Atlanta's Guide To FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™

About Qatar

The FIFA World Cup™ is an international soccer competition that brings together the top national soccer teams in the world. The tournament comes around every four years, and the 2022 tournament is the 22nd in history.

The host this year is Qatar, a small country along the Persian Gulf. As one of five bids, Qatar was selected as the host in December 2010. It's the second time a country in Asia has hosted the event after South Korea and Japan hosted in 2002.

Due to the summer heat, the tournament this year is being held later than most. It will run from November 20-December 18. The host country kicks off the tournament with a matchup against Ecuador.

Fast Facts About Qatar

Size: With a population around 3 million, the area of Qatar is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.

Capital city: Doha, located on the Persian Gulf coast.

Terrain: Generally flat and sandy, with some small cliffs on the northern side.

National language: Arabic, but English is widely spoken.

Accepted pronunciation: Kuh-TAR

Who qualified?

The host country earns a spot, so Qatar automatically qualified for this year's tournament. Joining Qatar are 31 other nations to complete the field. Teams qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ through the World Cup qualification process. The six confederations of FIFA competed in tournaments and the top point earners earned a spot in this year's tournament. Qualification began in 2019 and played all the way into early 2022.

Europe

Germany 🇩🇪

Denmark 🇩🇰

Belgium 🇧🇪

France 🇫🇷

Croatia 🇭🇷

Spain 🇪🇸

Serbia 🇷🇸

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Switzerland 🇨🇭

Netherlands 🇳🇱

Poland 🇵🇱

Portugal 🇵🇹

Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

South America

Brazil 🇧🇷

Argentina 🇦🇷

Ecuador 🇪🇨

Uruguay 🇺🇾

Africa

Ghana 🇬🇭

Senegal 🇸🇳

Morocco 🇲🇦

Tunisia 🇹🇳

Cameroon 🇨🇲

CONCACAF

Canada 🇨🇦

Mexico 🇲🇽

United States 🇺🇸

Costa Rica 🇨🇷

Asia

Qatar 🇶🇦

IR Iran 🇮🇷

South Korea 🇰🇷

Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

Japan 🇯🇵

Australia 🇦🇺

Who won the previous World Cup™?

The last World Cup™ in 2018 took place in Russia and France is the reigning champion. On July 15, 2018, France defeated Croatia 4-2 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to lift the trophy. It was the second time France won the tournament. France returns to the world stage in 2022 looking to defend their crown.

In 2018, Luka Modrić of Croatia won the Golden Ball, given to the tournament's best player. Harry Kane of England won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals during the tournament (six).