THE Qatar 2022 World Cup Opening Ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 20.

The ceremony is expected to start at 15:00hrsGMT (16:00hrs local time), ahead of the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador, which kicks off at 16:00hrs GMT.

The ceremony had originally been scheduled to take place the next day, but was brought forward along with the opening match.

The change means that the tradition of the first game featuring either the hosts or the defending champions continues.

The ceremony will be held at the 60 000-seater Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, which is 35km north of Doha.

The stadium was one of seven stadiums built for the tournament and opened in November 2021. It hosted the opening match of the 2021 Arab Cup between Qatar and Bahrain

The Al Bayt Stadium will host six group games, a Round-of-16 clash and a semi-final at the 2022 World Cup.

No details have been announced for the ceremony, but it is likely to involve musical performances and a visual display.

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the opening ceremony featured former Brazilian striker Ronaldo, the tournament’s official mascot Zabikava and a child mascot, who carried out the ceremonial first kick of the competition.

This was followed by speeches from Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

English singer Robbie Williams then took centre stage with renditions of Let Me Entertain You, Feel, Angels, and Rock DJ alongside Russian Soprano Aida Garifullina. Williams sparked controversy by giving the middle finger towards the end of the performance.

DO WE KNOW WHO WILL BE PERFORMING?
FIFA is yet to announce a lineup, but there have been rumours about which artistes will be involved.

Nora Fatehi, a Canadian actress who is best known for her work in the Indian film industry, is expected to sing the official song of the tournament, Light The Sky.

Reports have suggested that hip-hop artistes Black Eyed Peas, K-Pop stars BTS and Colombian singer Shakira could all be taking to the stage.

Shakira has experience of performing at the opening ceremony of a World Cup, having sung Waka Waka, which was the official song of the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa 12 years ago.

There have also been rumours that English pop star Dua Lipa could be performing, as well as American rapper Lil Baby and Nigerian singer Kiss Daniel.

The opening match will be broadcast live on BBC. The opening ceremony is expected to be shown before it.

All of the tournament’s fixtures will be shown live on BBC or ITV.