alcohol will be available on board.” The organisers might be misjudging the all inclusive price if they had seen some of the drinking sessions on recent England trips. World Cup organisers have already held workshops to te...

Who has qualified so far? Argentina Belgium Brazil Croatia Denmark England France Germany Netherlands Serbia Spain Switzerland Qatar North and Central America & the Caribbean A chill will be in the air in CONCACAF for an unusual January international window featuring triple-headers. The US hosts El Salvador on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, where the expected temperature for kickoff was -4C (25F). The US then travels to Hamilton, Ontario, to play Canada on Sunday, and moves on to complete the window against Honduras in the US city of St Paul, Minnesota. Meanwhile, seeking its first World Cup appearance since 1986, Canada has four of six remaining matches on the road – with games in Honduras and El Salvador sandwiching the home meeting with the Americans. The US, who want to return to the World Cup after missing out on 2018, is second in the North and Central American and Caribbean region with 15 points after eight of 14 games, one point behind Canada. Mexico and Panama have 14 points ...

  Balotelli   is one of 35 players who have gathered in Florence with the opportunity to impress and make the Italy squad for when the   Azzurri play their crucial   World Cup   playoff against North Macedonia in March. "It's a three-day test, so it's a good time to assess many situations,"  Mancini  told the press. "The door of the national team is always open to everyone and if there are players who can help us, we are happy. "Maybe when we're desperate we bring out our best, but I don't think this situation is desperate." Balotelli , who is currently playing in Turkey for  Adana Demirspor , last played for  Italy  in September 2018 in the Nations League. Mancini  says  Balotelli 's physicality will be evaluated this week, as well as how he gels with the team. "On a technical level he was always good, that's not up for debate, we just need to see how he is physically,"  Mancini  said. "We haven't seen him up close i...

  Chelsea already have a jam-packed fixture list but they will now need to fit in more games. The Club World Cup will mean the Blues will need to rearrange their Premier League games with Brighton and Arsenal. Thomas Tuchel’s men will also need to move their FA Cup fourth round game against Plymouth Argyle. It means the current Premier League leaders could go a month without top-flight football in a huge disruption to their campaign.

West African rivals Nigeria and Ghana will play each other for a place at the 2022 World Cup, in arguably the pick of a number of dramatic-looking ties following the deciding draw for Africa's five places in Qatar. The two powerhouses were paired up just days after Ghana finished bottom of their group at the Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a 3-2 defeat against first-time qualifiers Comoros. Former Liverpool forward El-Hadji Diouf was one of the people performing the draw and commented that one of Liverpool's current star strikers Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah will be guaranteed a place at the tournament after Senegal were paired against Egypt. Cameroon, the hosts of the ongoing Nations Cup, have been drawn against the current holders - albeit already eliminated from this year's tournament - Algeria. DR Congo, who last  qualified for the World Cup in 1974  when the country was known as Zaire, have a tough challenge if they are to make it to a second tournament, as they w...

  DOHA: Qatar World Cup ticket sales were launched at reduced prices on Wednesday with residents and migrant workers able to attend games for just $11 as concerns persist over COVID-19. Authorities have not yet announced how many fans will be allowed into stadiums for the first World Cup in an Arab country, which runs from November 21 until December 18. Football's world governing body FIFA opened a draw which offers individual match tickets for as little as $69 for international fans — about one third less than at Russia 2018 — but a ticket for the final could cost up to $1,607. Qatari residents, including migrant labourers whose treatment has been a source of controversy for the organisers, will be able to get tickets for as little as $11. Fans who apply now for the different packages — for individual games or following a team, or for special stadium tickets — will go into a draw after the first deadline on February 8. FIFA said fans who are successful in a random draw will be tol...

ANKARA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Turkey will send 3,250 security officers to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Tuesday, adding Ankara had also trained Qatari personnel ahead of the competition. Speaking at an event in the southern resort town of Antalya, Soylu said 3,000 riot police and other personnel will be deployed during the event, as well as 100 members of a special forces unit, 50 bomb-detection dogs and their operators, 50 bomb experts and other staff. "A total of 3,250 of our personnel will work temporarily in Qatar in November and December of 2022 for 45 days for the World Cup," Soylu said. "At this event, which over a million fans from across the world are expected to attend, our personnel will ensure security," he said. Soylu added that Turkey had also trained 677 Qatari security personnel in 38 different areas, without elaborating. He also did not specify what would be the share of the Turkish deployment in the event's...

