Officially: The World Cup Opening Ceremony Will Start at 5 pm

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy revealed the date of the opening ceremony, which will precede the opening match of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which will bring the Qatar national team against Ecuador on November 20 at Al Bayt World Cup Stadium.

Khaled Al-Mawlawi, Deputy Director General for Marketing, Communications, and Tournament Experience, said during the press conference to announce Qatar’s readiness to host the World Cup: “The opening ceremony of the Qatar 2022 World Cup will start from five in the evening local time in the State of Qatar, provided that the doors of Al Bayt Stadium will be opened to the public starting from three in the afternoon, while the opening match of the tournament between Qatar and Ecuador will start at seven in the evening.

"I advise all ticket holders to be in the stadium at least two hours before the opening ceremony," he added.

The International Football Association had announced earlier that the date of the opening ceremony and the first matches of the Qatar World Cup 2022 would be brought forward to Sunday, November 20, instead of the 21st of the same month, as was previously scheduled.

The announcement came after the FIFA Council unanimously decided to hold the opening match of the tournament between the host country and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium at seven in the evening on Sunday, November 20.

Although the International Football Association has not yet announced the details of the opening ceremony, media reports indicated that the ceremony will witness wholesale surprises with the participation of a group of international artists expected to perform at the opening ceremony, such as Bollywood star Nora Fathi and a number of hip-hop artists.

While there were reports that the Colombian singer Shakira was nominated to appear on Al Bayt Stadium stage at the opening ceremony after she had already got to experience the soundtrack in the World Cup with her song "Waka Waka" from the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

In a related context, the State of Qatar’s preparations to host the World Cup continued, and many regions in the country were decorated with World Cup flags and slogans, such as the Corniche Road and passing through Katara, the Pearl, Lusail Road, and from there to the al Shamal and Ruwais Road, as well as Abu Samra International Road, Salwa Road, Dukhan Road, and other major roads in the state.

The manifestations of the World Cup celebrations were evident on the walls of houses, buildings, and facades of towers that were filled with football phrases and enthusiastic slogans, the flags of the countries participating in the World Cup, and the Qatari flag that adorned the country from north to south and from east to west.