Qatar is set to reach the biggest milestone ahead of the historic FIFA World Cup 2022 with the hosting of the Final Draw that takes place in Doha today.
Many dignitaries along with top football officials and global football stars will attend the draw to be held at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC), a day after the 72nd FIFA Congress was held at the same venue.
The event will start at 7pm as teams and fans will find out their paths to possible glory at the November 21 to December 18 World Cup – the first-ever in the Middle East and the Arab world.
The Qatar 2022 has the same format as the past few editions, with teams drawn into eight groups of four.
Being the host nation, Qatar received the top-seeded slot along with new World No.1 Brazil, Belgium, defending champions France, Argentina, England, Spain and Portugal.
The Pot 2 includes the United States, Mexico, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland and Croatia, while Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea and Tunisia are in Pot 3.
For the first time in the World Cup’s 92-year history, three of the 32 entries in the draw will be placeholders because the three-year qualifying programme was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is still ongoing.
It means 37 nations will be involved in the draw today, including five which will ultimately not play.
One of the balls being drawn from pot 4 of low-ranked teams will represent Peru or Australia or the United Arab Emirates; Ukraine or Wales or Scotland and Costa Rica or New Zealand.
The rest of Pot 4 includes Cameroon, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia and Ghana along with Canada.
The full line-up will not be known until at least June 14, when the intercontinental play-off round ends in Qatar.
Qatar has shown tremendous commitment since winning the rights to host the World Cup in 2010 and has completed the tournament related projects with an unprecedented pace.
Seven out of eight World Cup venues are already operational with Lusail Stadium, which will host the final, is expected to be inaugurated soon.
A world class transportation system will welcome fans travelling from across the world with plans for accommodation also in place. The teams are also set to get modern and state-of-the-art training facility.
It’s going to be a compact World Cup with all the stadiums near to one another.
“It would be a fantastic World Cup because it would be a unique World Cup,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told reporters after the FIFA Congress, yesterday.
“Never, ever. I think in future will have such a compact World Cup. Stadiums are within 50 kilometers of that. Not only fans can watch more than one game per day, but more importantly, there is no travel for the players, national teams,” he added.
“The World Cup, which is the biggest event in the world, is actually played in the best season. So the players don’t arrive at the World Cup at the end of a very tiring, exhausting, especially European season and then have still to play the World Cup,” the FIFA President said.
Speaking at the FIFA Congress, Secretary General at Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Hassan Al Thawadi said Qatar 2022 will be the best in history.
“Now the journey that my country has embarked on since being awarded the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup has spanned almost 12 years. Twelve years of continuous work, dedicated to delivering a tournament that we believe will be the best FIFA World Cup in history,” said Al Thawadi.
“Twelve years dedicated to ensuring that this World Cup leaves truly transformational social, human, economic and environmental legacies to be remembered as a landmark moment in the history of our region,” he added.
The draw will be attended by 2,000 guests and will be hosted by former US international and FIFA Women’s World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, former footballer and English television presenter Jermaine Jenas and anchor Samantha Johnson.
The trio will be assisted by the likes of former footballers Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (Iran), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Rabah Madjer (Algeria), Tim Cahill (Australia) and Bora Milutinovic (Serbia), who as coach steered five different teams to consecutive World Cups – Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), United States (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2022).
