Perhaps, Football has the most competition than any other sports. It happens very rarely that football events go smoothly without any complications. And here we are with another complication. In recent years, it has become more of a race in which every obstacle is competing to become the barrier in the Football World.
The 2020/21 campaign saw the COVID 19 due to which the season got one month late and all the matches had to be fit in the schedule accordingly. It had several negative impacts.
The campaign saw more midweek games than ever before as the matches were usually held at the weekends. Another reason for this was the need of accommodate rearranged European championships over summer. Players lacked the time to rest and prepare for the next season, so that campaign was again very hectic.
And here is the Premier League with another barrier or headache to be accurate as the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is knocking on the doors this winter.
Will the Premier League stop during the World Cup 2022?
So, now the question arises if the Premier League is going to stop during the World Cup 2022. Obviously not. For a competition like the Premier League, it’s challenging to even think about stopping the show.
But yes, a pause can surely be entertained in such a situation. Last time the 2021/22 domestic season started from August 13, 2021 and went on until May 22, 2022. Yet, they had to have the February winter break without another major football contest being held/ taken place at the same time.
This season, the World Cup has come to knock itself out. The tournament has been scheduled to begin from November 20 and run until December 18. And it clearly caused major disruptions in the running of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign as it kicked off on August 5, 2022 running until May 28, 2023. Due to the FIFA World Cup 2022, the Premier League campaign will see a pause for six weekends.
The last Premier League game was played on the weekend of November 12/13, a week before the World Cup breaks in. This is going to be a hectic schedule for the players as they wouldn’t have enough time to rest and practice.
They would only have a week for preparations before heading out to the Middle East to be a part of the tournament. Last summer, all of the executives of 20 Premier League clubs were present in London to mark their presence in a scheduled meeting where the 2022/23 campaign was decided.
Though we have already provided every minute detail about the FIFA World Cup 2022 from venue to fixtures in our previous articles, yet we are here to remind you of some key dates for the FIFA World Cup Qatar.
- August 6, 2022: Premier League kicks off
- November 12/13: Wrap up round of Premier League before the beginning of World Cup
- November 20: FIFA World Cup 2022 starts in Qatar with 32 teams
- December 2: The group stage of World Cup ends
- December 3/6: Round of best 16
- December 9/10: Quarter-final between eight
- December 13/14: Semifinal between four
- December 18: World Cup final
- December 26: Premier League resumes
- May 28: Final round of matches for 2022/23 EPL
Premier league Fixtures
As the World Cup is not the only concern. The Premier League is also worth paying attention to. In order to understand the running of its campaign and why the World Cup is a barrier, we need to see the premier league Fixtures. How is it gonna work or take place?
What are key dates? Which team will compete when with whom?
So, due to the World Cup Breakout Premier League campaign will experience a pause of around a month. Premier League Fixture has also been fixed accordingly. Let’s take a look.
Final Fixture before World Cup
November 12, Saturday
- Manchester City 1-2 Brentford
- Bournemouth 3-0 Everton
- Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
- Nottingham Forest 1-0 Crystal Palace
- Tottenham 4-3 Leeds
- West Ham 0-2 Leicester
- Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea
- Wolves 0-2 Arsenal
November 13, Sunday
- Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa
- Fulham 1-2 Manchester United
- After World Cup
December 26, Monday
- Brentford vs Tottenham, 12:30 (Live at UK timing)
- Crystal Palace vs Fulham, 15:00 (Live at UK timing)
- Everton vs Wolves, 15:00 (Live at UK timing)
- Leicester vs Newcastle, 15:00 (Live at UK timing)
- Southampton vs Brighton, 15:00 (Live at UK timing)
- Aston villa vs Liverpool, 17:30 (Live at UK timing)
- Arsenal vs West Ham, 20:00 (Live at UK timing)
December 27, Tuesday
- Chelsea vs Bournemouth, 17:30 (Live at UK timing)
- Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest, 20:00 (Live at UK timing)
December 28, Wednesday
- Leeds vs Manchester City, 20:00 (Live at UK timing)
La Liga accompanies Premier League
The Premier League is not alone to be affected by the FIFA World Cup 2022 as Spanish league La Liga accompanies it. Just like the Premier League, La Liga had its 2022/23 campaign scheduled.
