Qatar 2022: the FIFA Task Force proposes to reduce the duration of the World Cup

"The outcome of the discussions is [...] a proposed reduced competition days schedule with the exact dates to be defined inline with the match schedule and number of venues to be used," said FIFA on the timing of the 2022 World Cup after the third meeting of the Task Force on the organisation of international matches from 2018 to 2024, in Doha (QAT), on 24/02/2015.

During this meeting, FIFA's Task Force "[indentified] end-November/end-December as the most viable period for the 2022 FIFA World Cup." The dates of the competition will be determined at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of FIFA in Zurich (SUI) on 19 and 20/03/2015. The tournament could begin on Saturday 26/11/2022 and end on Friday 23/12/2022, a period of 28 days.

"To finalise the international match calendar for the 2018-2024 period, the Task Force will reconvene in the same composition after the FIFA Executive Committee will have decided on the final 2022 FIFA World Cup dates," said FIFA on 24/02/2015.

Since the transition to 32 participating teams in the 1998 World Cup, the competition has lasted 31 to 33…