We don’t have the slightest doubt that the World Cup 2022 in Qatar is the central sporting event this year and probably in the years to come. First of all, this tournament is not ordinary because it takes place during the winter, which is a unique situation. No prior World Cups have been scheduled for this part of the year, and the entire conception of the football season had to be reshaped to service the needs of the championship in Qatar.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 schedule had to be compatible with the national leagues, and the governing bodies of international football, along with the local football associations, needed to adjust many things. One of them is the TV schedule and broadcasting rights.
The most important information for US-based football (soccer) fans is that FOX Sports has exclusive rights to this championship. FOX and FS1 will broadcast the games in English, so all those who want to follow this global spectacle, turn your attention to FOX. This is only regarding TV channels.
Now, when it comes to streaming services, we will have several operators for the FIFA World Cup 2022 – Peacock, Fubo, SlingTV, and Vidgo. We can say that the US audience has a solid variety of choices and can satisfy their preferences due to various alternatives.
We are not going to say which one of these services is the best because that depends upon the fan himself, and to be honest, it would be rude and unfair on our behalf to favor one brand over the other. That is solely up to you to decide.
In the upcoming few paragraphs, we will say a few things about the World Cup itself and the essential facts which every fan wants to know.
First of all, the tournament starts on November 18 and finishes on December 20. This is something unseen before as football World Cups always took place during the summer, usually in June, July, and sometimes August. But due to weather circumstances in Qatar, the tournament had to be rescheduled to avoid extreme heat waves.
Some of the fans are thrilled with it because of the Christmas and the New Year euphoria and the fact that we didn’t see such a big sporting event at this time of the year.
The host of the 2022 WC is Qatar, an Arabic state located in Western Asia and one of the wealthiest countries in the world. They invested a lot in this tournament, building stadiums that haven’t been seen before. After Japan and South Korea, this is the second time in history that Asia hosted the World Cup.
About the schedule, we are going to give some guidance on the phases of the tournament.
- Sunday, November 20 at 11 am — Friday, December 2 at 2 pm: Group stage matches
- Sunday, December 3 at 10 am — Tuesday, December 6 at 2 pm: Round of 16 knockout matches
- Friday, December 9 at 10 am — Saturday, December 10 at 2 pm: Quarterfinals
- Tuesday, December 13 at 2 pm and Wednesday, December 14 at 2 pm: Semifinals
- Saturday, December 17 at 10 am: Third-place match
- Sunday, December 18 at 10 am: 2022 FIFA World Cup Final
We also want to mention the biggest favorites for winning the World Cup title. The number one is Brazil, and right after are the reigning champions, France. These two units have by far the highest chances, according to the bookmakers.
Behind them are Argentina, Germany, Belgium, and Portugal. The Argentinians play very good football and have been without a loss for the past three years. They have Messi and several other superstars who are in their prime.
Germany isn’t shining right now, but their mentality is forcing everyone to put them in title talks, while Belgium and Portugal have the thickest rosters of all teams in the tournament, and the bookmakers see them as potential dark horses for going all the way. Spain and England are also near the top, but their prospects aren’t that promising.
