World Cup opening ceremony!
Welcome to our live coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup!
It is officially here, with the opening ceremony of the 22nd edition of the biggest stage of international football beginning in Qatar today, Nov. 20 at 9:30 am ET
The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place a day later, on November 21, after two games had already been played. But in an effort to keep the tradition of the first game featuring the hosts, it was brought forward along with the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor will witness the Qataris play in their first-ever World Cup, 60,000-capacity, and will take on Ecuador at 11:00 am ET.
While Qatar has earned some experience over the last several years, playing in the Copa America and the Gold Cup, Ecuador on the other hand, are the surprise of South America with their fourth-place finish. The talented South Americans earned a spot over teams like Colombia and Chile. They are joined by the Netherlands and Senegal, who play on Monday.
While 32 teams from around the globe are competing to become the World Champion, France enters the competition as the defending champion and will look to retain their title.
All 32 teams have been distributed into eight groups of four each and a total of 64 matches will be played in Qatar.
