November 25 – FIFA has confirmed that the Arab Cup tournament, announced in June, will act as the official warm-up for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Arab Cup will be played in December next year, featuring 22 nations from Africa and Asia.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt will all take part in the tournament despite their political and economic boycott of the Qatar regime.
With its quadrennial Confederations Cup now canned, the Arab Cup will act as the key dress rehearsal for the World Cup. Qatar is also hosting the coronavirus-delayed Club World Cup in February next year.
Asian nations taking part in the Arab Cup are Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Those coming from Africa comprise Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.
After an initial knockout stage, 16 teams will be split into four groups, with the top two from each qualifying for the quarter-finals.
“Through football, this tournament will unite over 450 million people from across the region,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino (pictured) on a visit to the Lusail stadium that will stage the World Cup Final in 2022.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association, added: “(It) will be an important milestone and a final test of our preparations, only one year away from us hosting the first FIFA World Cup in the region.”
The final of the competition on December 18 is deliberately being staged exactly one year before the World Cup final and will be vital for Qatar to test key facilities and infrastructure, something that has been limited by the coronavirus crisis.
Of the eight venues Qatar will use for 2022, only the new Al-Janoub stadium, the refurbished Al-Khalifa International venue, and Education City have so far hosted major public fixtures.
See Qatar unveils 2021 ‘Arab Mundial’ as warm-up to 2022 World Cup.
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