The 2022 World Cup is just days away and the anticipation is palpable as fans arrive to cheer on their teams. It is the 22nd edition of football’s global showpiece and, for the first time, it is scheduled to take place in the northern hemisphere’s winter months.
Alongside the wonder goals, moments of individual artistry and all the drama in between, World Cup opening ceremonies of the past have caught the imagination of the public – and sometimes disapproval. South Africa 2010 was alive with cultural music and dance, with an enormous beetle dribbling a huge Jabulani ball across the pitch. At USA ’94, the Americans put on a hell of a show featuring nods to each participating country.
So what will the opening ceremony in Qatar be and when is it? GOAL brings you everything you need to know.
Date:November 20, 2022Time:2pm GMT (9am ET)
The World Cup 2022 opening ceremony will commence on Sunday, November 20. The ceremony is expected to start at 2pm GMT (9am ET). It will be staged ahead of the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador, which kicks off at 4pm GMT (11am ET).
The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on November 21, but it was brought forward along with the opening match. This was to preserve the tradition of the first game featuring the hosts or the defending champions.
The ceremony will take place live from the 60,000-seater Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The stadium was one of the stadiums built for the World Cup, opening in November 2021. The Al Bayt Stadium will host six group games, a round of 16 match and a semi-final in this tournament.
We don’t know specific details, but we do know that BTS’s Jungkook will be taking to the stage. On November 12, BTS’ official Twitter account announced that Jungkook would be among the performers at Sunday’s opening ceremony.
방탄소년단 ‘정국’이 2022 FIFA 카타르 월드컵 공식 사운드트랙과 월드컵 개막식 공연에 참여합니다. 많은 기대 부탁드립니다!
Proud to announce that Jung Kook is part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Soundtrack & will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony. Stay tuned!#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/MwJ2kdNRBp
— BTS_official (@bts_bighit) November 12, 2022
He also confirmed his contribution to the tournament’s official soundtrack. The tweet read: “Proud to announce that Jung Kook is part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Soundtrack & will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony. Stay tuned!”
Aside from this, the actual content of the show has not been confirmed.
At Russia 2018, the opening ceremony featured former Brazil legend Ronaldo, the tournament’s official mascot Zabikava and a child mascot, who carried out the ceremonial first kick of the competition.
This was followed by speeches from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Fifa President Gianni Infantino. Robbie Williams took centre stage after and performed some of his most well-known hits.
The opening match will be broadcast live on BBC in the UK. It will be broadcast on FOX and Telemundo in the U.S. The opening ceremony is expected to be shown before the opening game.
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