The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup, it is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will see a total of 32 top national teams from five different confederations vie for the title of football world champions from November 20 to December 18.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will follow a familiar format with the 32 teams having been divided into eight groups - Group A to H - of four teams each. The teams in each group will face off in a single-headed round-robin format in the group stage of the competition.

The groups at the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 are as follows:

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

After the group stage, top two teams from each of the eight groups will move on to the knockout phase, which begins with the Round of 16.

The final will be played on December 18 while the third-place match is slotted for the previous day in the FIFA World Cup 2022 schedule. All matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be played across eight venues in and around Doha.

FIFA World Cup fixtures and results

All times shown are local

TIME ZONE CONVERSION:
1 p.m. local: 10 a.m. GMT, 5 a.m. ET
4 p.m. local: 1 p.m. GMT, 8 a.m. ET
6 p.m. local: 3 p.m. GMT, 10 a.m. ET
7 p.m. local: 4 p.m. GMT, 11 a.m. ET
10 p.m. local: 7 p.m. GMT, 2 p.m. ET

GROUP STAGE

Sunday, Nov. 20
Group A: Qatar 0-2 Ecuador (Al Bayt Stadium)

Monday, Nov. 21
Group B: England 6-2 IR Iran (Khalifa International Stadium)
Group A: Senegal 0-1 Netherlands (Al Thumama Stadium)
Group B: United States 1-1 Wales (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)

Tuesday, Nov. 22
Group C: Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia (Lusail Stadium)
Group D: Denmark 0-0 Tunisia (Education City Stadium)
Group C: Mexico 0-0 Poland (Stadium 974)
Group D: France 4-1 Australia (Al Janoub Stadium)

Wednesday, Nov. 23
Group F: Morocco 0-0 Croatia (Al Bayt Stadium)
Group E: Germany 1-2 Japan (Khalifa International Stadium)
Group E: Spain 7-0 Costa Rica (Al Thumama Stadium)
Group F: Belgium 1-0 Canada (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)

Thursday, Nov. 24
Group G: Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon (Al Janoub Stadium)
Group H: Uruguay 0-0 South Korea (Education City Stadium)
Group H: Portugal 3-2 Ghana (Stadium 974)
Group G: Brazil 2-0 Serbia (Lusail Stadium)

Friday, Nov. 25
Group B: Wales 0-2 IR Iran (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)
Group A: Qatar 1-3 Senegal (Al Thumama Stadium)
Group A: Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador (Khalifa International Stadium)
Group B: England 0-0 United States (Al Bayt Stadium)

Saturday, Nov. 26
Group D: Tunisia 0-1 Australia (Al Janoub Stadium)
Group C: Poland 2-0 Saudi Arabia (Education City Stadium)
Group D: France 2-1 Denmark (Stadium 974)
Group C: Argentina 2-0 Mexico (Lusail Stadium)

Sunday, Nov. 27
Group E: Japan 0-1 Costa Rica (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)
Group F: Belgium 0-2 Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium)
Group F: Croatia 4-1 Canada (Khalifa International Stadium)
Group E: Spain 1-1 Germany (Al Bayt Stadium)

Monday, Nov. 28
Group G: Cameroon 3-3 Serbia (Al Janoub Stadium)
Group H: South Korea 2-3 Ghana (Education City Stadium)
Group G: Brazil 1-0 Switzerland (Stadium 974)
Group H: Portugal 2-0 Uruguay (Lusail Stadium)

Tuesday, Nov. 29
Group A: Netherlands vs. Qatar (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; 6 p.m.)
Group A: Ecuador vs. Senegal (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
Group B: Wales vs. England (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; 10 p.m.)
Group B: IR Iran vs. United States (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; 10 p.m.)

Wednesday, Nov. 30
Group D: Tunisia vs. France (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
Group D: Australia vs. Denmark (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakra; 6 p.m.)
Group C: Poland vs. Argentina (Stadium 974, Doha; 10 p.m.)
Group C: Saudi Arabia vs. Mexico (Lusail Stadium, Lusail; 10 p.m.)

Thursday, Dec. 1
Group F: Croatia vs. Belgium (Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
Group F: Canada vs. Morocco (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; 6 p.m.)
Group E: Japan vs. Spain (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; 10 p.m.)
Group E: Costa Rica vs. Germany (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; 10 p.m.)

Friday, Dec. 2
Group H: South Korea vs. Portugal (Education City Stadium; 6 p.m.)
Group H: Ghana vs. Uruguay (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakra; 6 p.m.)
Group G: Cameroon vs. Brazil (Lusail Stadium; 10 p.m.)
Group G: Serbia vs. Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha; 10 p.m.)

BRACKET - ROUND OF 16

Saturday, Dec. 3
49 - Winners of Group A vs. Runners-up of Group B (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
50 - Winners of Group C vs. Runners-up of Group D (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan; 10 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec. 4
52 - Winners of Group D vs. Runners-up of Group C (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; 6 p.m.)
51 - Winners of Group B vs. Runners-up of Group A (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; 10 p.m.)

Monday, Dec. 5
53 - Winners of Group E vs. Runners-up of Group F (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah; 6 p.m.)
54 - Winners of Group G vs. Runners-up of Group H (Stadium 974, Doha; 10 p.m.)

Tuesday, Dec. 6
55 - Winners of Group F vs. Runners-up of Group E (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
56 - Winners of Group H vs. Runners-up of Group G (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 10 p.m.)

BRACKET - QUARTERFINALS

Friday, Dec. 9
58 - Winners of 53 vs. Winners of 54 (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)
57 - Winners of 49 vs. Winners of 50 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 10 p.m.)

Saturday, Dec. 10
60 - Winners of 55 vs. Winners of 56 (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha; 6 p.m.)
59 - Winners of 51 vs. Winners of 52 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; 10 p.m.)

BRACKET - SEMIFINALS

Tuesday, Dec. 13
61 - Winners of 57 vs. Winners of 58 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 10 p.m.)

Wednesday, Dec. 14
62 - Winners of 59 vs. Winners of 60 (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor; 10 p.m.)

BRACKET - THIRD PLACE

Saturday, Dec. 17
63 - Losers of 61 vs. Losers of 62 (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan; 6 p.m.)

BRACKET - FINAL

Sunday, Dec. 18
64 - Winners of 61 vs. Winners of 62 (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail; 6 p.m.)

Still looking down, Aboubakar took a couple of steps to steady himself, just as Milinkovic-Savic came screaming out. The thing to remember here is that Milinkovic-Savic is massive. Not just massive in you-and-me standards, but massive in giant-Serbian-football-team standards. Seeing him come charging at you -- at six foot nine, with that bald head and glorious beard - must be like seeing a live-action Kratos come at you. Terrifying. Aboubakar, though, calmly scooped the ball a ridiculously high way up into the air just in front of the Serbian Kratos. Not those delicate little chips that you see strikers employ, the ball teasingly drifting out of reach of the sprawling keeper. Oh, no. He sent this into orbit, straight up. The logic was evident: even if you're nearly 7 foot tall, you aren't going to touch a ball that goes 20 odd feet in the air.

Deliciously, physics-defyingly, the ball dropped just in front of the goal before bouncing into the roof of the goal. That last bit -- the roof bulging and the net rippling -- underlined just how remarkable a trajectory the ball had taken.