Qatar World Cup 2022 will be staged in the winter, Fifa confirms

Fifa has confirmed that the 2022 World Cup will take place in winter, with the final due to take place on 18 December.

The confirmation, which had been expected since Qatar was announced as the host in late 2010, came at the governing body’s Executive Committee meeting in Zurich.

The tournament will be shortened to 28 days, with the first game taking place on November 21. The final takes place on the country’s National Day.

The English Premier League have maintained a strong stance against the possibility of rescheduling European competitions to arrange a World Cup away from its traditional summer slot. In February Richard Scudamore, the competition’s chief executive, said that he was “very disappointed” with a recommendation made by a Fifa task force in February.

He said: “Our particular concern is that a Fifa World Cup that finishes late in December could result in damaging one of the English game's great traditions and attractions, with the removal of the entire Premier League, Football League and FA Cup Christmas and New Year fixture programme that season.”

However with temperatures reaching an average high of 50 degrees Celsius in July the likelihood was always that the tournament would have to take place in a different timeslot.

The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the Middle Eastern nation, which has a population of just over 2 million, has been marred by controversy over the past five years; with allegations made that the bidding process was open to corruption.

And with US and Swiss investigations into Fifa continuing there remains a possibility that Russia, 2018 hosts, and Qatar will lose the right to host the World Cup.

Leading official Domenico Scala told Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung in June: “Should there be evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votes, then the awards could be cancelled.”