Qatar to kick off World Cup as finals brought forward by one day

This year's World Cup in Qatar will start a day earlier than originally scheduled with the opening ceremony now taking place before the host nation kick off the tournament on Sunday, Nov 20, against Ecuador, world governing body FIFA said on Thursday (Aug 11).

The original plan was for the opening ceremony to be held before Qatar's first game on Nov 21, which would have created the unusual situation of two matches - Senegal v Netherlands and England v Iran - being held before the ceremony.

Normally, the ceremony is conducted before the kick-off of the first game of the tournament.

Hosts Qatar will now make their World Cup debut against Ecuador at 1900 local time after an opening ceremony at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium.

The change is in line with the long-standing tradition of opening matches involving hosts or holders.

The Group A match between Senegal and Netherlands, originally scheduled to be the tournament opener, has been pushed back by six hours from 1300 local time on Nov 21 to the 1900 slot vacated by Qatar v Ecuador.

England's Group B match with Iran and the United States' opener against Wales, which are also scheduled for Nov 21, remain unaffected by the change.

The plan has been signed off by a committee comprising of the heads of FIFA's six regional confederations and president Gianni Infantino.

"The decision followed an assessment of the competition and operational implications, as well as a thorough consultation process and an agreement with key stakeholders and the host country," FIFA said.

The change stretches the World Cup to 29 days until the Dec 18 final and comes after several rounds of ticket sales, with organisers having sold 1.8 million tickets so far.

"Ticket holders will be duly notified by email