FIFA expected to start World Cup a day earlier than planned

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- The men's 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to start a day earlier than originally planned so that host country Qatar can be featured in the opening game of the soccer tournament.

Sources told ESPN, the Guardian and the New York Times on Wednesday that tournament organizers sent a proposal letter to officials from FIFA -- soccer's global governing body -- and its confederations for approval.

"The FIFA administration has assessed the commercial and legal implications of the proposal -- including the impact on contractual commitments across media rights, sponsorship, and ticketing and hospitality -- as well as the impact on traveling fans, and has determined that any risk is sufficiently outweighed by the value and benefits of the proposals," FIFA said a letter, obtained by the Times.

The 32-team tournament was scheduled to start Nov. 21 in Qatar.

Qatar isn't set to take the field until the third match that day. The proposal calls for that match, against Ecuador, to kick off at 11 a.m. EDT Nov. 20 and be the only match that day.

The host country has participated in the first match of the tournament at each World Cup since 2006.

Senegal and the Netherlands are currently scheduled to face off in the first match of the tournament at 5 a.m. EDT Nov. 21. England-Iran and United States-Wales are the other matches scheduled that day.

The World Cup will run through Dec. 18. Brazil, France, England, Spain and Argentina are among the favorites to claim the title. France claimed the last title with a 4-2 win over Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Final in Moscow.