Doha, Qatar – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is set to kick off in 30 days.

The opening ceremony will take place on November 20 at the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of the capital of Doha.

Following the opening ceremony, the first game of the tournament will be played between the host country and Ecuador.

Eight state-of-the-art stadiums will stage 64 matches between November 20 and December 18 as Qatar welcomes the best football teams on the planet for the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world.

Approximately 1.2 million fans are expected to visit the country during the tournament.

Organisers said that 2.89 million tickets have been sold so far. Besides the host country, the United States, Saudi Arabia, England, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, France, Brazil and Germany recorded the highest ticket demand for the tournament.

The 2022 World Cup is the first in the tournament’s 92-year history to be played in November and December. The previous 21 editions were played between late May and the end of July.

FIFA finalised a decision to play in the northern winter season in 2015 to avoid Qatar’s summer heat, despite opposition from most European football bodies that were unhappy about having to shut down their domestic leagues for several peak weeks.

The tournament final will take place on December 18, Qatar’s National Day.