Football has been around for many years and has been one of the favorite sports of many, of all gender and different ages. Because of that, Fédération internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed and conducted official games that gathered football enthusiasts in a big event everyone anticipated.
2022 FIFA World Cup
The World Cup conducted by FIFA hosts competitions once every four years. Participants are national men’s teams which are members of FIFA. There’s a long history of the competition and it will be occurring again this year as fifa world cup 2022. The host country is Qatar and it would be the first competition to be held in an Arab country. This marks the second competition held in Asia.
There’s a lot of things to get excited about with the fifa world cup 2022. This will be the last to qualify a total of 32 teams before it changes to 48 teams in the upcoming 2026 tournament competition. Qatar is known for its intense summer heat so the World Cup will be held on November 20 to December 18 which is Qatar’s National Day.
Qualifying Teams for the World Cup
As it is known, fifa world cup 2022 qualifies 32 teams from different fifa world cup club. The fifa qualifiers 2022 started last june 6, 2019 and ended on June 14, 2022. There are a lot of postponements that have happened due to COVID-19 pandemic. Below are the list of the teams that made it to the fifa qualifiers 2022:
- AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
- Australia
- Iran
- Japan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- CAF (Confederation of African Football)
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- Morocco
- Senegal
- Tunisia
- CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football)
- Canada
- Costa Rica
- Mexico
- United States
- CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation)
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Ecuador
- Uruguay
- UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Denmark
- England
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Wales
With fifa world cup 2022, aside from the qualifying fifa world cup club teams, the officiating staff was announced on May 19, 2022 which comprises of the following:
- 36 referees
- 69 assistant referees
- 24 video assistant referees
How Did Qatar Became the Host?
As it appears to be a crucial decision as to where the World Cup would be held, there is a bidding that has happened to choose the host. The submission of interested countries started in January 2009 and ended in February 2009. There are a total of five countries that bid for the 2022 World Cup which undergo four rounds of bidding. The countries were named to be Qatar, United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia. In all rounds of bidding, it is always Qatar that gets the higher votes with a total of 14 votes in Round 4 beating the United States (8), South Korea (eliminated in Round 4), Japan (eliminated in Round 3), and Australia (eliminated in Round 2).
The Marketing of the 2022 World Cup
Since this is a big event of 32 teams from fifa world cup club which are fifa qualifiers 2022, marketing it is a normal thing. Things should be planned out from the branding, mascot, match ball, and the official album.
- Branding – official emblem which was designed by Brandia Central. It was introduced on September 2019 and resembles the following:
- Tournament trophy
- Infinity symbol
- Number 8 – interconnected event, eight host stadiums
- Shawls – signifies winter schedule, November to December
- Waves – resembles desert dunes
- Kashida incorporated wordmark of the emblem – typographical emphasis of characters found in Arabic script
- Mascot – named La’eeb which was introduced on April 2022. The name means super skilled player.
- Match Ball – called Al Rihla, was made to public on March 2022. The Arabic word means “the journey” which was inspired with the architecture, culture, and the flag of Qatar. The ball was designed with waterbased inks and glues, the first ever made of those materials.
- Official Album
- Hayya Hayya (Better Together) by AISHA, Davido, and Trinidad Cardona was released on April 1, 2022 with a music video.
- Arhbo by Gims and Ozuna was released on August 19, 2022 with a music video.
The Worldwide Sponsors
Aside from the competing teams from fifa world cup club, and knowing the hosts and date of the event, it’s better to know who bears the sponsorship to make it all happen. Below are the sponsors which logos you will see on this event:
- FIFA Partners
- Adidas
- Wanda Group
- Coca-Cola
- Visa
- Hyundai-Kia
- Qatar Energy
- Qatar Airways
- FIFA World Cup Sponsors
- Anheuser-Busch InBev
- Vivo
- Byju’s
- Mengniu Dairy
- Crypto.com
- McDonald’s
- Hisense
- African and Middle Eastern Supporters
- GWC Logistics
- QNB Group
- Ooredoo
- North American Supporters
- Algorand
- The Look Company
- Frito-Lay
- South American Supporters
- Claro
- UPL
- Nubank
Where to Watch the World Cup
If you are far away from Qatar, the host country of this year’s World Cup, then there are ways on how you could be updated with the event. One thing is that each country has broadcasting rights which allows only a specific broadcasting company to telecast the whole series. There would be some live and real time results on fifa online.
Yes, with fifa online, you can check who won and proceed to the semi-final to the final match without any issues. As long as you have a mobile device connected to the internet, you will be updated. Aside from fifa online, you can also check out social media platforms for related posts from those watching and avid fans.
As the 2022 World Cup draws closer, just months from now, the spotlight in Qatar is rapidly increasing. It includes all the preparations done and to be done until the competition day. Challenges will always be present but Al-Thawadi says that he is confident in the country’s ability to host a major sporting event. There is no doubt that the event will be an exciting one since it is the first time the tournament has been hosted in the Middle East and Africa. It made fans from around the world eagerly anticipate this event.
Pull out your calendar and mark it for the 2022 FIFA World Cup starting November 21, 2022 and ending on December 18, 2022. This will be historical as there are firsts and lasts so do not miss a thing.