The official opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 between hosts Qatar and Ecuador is brought forward one day and will take place on November 20.
According to sources close to the tournament, who confided in AFP, this opening match was initially scheduled for the evening of November 21 and would therefore have taken place after the one scheduled for the day between Senegal and the Netherlands.
Fifa and the Qatari organizers have accepted this change, they underlined, noting that the decision, which must still be confirmed by the bureau of the Fifa Council before the countdown of 100 days before the start of the tournament, will allow to return to the tradition that the first game is played by the host country.
“There were discussions and an agreement between the two respective teams and there was a request from Conmebol. We wanted to follow the tradition of the defending champion or the host country being involved in the opening match.
If the change is validated, the Netherlands-Senegal match would be moved from 1:00 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT) to 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT).
Note that the 2022 World Cup, the first to be organized in an Arab country (Qatar), has been moved from summer to late autumn 2022 due to extreme temperatures in the region.
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