The 2022 Qatar World Cup is expected to have an earlier start date than expected. Per the request of the hometown team, the tournament will begin a day early.
The move had come after Qatar’s Emir, (the country’s Head of State), Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani expressed his idea of an opening ceremony, donned with music and a fireworks display before the tournament’s 1st match.
As it stood, however, the opening ceremony was scheduled to take place following two matches: the group A matchup between Senegal and Netherlands, as well as the Group B matchup between England and Iran.
The ceremony would also follow Qatar’s opening match versus Ecuador, breaking a 16-year trend to have the host team as the kickoff.
Pending the votes from FIFA’s six regional confederations and president Gianni Infantino, the vote for the change is expected to win support.
The ruling would ultimately switch the Senegal/Netherlands matchup will with Qatar and Ecuador, having the host country start proceedings, while the England-Iran and United States-Wales matchups will stay at their respective times.
The event will take place Sunday, November 20th.
