It is all systems go ahead of today’s World Cup kickoff, the first World Cup being held during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and there has been just a week’s break from the European season stopping short and the tournament beginning.
Qatar, in the Middle East, is about the size of Yorkshire and has a population of 2.8million. It is three hours ahead of the UK.
The five African teams taking part in this World Cup include; Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia and continental champion Senegal.
There are eight stadiums hosting the tournament, which is the fewest ever, and all are in a 35-mile radius of the capital city, Doha.
Out of the 32 countries taking part, only eight have previously won the World Cup. Brazil have won it the most times [5], while reigning champions France will be hoping to defend their crown.
As is tradition, the tournament will kick off with the host country in action and Ecuador will be the opponents for Qatar.
For the first time at a World Cup, semi-automated, state-of-the-art technology will be used to speed up the time taken to reach offside decisions.
Key dates:
November 20: World Cup starts up
December 3/6: Round of 16
December 9/10: Quarter-finals
December 13/14: Semi-finals
December 18: World Cup final
