World Cup fans will be able to watch an "unprecedented four games a day on television, spread out over 11 hours, during the group stage of the Qatar 2022 tournament" after the schedule was confirmed on Wednesday. With the relatively short travel distances for the venues in and around Doha, "it could be possible for fans who travel to the 32-team tournament to attend multiple games each day." The early games will "kickoff at 1pm local time with the fourth match starting at 10pm local time and finishing just before midnight." The final on Dec. 18 will be held at the 80,000 Lusail Stadium. CEO of the Qatar World Cup organizing company, Nasser Al Khater, said plans for the tournament were "well on schedule with 90% of the work finished on roads and infrastructure." The draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to be pushed back by two months -- to June ’22 -- after FIFA rescheduled qualifying playoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic (ESPN.com, 7/15).
There is no space for a gap without games between the group stage and round of 16. Most teams will get three days of rest between games, which FIFA said was “optimum for sporting performance.” But teams in two last-16 matches will only have two days of rest. For the third-place playoff, one losing semifinalist will have two recovery days while the other has three (AP, 7/15).
