FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 GMT Complete match dates, times & team fixtures | UK (GMT) Time Schedule
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is only a few weeks away, and every country is accounted for. The group stage matchups have been set and we can begin to project who might be in best position to advance to the knockouts.
England will face USA in Group B, Argentina and Lionel Messi will go up against Mexico in Group C, and it’ll be Luis Suarez and Uruguay looking to spoil a potential final World Cup tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo in Group H.
The tournament kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 20 with an opening ceremony and the inaugural match between Qatar and Ecuador. It will wrap up in less than a month, with the final due to be played on Sunday, Dec. 18.
Brazil enter the tournament as the most successful nation in World Cup history with five titles, and they have a manageable group to navigate, while defending champions France are expected to finish top in their group and have a good chance to build up a head of steam into the knockout rounds.
Which teams could surprise? African champions Senegal are one of the stronger teams in Group A, which also features hosts Qatar. Making a first participation in 37 years, Canada landed in Group F, where a likely battle with Morocco and Croatia looms for second place behind Belgium.
World Cup 2022 tournament format
The 2022 World Cup will follow along the lines of recent editions, with a 32-team group stage to whittle the field down to 16 teams — only the top two teams from each of the eight groups survive.
Those 16 group-stage teams will advance to the single-game knockout stages — Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, final — where the winner moves on and the loser goes home. There must be a winner on the day for every knockout-round match, and extra time and penalty kicks will be used, if necessary, to determine the victor.
- Group stage: Nov. 20-Dec. 2
- Round of 16: Dec. 3-6
- Quarterfinals: Dec. 9-10
- Semifinals: Dec. 13-14
- Third-place match: Dec. 17
- Final: Dec. 18
What is the World Cup group draw?
The 2022 World Cup will begin with 32 teams in eight groups of four:
Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, NetherlandsGroup 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
Four matches will be played each day during the group stage, which will run over a 12-day period and see winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16.
Unlike at Euro 2020, there will be a third-place play-off game on December 17.
Group stage – all kick-off times in UK
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
49 – Winners of Group A vs Runners-up of Group B (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
50 – Winners of Group C vs Runners-up of Group D (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 7pm)
Sunday December 4
52 – Winners of Group D vs Runners-up of Group C (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
51 – Winners of Group B vs Runners-up of Group A (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Monday December 5
53 – Winners of Group E vs Runners-up of Group F (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; kick-off 3pm)
54 – Winners of Group G vs Runners-up of Group H (Stadium 974, Doha; kick-off 7pm)
Tuesday December 6
55 – Winners of Group F vs Runners-up of Group E (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
56 – Winners of Group H vs Runners-up of Group G (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
Quarter-finals
Friday December 9
58 – Winners of 53 vs Winners of 54 (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
57 – Winners of 49 vs Winners of 50 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 7pm)
Saturday December 10
60 – Winners of 55 vs Winners of 56 (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; kick-off 3pm)
59 – Winners of 51 vs Winners of 52 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Semi-finals
Tuesday December 13
61 – Winners of 57 vs Winners of 58 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 7pm)
Wednesday December 14
62 – Winners of 59 vs Winners of 60 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; kick-off 7pm)
Saturday December 17
63 – Third place play-off (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; kick-off 3pm)
Final
Sunday December 18
64 – The World Cup final (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; kick-off 3pm)