Qatar will not play the opening match in the World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will open with Senegal and the Netherlands on November 21, instead of the host Qatar with Ecuador, according to what the International Federation (FIFA) revealed late Friday, in the full program of the finals, following the drawing of the lottery in Doha.

The opening match traditionally includes the host country’s team, and the draw resulted in a first-group confrontation between Qatar, participating for the first time in its history with Ecuador, being in sites A1 and A2 at 13:00 local time at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, according to all documents previously submitted by FIFA.

But the Qatar-Ecuador match will be held at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT) at Al Bayt Stadium, following the matches between Senegal and the Netherlands (10:00 GMT) at Al Thumama Stadium and England with Iran (13:00 GMT) at Khalifa International Stadium. .

FIFA did not respond to a question by AFP regarding adjusting the date of the opening day, which witnesses four confrontations, perhaps due to the compressed calendar of the European championships before the start of the global event, which is held every four years and for the first time in winter, due to the temperature in summer in the small, gas-rich Gulf country.

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