The year 2022 promises to be an exciting one for football fans across the globe as it is a year in which the greatest football tournament on earth, the FIFA World Cup, will take place.
Normally, other international football tournaments — especially those organised by FIFA — are not scheduled to take place in the same year as the World Cup, but the COVID-19 has forced major changes in all spheres of life including football.
In this article, TOP SOCCER BLOG brings you the major tournaments taking place in 2022.
1. FIFA WORLD CUP
The FIFA World Cup without any doubt is the biggest football competition coming up in 2022. The greatest sporting event on the planet takes place every four years. The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the tournament and will be hosted by Qatar. It will be the first-ever World Cup hosted by an Arab country and the second in the entire Asian continent since the 2002 World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan.
The World Cup normally takes place in the summer, but due to the intense summer heat in Qatar, it will be played between the 21st of November to the 18th of December 2022.
The time frame for the tournament will also be reduced to 28 days.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be the last one to be competed by 32 teams as the number of teams will be increased to 48 in 2026.
2. AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS (AFCON)
The 33rd edition of the AFCON was initially scheduled to take place in 2021 but was postponed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Due to sponsorship reasons, CAF has decided to retain the tournament’s name, the 2021 African Cup of Nations.
The 2021 AFCON will be hosted by Cameroon between the 9th of January to the 6th of February 2022. It will be contested by 24 teams.
3. FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
The 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was scheduled to take kick off in 2020, but was postponed due to Covid-19. The tournament will now take place in 2022 between the 11th to the 30th of October 2022. It will be hosted by India and will be contested by 16 countries.
4. FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
Like the U-17 category, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup was postponed from 2020 to 2022 due to Covid-19. The tournament has now been scheduled to be played between the 10th to the 28th of August 2022 in Costa Rica.
5. 2022 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
The 67th final of Europe’s premier club football tournament will be played on the 28th of May 2022 at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia. The current 2021/22 UEFA Champions League season will end in 2022, and is one of the most anticipated matches of the year.
6. 2022 UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL
The final match of the 2022 UEFA Europa League will be played at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Seville, Spain on the 18th of May, 2022.
7. 2022 UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE FINAL
The final of the maiden edition of the UEFA Conference League will be played on the 25th of May 2022 at the Arena Kombetare, Tirana, Albania.
8. 2022 UEFA SUPER CUP
The Super Cup is contested by the winners of the Champions league versus that of the Europa League. The 2022 edition will be held at the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland in August 2022.
9. 2022 UEFA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
The 2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League final will be played at the Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy, on the 22nd of May 2022.
Which of these tournaments are you looking forward to? Kindly use the comment box below to let us know. Thanks.
10. 2022 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP
The 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship is going to take place in 2022. The youth tournament is always one to watch, as it will showcase exciting European football youngsters.. Slovakia will host the tournament from 20th of July to 2nd of August 2022. The competition was to be held in 2020 and 2021, but both editions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top five teams of the 2022 European Under-19 Championship will qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup as the UEFA representatives.
