Custom is a very powerful thing. Many times you would rather lose advantages than break it. However, FIFA took courage and put an end to an almost 100-year-old habit: playing the World Cup in the middle of the year. Qatar 2022 will innovate in this and other ways.
The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup will undoubtedly be special, and it is already special before the matches have even begun. Starting with the fact that the tournament has never before been brought to the Middle East, a region that has the challenge of making the millions of football fans feel at home.
In addition to the change in the date on which it will be held and the region of the world that will host it, Qatar 2022 will offer more novelties such as the inclusion of female central referees, the expansion to 26 players called up by the National Team, the possibility of making 5 changes per team in each match and the fact of holding this tournament not in the middle of the year but at the end.
Players' rest ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
This is a controversial topic every four years when the FIFA World Cup is held. On more than a few occasions it has been pointed out that the players arrive at the World Cup with a large amount of accumulated fatigue, a consequence of so many matches played and little time to recover. The debate was not long in coming when it was announced that Qatar 2022 would be played from November 20 to December 18.
Playing in May-June and July ensured that the players would have enough time to finish their participation in their respective local leagues and then join their national teams for the FIFA World Cup. However, it should be added that they arrived at the prestigious tournament with the fatigue of a whole season under their belts.
Well, with the upcoming FIFA World Cup scheduled for November 20, it is key to know when the leagues, at least the most prestigious in Europe (England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France) will stop to let their players free to go to the call of their National Teams. Will it be an advantage to play Qatar 2022 in the middle of the season or will the short rest time between the local activity and the World Cup affect performance?
European top leagues start and stop in the run-up to Qatar 2022
It has been reported that FIFA is requesting that all 832 players who will take part in the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, should be in training with their National Teams no later than November 14, just one week before the start of the tournament. This is a date on which the world's leagues have never before been inactive.
Thus, these are the dates on which the leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France will start and suspend their respective 2022-2023 seasons to allow the players who play in them and have been called up for Qatar 2022 to join their respective National Teams.
England - Premier League
The world's fittest league, at least as evidenced by the 2021-2022 season with its teams starring in the Champions League and Europa League, will start hostilities on August 5 and stop no later than Sunday, November 13. It resumes on Monday, December 26 at the time of the traditional Boxing Day. If any player participating in this league reaches the Qatar 2022 final, he would have only 8 days of rest between one tournament and the other.
Italy - Serie A
The Italian league will not follow the same example as the English league, as it kicks off its 2022-2023 season on August 14. Its break is similar, as it is scheduled to play its 15th and last matchday before the upcoming FIFA World Cup on November 13. It returns to action 17 days after Qatar 2022, i.e. on January 4, 2023.
Spain - LaLiga
Spanish soccer kicks off the 2022-2023 season in its Primera Division on August 14; however, it will offer a little more rest to its players participating in Qatar 2022, as it suspends activity with matchday 14, played in the middle of the week, on November 8 or 9: four days of some rest before concentrating with their National Teams. The activities resume on December 31, 13 days after the end of the FIFA World Cup.
Germany - Bundesliga
Just as the Premier League, the 2022-2023 German Bundesliga season kicks off on August 4. Its break will run until matchday 15, scheduled for November 10-12. Its players will have a more significant break as it resumes activities until January 19, 2023, more than a month after Qatar 2022.
France - Ligue 1
The League of stars such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr will kick off on August 5. Their last game before the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be the weekend of November 11-13. It resumes activity before the other top leagues in Europe, on December 28, just 10 days after the World Cup ends.
And, the MLS?
With an atypical calendar for the vast majority of leagues in the world, MLS has no problem in holding this year's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 from November 21 to December 18, as the decisive match for the MLS Cup would be on November 5.