Despite the hectic schedule awaiting them due to the World Cup, La Liga started its season off from the same weekend as they did for the previous one.
La Liga had its opening match on August 12, 2022 with the midweek round completed on November 9 week before the World Cup started. Unlike the Premier League, La Liga will have no games held during the Christmas period. So, it’s confirmed that games in Spain will not resume until December 31.
La Liga Key dates:
- August 12, 2022: Season 2022/23 of La Liga starts
- November 12/13: Last round of fixture before World Cup
- December 31 onwards: La Liga 2022/23 resumes
- June 4, 2023: Final round of 2022/23 La Liga fixture
World Cup affects Bundesliga Schedule
Not just Premier League and La Liga buy German league, Bundesliga will also get affected by the World Cup 2022. Bundesliga season 2022/23 came into action on August 5 and ran until November 13. This is the last date of games before the enforcement of the World Cup. Along with the World Cup break, Bundesliga will also entertain its domestic rest following the World Cup rest.
As the World Cup starts from November 20, Bundesliga will be unable to throw any game until December 25, Christmas. In addition, players will be given one more month away from competitive activities after the Qatar tournament is over. So, Bundesliga season 2022/23 will not be resumed until January 20 with May 27 as the end date of season.
Bundesliga most Important dates:
- August 5: Bundesliga season 2022/23 starts
- November 13: Last round of fixture before the enforcement of World Cup
- January 20: Bundesliga returns to action
- May 27: Final Round of season 2022/23 takes place.
How the World Cup Affects Serie A Schedule?
After making a large impact on the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, the World Cup is having a great impact on the Serie A Schedule as well. Italy may not be a part of the FIFA World Cup this time after losing it to North Macedonia in playoff qualification but the Italian League is all set to be played with the start date August 13-14.
The end date of Serie A 2022/23 is still unknown but we’ll let you know as soon as we know. The season will continue until November 13 before the World Cup and then will resume after January 4.
Key dates:
August 13-14: Serie A season 2022/23 starts
November 12 -13: Last round of games played before the World Cup begins and they get mid season break.
January 4: The Serie A returns to action
World Cup Impact on MLS schedule
Finally, we found a league which is unaffected by the enforcement of FIFA World Cup 2022. Unlike European leagues, Qatar World Cup timings seem to have no effect in the USA. The USA league is not interrupted by the World Cup at all.
The MLS 2022 season concluded on November 5, fifteen days before the World Cup started. MLS Cups usually take place in a different time period unlike European ones.
MLS Major dates:
November 5: MLS Cup 2022 final takes place ending the tournament.
February 2023: MLS Cup 2023 begins with a new energy
World Cup Impact on A-League 2022/23 Schedule
Australia finally made it to the World Cup via qualifying as a play-off defeating both Peru and UAE in the competition to make a place for itself in Group D with Tunisia, France and Denmark. The ALM season 2022/23 started on October 7, 2022 which consists of 26 rounds.
Just like any other European league, the World Cup has disturbed the A-League 2022/23 Schedule as well. ALM will see a pause of 25 days from November 14 to December 9. Yes, the ALM season will resume 10 days before the Qatar World Cup concludes.
ALM Major dates:
October 7, 2022: ALM season 2022/23 kicks off
November 14, 2022: Last round of the fixture takes place before the World Cup begins and World Cup break starts.
December 9: A-League returns to action
World Cup Impact on UEFA champions league 2022/23
The UEFA Champions League is constantly struggling with the problem of their group stage being interrupted from the World Cup schedule. What happens usually is that the UEFA champions league group stage runs until mid December but for this season the case is completely different.
Though the six rounds of A-League have been finished before November 1-2, knockout stage will only be possible to be held after February 14-15. Even this was only possible when three rounds of games were already played in October.
UEFA Champions league Major dates:
September 6-7: UEFA Champions league 2022/23 begins
November 1-2: Last round of group stage (6 rounds) takes place
February 14-15: UEFA Champions return to action and first round of knockout stage takes place
June 10: UEFA Champions league finals to be played at Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey
