The eyes of the sporting world will be on Qatar next year as 32 teams battle to win the prestigious 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament will be played during November and December – the first time it has been staged in the middle of the domestic football season.
Brazil are the bookmakers’ favourites to lift the trophy for the sixth time, although their recent record at the tournament has been poor.
The best sports betting sites rate reigning champions France as the biggest dangers to Brazil, while Spain, Germany and England are also strongly fancied. Read on as we preview the 2022 World Cup.
World Cup 2022 Teams
FIFA’s six continental confederations are allocated the following qualification spots for the tournament:
- UEFA (Europe): 13
- CAF (Africa): 5
- AFC (Asia): 4.5 (not including host nation)
- CONMEBOL (South America): 4.5
- CONCACAF (North & Central America and Caribbean): 3.5
- OFC (Oceania): 0.5
The draw for the final tournament will take place in April 2022.
World Cup 2022 Schedule
The World Cup starts on November 21 and culminates with the final on December 18. The schedule is as follows:
- Group stage: November 21 – December 2
- Round of 16: December 3-6
- Quarter-finals: December 9-10
- Semi-finals: December 13-14
- Third-place play-off: December 17
- Final: December 18
World Cup 2022 Stadiums
Eight stadiums will be used for the 2022 World Cup are. These are as follows:
- Ahmed bin Ali Stadium
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Al Janoub Stadium
- Al Thumama Stadium
- Education City Stadium
- Khalifa International Stadium
- Lusail Iconic Stadium
- Stadium 974
World Cup 2022 Broadcasters
Bell Media has the exclusive rights in Canada to the 2022 World Cup. This includes English language coverage on CTV, TSN, TSN2, TSN Radio, TSN.ca and TSN Mobile TV.
French language coverage will air exclusively on RDS, RDS2, RDS.ca and RDS Mobile TV.
World Cup 2022 Preview
While 32 nations will contest the 2022 World Cup, history has shown only a handful of teams have a genuine chance of winning the tournament.
Brazil, Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina and France are multiple winners of the World Cup, while England and Spain have each lifted the trophy once.
Reigning champions France will fancy their chances of retaining the trophy, although no team has achieved that feat since Brazil in 1962.
Brazil could be the team to beat having breezed through the qualifying stage, but they have not won the World Cup since 2002 and look too short in the betting right now.
The same comment applies to England, particularly after they blew a golden opportunity to win a major trophy at the 2020 European Championships.
Spain, Argentina and Belgium will all be popular with punters, but the value bet for the 2022 World Cup is undoubtedly Germany.
Hansi Flick has revitalised Germany’s fortunes since replacing Joachim Low as manager and his team will be extremely tough to beat in Qatar.
Canada are well placed to qualify for the tournament as they sit top of their final qualifying group ahead of the United States and Mexico.
With some favourable fixtures still to play, it would be a major surprise if Canada failed to book their place in Qatar.
Their only previous appearance at the finals in 1986 ended in disappointment as they lost all three group games without scoring a goal.
Getting out of the group would represent success for Canada in Qatar, but they must safely navigate the qualifiers before they can dream about further progress.
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