Brazil head to Qatar as favourites to win a World Cup like no other

The first World Cup ever to be held in the Middle East will be unlike any that has come before, but there may still be a familiar name on the trophy with Brazil heading to Qatar as the favourites to succeed France and end two decades of European dominance.

For the last decade, most mentions of Qatar and the World Cup have focused on the controversial decision to give the tiny Gulf state the tournament as well as criticism of its human rights record.

There has therefore been little attention paid to what might happen on the pitch between the opening game on November 20 and the final, at the 80,000-capacity Lusail Iconic Stadium on December 18.

Indeed, there has been little time to even think about the football.

The club season in Europe -- where the richest teams hoard the world's best players and from where the majority of those taking part in Qatar will come -- will only halt a week before the opening game of this World Cup between the hosts and Ecuador.

The 22nd edition of the men's World Cup is not just the first in the Arab world.

It is also first to be held at the end of the calendar year -- every previous edition, right back to 1930, has been staged between May and July, in the northern hemisphere summer.

The searing desert heat in Qatar at that time of the year made that an impossibility in 2022.

Nevertheless, adjusting football's traditional calendar has been a challenge, and national teams have next to no time to prepare.

Injuries take their toll

There will be hardly any pre-tournament friendly matches. Many players will participate in matches with their clubs, jet off to join their country and then be thrown into the deep end of a World Cup game just a few days later - provided they do not pick up an injury beforehand.

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