By Samindra Kunti
September 6 – In an extraordinary and unprecedented sequence of events, officials from the Brazilian health authority Anvisa stormed on to the pitch of the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina after four minutes to deport four Argentine players from England’s Premier League, leading to the match being abandonment.
September 2 – The Netherlands stumbled to a disappointing 1-1 draw against Norway in World Cup qualifying on Louis van Gaal’s return to the Dutch dug-out, prompting the veteran coach to call his own team “sloppy” with pressure growing on Oranje.
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – The World Leagues Forum (WLF) has slammed FIFA’s decision to amend the international match calendar without consultation and which has seen the rescheduling of South America’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers that had originally been due to be played in March 2021 to extended triple match windows in September and March.
August 1 – Belarus have been ordered to play their home World Cup qualifying matches against both Belgium and Wales on neutral territory in Russia because of travel sanctions against the country.
July 14 – Qatar isn’t just building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, it is also building towns, metro and road systems, and new hotel accommodations to house visitors as the country.
June 21 – Qatar will only allow those fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend next year’s World Cup.
June 21 – Norway will not boycott the 2022 World Cup in Qatar following a vote at an extraordinary meeting of Norway’s Football Federation (NFF) that dismissed the move with a strong majority, despite strong pressure from the grassroots levels over alleged human rights abuses of migrant workers in the Gulf state.
June 26 – Canada’s journey back towards Concacaf competitiveness continued with 3-0 home win over Haiti (4-0 on aggregate), taking them to the final round of World Cup Qualifying for the first time since France 98.
June 14 – The knockout play off series to decide the final three slots in the eight team Concacaf final round of 2022 World Cup qualifying began at the weekend with opening advantages being gained by Canada, Panama and El Salvador.
June 14 – South Korea cemented their place in the last 12 of Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying in Asia with a 2-1 win over challengers Lebanon.
June 8 – The first round of Concacaf qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup reaches its final stage of group games tonight with five of the six groups going down to the wire.
June 1 – World Cup participants in 2022 will be allowed to use five substitutes per match after football’s rule-making body IFAB extended the right until the end of next year.
May 24 – The Nordic membership of FIFA has stepped up pressure on the world governing body to improve workers’ rights in Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts.
May 12 – Following human rights protests by international players from Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Norway and letters from the Danish and Norwegian FA’s FIFA and World Cup 2022 organisers Qatar have begun a series of meetings with member associations.
May 7 – A ban on several stadia across the African continent has led to the widely anticipated postponement of several World Cup qualifiers that were scheduled for June.