Listen! This Is Qatar 2022 World Cup Kick-off Hours Based On Indonesian Time

Illustration - England national team, one of the teams that qualified for Qatar 2022 World Cup (Twitter @fifaworldcup)

JAKARTA - All 32 participating teams for the 2022 World Cup have now been identified after Costa Rica became the last country to go to Qatar after defeating New Zealand in the intercontinental play-off round. The kick-off schedule was also confirmed by FIFA a few hours after the draw was over.

The opener will now pit Senegal against the Netherlands, which is honestly a more attractive match than Qatar versus Ecuador which is now the third match of the tournament.

The most notable change to the World Cup for the 2022 edition is the date. The controversial decision to choose the Middle Eastern state of Qatar as the host meant that, due to excessive heat, the tournament had to be moved from its traditional June/July slot.

Running from November 21 to December 18, the Qatar World Cup consists of 28 days, three days less than the last World Cup (Russia, 2018).

Despite the shortened time period, the format remains the same - eight groups of four with the top two teams each qualifying for the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, with Qatar four hours behind Indonesia, there is no significant difference between the 2022 World Cup kick-off time with previous editions when referring to Indonesian time.

However, for the participants, with the tournament duration cut to three days, there will be four matches in each of the first eight days of the tournament that affect them little.

These matches will kick off at 1 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm, and 11 pm Qatar time. Or, at 5 pm, 8 pm, 12 pm, and 3 am Indonesian time.

As for the final group matches and knockout stages, the matches will start at 7 pm and 10 pm Qatar time. Or 11 pm and 2 am Indonesian time.

The 2022 World Cup final, on Sunday, 18 December, will kick off at 7 pm Qatar time. Or at 11 pm Indonesian time.