By Samindra Kunti in Doha
November 23 – Saudis will enjoy a day off on Wednesday as the Kingdom declared a public holiday to mark the Green Falcons’ historic 2-1 win against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
November 23 – On the eve of Belgium’s opening game with Canada in the World Cup, Belgian veteran player Jan Vertonghen has said that he is afraid to talk about the OneLove armband.
By David Owen
November 23 – So, what do you know: 55 minutes into that extraordinary hour-long tormented, angry pre-World Cup vent by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, some hard, or hard-ish, financial information.
November 23 – France’s Stephanie Frappart made history by becoming became the first female official in a men’s World Cup finals when she was selected as the fourth official in Mexico’s 0-0 draw with Poland on Tuesday.
By Samindra Kunti in Lusail
November 22 – Saudi Arabia stunned Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1 with goals from Saleh Al-Shehr and Salem Al Dawsari in a five-minute second-half blitz to inspire one of the all-time great World Cup upsets.
November 22 – European teams have reacted with disappointment and dismay after being forced by FIFA to abandon plans to wear ‘OneLove’ armbands at the World Cup in support of LGBTQ rights.
November 22 – New FIFA guidelines resulted in more than an hour of stoppage time in the first four World Cup games in bid to maximise playing time and avoid time-wasting.
November 22 – Scottish giants Rangers have sacked Dutch manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst after just a year in the job, with the club nine points behind bitter rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
November 22 – FIFA, whose articles of association used to prevent it from betting partnerships as it was operating under Swiss chartable laws, has announced its first World Cup betting partner for an event that is taking place in a muslim country where all forms of betting are outlawed.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
November 22 – Iran’s players boycotted their national anthem in a silent protest against the regime back home ahead of their World Cup curtain raiser against England.
November 22 – After weeks of uncertainty surrounding the fitness of Canada’s most important player, Alphonso Davies has said that is ready to start in Canada’s World Cup opener against Belgium.
November 22 – Six months later than scheduled, the 2022 World Cup is finally here. Controversy has dominated the media, but it’s now time for football to do the talking.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – Two weeks ago, as organisers put the finishes touches to 12 years of planning, the president of FIFA and his trusted number two – clearly alarmed about their showpiece tournament being undermined by constant criticism over Qatar’s human rights record – took the unprecedented step of pleading with the 32 finalists to concentrate on the football and not to preach morality.
November 21 – The main World Cup fan zone in central Doha, where thousands of fans will watch games over the next month, got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday amid scenes of chaos verging on the outright dangerous, according to multiple reports.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
November 19 – In what was probably the most remarkable, unhinged and illogical rant ever made by a leading sports administrator, the kind of nonsense straight out of the Donald Trump play book, FIFA president Gianni Infantino embarqued on an almost-hour-long justification of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and chastisement of the western world.