2022 is set to be a very eventful year, so to ensure you do not miss any of the action and can start filling in your diaries, FIFA presents an overview of all the main dates and events.
THE BEST FIFA FOOTBALL AWARDS – The Best FIFA Football Awards, which will be held for the sixth time on 17 January 2022, annually honour the most outstanding members of the world’s most popular sport. They not only represent the game’s highest honour for coaches and footballers but are a celebration in which football fans are recognised – and play a vital and active part.
In mid-January, the biggest stars from the beautiful game will come together for the sixth time for this glittering award ceremony. The list of the nominees for The Best FIFA Women’s and The Best FIFA Men’s awards will be announced live on FIFA.com on 7 January.
THE FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP UAE 2022 – The opening match on 3 February will see the host nation representatives Al Jazira Club take on the OFC CAS Pirae of Tahiti. In the second round, Match 2 will see the winner of the CAF Champions League Al Ahly SC face the winner of the Concacaf Champions League CF Monterrey, and in Match 3 the AFC Champions League winners Al Hilal SFC will face the winner of the opening game.
The winners of Al Ahly-Monterrey will move on to play Copa Libertadores champions SE Palmeiras (Brazil) in one semi-final, while Al Hilal or the winner of Al Jazira-Auckland City will take on UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea FC (England).
THE DRAW FOR THE FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022 – The draw for the group stage of the tournament is set to take place in early April 2022 in Doha. At that stage, not all of the 32 participants will be known, as the intercontinental play-offs will only take place in June, having been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP – Taking place biennially, the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup™ sees 16 nations compete against each other for the prize. With continental qualification pathways leading to an exciting finals event, the competition has seen four past champions; USA, Germany, Japan and Korea DPR.
After the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2014, Costa Rica is hosting a major women’s event once again, this time the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022. The tournament was originally planned for 2020, with Panama as co-hosts, but this was also postponed due to the pandemic. Costa Rica was then named as the sole host of the new global tournament. Reigning champions Japan will be there, as will the previous winners from 2016, Korea DPR.
Europe’s representatives have already booked their places (Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands), as well as those from Asia (Korea DPR, Japan and the Korea Republic) and Oceania (New Zealand), along with hosts Costa Rica. Qualifying in the other confederations will be taking place over the coming months.
THE FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP INDIA 2022 – After successfully hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017™, India is looking forward to their second World Cup in 2022, and the hosts will be joined by Japan and Korea DPR as the Asian representatives. The tournament was originally planned for 2020 but had to be postponed because of the pandemic.
Along with the hosts, the European representatives (Spain, Germany and England) have already booked their spots, as well as New Zealand (OFC) and the two Asian qualifiers (Japan and Korea DPR). Qualifying in the other confederations will be taking place over the coming months.
FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022 – Will France be able to defend their title or will we have a new world champion in 2022? 32 teams will be fighting it out to hoist the FIFA World Cup trophy aloft. The opening match will kick off on 21 November 2022, and the tournament in Qatar will feature the best footballing talent from around the world.
It is set to be a unique event, allowing fans to discover the culture of Qatar. Moreover, during the group stage, the proximity of the venues will make it possible to attend more than one match in a day.
“We will enjoy being all together in one place,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Fans will be treated to top-class football in eight state-of-the-art stadiums. We are looking forward to the opportunity to bring people from different backgrounds together. What I see here is a country that is preparing to welcome the whole world, and every fan, but also looking into where improvements are needed and taking real steps to do so in many different areas, particularly about human rights and workers’ welfare.”
Source: FIFA
www.sports24ghana.com