  Wales and Scotland have received a World Cup play-off boost with FIFA removing all yellow cards picked up in qualifying. Both Wales boss Robert Page and Scotland counterpart Steve Clarke had called for bookings to be wiped clean after securing their place in the play-offs in November. FIFA has now decided to introduce a yellow-card amnesty for the 12 European nations involved in the March play-offs, which could see Scotland and Wales meet to determine a place at this year’s World Cup. A Football Association of Wales spokesman said: “Following a request from UEFA, FIFA has decided to cancel all cautions that have not resulted in a sending-off prior to the play-offs of the preliminary competition to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.” Wales manager Robert Page backed Clarke’s call for a play-off amnesty on yellow cards in November, saying: “I fully support it. Absolutely. “I see it especially from Scotland’s point of view because they had six teams in their group and had more game...

Earlier this month, Qatar Rail entered into preview service the first line of the new tram network in the planned city of Lusail, which will play host to the 2022 FIFA World Cup later this year. The so-called Orange line calls at six stations for the time being. Qatar Rail uses Alstom’s Citadis X05 trams. Each unit seats 64 passengers for a total of 209 travellers. The cars are fitted with USB sockets and screens for travel information. Travellers can use the Doha Metro Travel Cards on the Lusail tram network. Passengers have to check in and check out again, in similar fashion to the system that is in place in the Netherlands. Qatar Rail stresses that the Lusail Tram is still in its testing phase. When fully operational, the line will run across a length of 28 kilometers, 7 kilometres of which are underground, and feature 25 stations. Two of those are interchange stations, with connections to the metro line. A total of 28 trams have been ordered with Alstom. Lusail is located some 20 k...

  Qatar Tourism has announced a simplified process to issue holiday homes licences for residential property owners Qatar Tourism has announced a simplified process to issue holiday homes licences for residential property owners to list their units for short-term rentals ahead of the country hosting the FIFA World Cup later this year. The entity is working with popular international websites such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Holidayhomes.com and Vrbo after receiving a growing number of inquiries on the licensing process from citizens and investors through its website. It has introduced a helpline and simplified process to issue licenses within a week. Qatar Tourism officials noted that property owners who bypass the process and rent their homes to vacationers without a license risk receiving a prison sentence of up to two years and/or a QR200,000 fine. Mohamed Al Ansari, director of tourism licensing, said: “The spirit of hospitality is a distinct feature of Qatari tradition. A...

The midfielder has been out of action since collapsing at Euro 2020, but he insists he is back to full fitness   Christian Eriksen has made it clear that it is his intention to return to playing football and wants to represent Denmark at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Eriksen has been sidelined since suffering a cardiac arrest during a match at Euro 2020 and subsequently having to be fitted with a defibrillator.  Now a free agent, the midfielder says he is back to full fitness and wants to prove to his national team boss that he still has what it takes to line up for his country. Eriksen's plans "My goal is to play in the World Cup in Qatar. I want to play," Eriksen said in an interview with Danish TV. "That's been my mindset all along. It's a goal, a dream.  "Whether I'll be picked is another thing, but it's my dream to come back. I'm sure I can come back because I don't feel any different. Physically, I'm back in top shape. That's...

T his is Stadium 974, thought to be the first-ever  FIFA World  Cup stadium  which can be dismantled and then reassembled anywhere in the world.  It has been built and paid for by this year's World Cup host nation   Qatar. It's called 974 because the number is the international dialing code for Qatar (+974), as well as being the exact number of shipping containers used in the stadium's construction. The concept of the stadium was designed by  Fenwick Iribarren Architects , based in the Spanish capital Madrid.  The concept of sustainability is at the core of the stadium's, says Mark Fenwick, one of the partners in the architectural practice: "We really felt that it wasn't really necessary for Qatar to have this eighth stadium after the World Cup," he says. "So, we decided to take a very radical strategy, which was to see if we can actually design the stadium which is not only dismantle-able, but was also transportable, and re-mountable in another count...

The FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022 and is the first-ever to be held in the Arab world. One of the most controversial editions of the quadrennial meet and a ball hasn’t even been kicked. From awarding of the World Cup to the oil-rich state to abuse of migrant workers and radical shifting of the football calendar, the 2022 FIFA WC will be like no other. BEGINNING WITH CORRUPTION The awarding of the World Cup was mired by corruption charges as it was alleged that some African officials were paid 1.5 million USD to vote in favour for Qatar. It was later proved that CONCACAF president Jack Warner was paid nearly 2 million USD. Disgraced former FIFA president Sept Blatter had later rued that Qatar winning the bid was a combination of a rule-breaking collusion deal and political pressure exerted on former UEFA president Michel Platini (who has also been similarly banned). Such is the magnanimity of the awarding that Qatar is the smallest nation by ar...