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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.

Most matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ will take place between 8AM and 2PM ET, though some start as early as 5AM ET.

Where is Qatar?

The State of Qatar is a peninsula located in Western Asia on the western coast of the Persian Gulf. It borders Saudi Arabia and shares maritime borders with Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Qatar is roughly 6,700 miles from Chester. That's just over a 12 hour flight nonstop.

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.
Pronunciation: Kuh-TAR

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Who qualified?

In December 2010 Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ and became the first country to earn a spot as the automatic host country. Qualification for the other 31 international spots began in 2019 with the six confederations of FIFA competing in tournaments where the top point earners earned a spot in this year's tournament.

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