A World Cup unlike any other!
Nov 14, 2022
This will be the first ever World Cup held in the Arab world, the last with a 32 team field and amid much controversy.
It is the first not to be held in May-July, the move to November/December was to avoid the very high summer heat, but disrupts the domestic programme of nearly all participating nations.
Host nation Qatar has been heavily criticised, amongst other things, for its human rights, worker conditions, LGBT laws, with multiple bidding corruption allegations, and the oil rich nation has been accused of "buying" the World Cup.
Qatar is a small state on the NE coast of the Arabian Peninsula and borders only Saudi Arabia, it has a population of some 2.7m , but only around 300,000 are Qatari citizens.
The average November temperature is 30 degrees, but organisers will be pleased that the daily high forecast for the group stage games is not set to go beyond that, falling more within the 27-29 degree range. That will still make it hot for afternoon games, especially with many players now used to lower European temperatures over recent months.
Not only are we playing in "winter", but with a very limited amount of time to get used to the country, time difference, climate, or to bond, with many players based in Europe set to play their first group stage game 8-9 days after their final domestic game.
The time difference is a real consideration/concern, especially with that quick turnaround for many (not all) national teams and the first two rounds of games scheduled for 13:00, 16:00, 19:00 and 22:00 local time. It will be hot for the lunchtime games and additionally, 13:00 in Qatar, is 10:00 in London, 07:00 in Rio, 05:00 in Quito, 04:00 in Mexico City and 02:00 in LA! A 22:00 kick off time is 04:00 in Tokyo and Seoul and 06:00 in Melbourne! No one is used to playing football at those times of day and it will take many, a game or two to get used to this "circus".
Let's look at one example ........ Argentina - Saudi Arabia play on Tuesday November 22nd @ 13.00 , the hottest part of the day , it is Spring in Buenos Aires, Winter in Europe where almost all of the Argentine squad play and they will virtually all have a league game this upcoming weekend (November 12-13). The game will start at 07:00 Argentine/10:00 UK time. The Saudis are in the same time zone and Riyadh is only 500km from Doha and they began their build up many months ago. As you might expect, no expense has been spared and they resumed what they called the "third phase of preparation" three weeks ago, including playing five friendlies (North Macedonia, Albania, Honduras, Iceland and Panama). There might be a gulf (no pun intended) in class, but all the advantages are with the Saudis and few teams will be as well prepared.
Good luck!
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