World Cup 2022: Build-up and news from Qatar before opening game

Summary

First day of the World Cup
Wales & England news conferences
James Maddison & Kyle Walker to miss England v Iran
Wales midfielder Joe Allen out of opener against USA
Get involved #bbcfootball

Live Reporting

Gary Rose and Tom Mallows

Maddison still missingpublished at 13:09 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
England are having a training session before they hold a pre-match news conference around 16:00 GMT today.
Midfielder James Maddison is still not training because of injury and it looks like a race against time for him to be fit for tomorrow's opener against Iran.
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'Don't necessarily represent Infantino's views'published at 13:06 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport in Doha
USA boss Gregg Berhalter on Fifa president Gianni Infantino's comments yesterday:
"He’s obviously the president of Fifa & expresses his opinions as he sees fit
"We are here to play soccer and represent the USA. We don’t necessarily represent the views of Infantino.
"He has the right to have his opinions."
World Cup-defining goalspublished at 13:03 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
You know what this page needs? World Cup goals? How about some of the best from two decades of World Cups?
Watch them all below?
Media caption,
World Cup 2022: Relive 10 defining goals from 2002 tournament
Media caption,
The goals that defined the 2006 World Cup
Media caption,
10 amazing goals that defined the 2010 World Cup
Media caption,
World Cup 2014: Gotze, Van Persie, Rodroguez: Relive 10 goals from 2014 tournament
Media caption,
World Cup: Relive 10 defining goals from the 2018 tournament
Four Lions, the Lighthouse Family & DJ Gunterpublished at 13:00 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
How do footballers relax at the World Cup? What is Wales' match-day music? How are the players coping with the heat?
Wales' record cap holder Jess Fishlock sits down with midfielder Jonny Williams ahead of their first game of the 2022 World Cup.
Media caption,
Fishlock meets... Jonny Williams
Moore 'a problem' for USA, says Adamspublished at 12:58 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales in Doha
Tyler Adams, just named United States captain for the World Cup, has been asked about Wales striker Kieffer Moore.
“He’s a big threat. We [Leeds] figured that out playing for Bournemouth.
"You need a completely different game plan. He's amazing in the air but underrated in his technical ability.
"You’ve got to have a body on him at all times. He’s a problem.”
Will you watch the World Cup at work?published at 12:55 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Image source, Own Your Space
Image caption,
Nothing says World Cup fever like a cardboard cutout of Gareth Southgate and a wallchart.
Will you be allowed to watch the World Cup at work?
A survey by pollsters Opinium , externalfound that altogether nearly half of working fans will be allowed to watch the game during office hours.
Just over a quarter of fans said that their employer will show the matches live, while one in five will allow them to watch the football elsewhere.
Read more here
Adams named USA captain for World Cuppublished at 12:48 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales in Doha
The United States news conference previewing their World Cup opener against Wales tomorrow has just started with some news: their captain for the tournament will be Leeds United’s Tyler Adams.
Players had been sharing the responsibility as part of a “leadership council”, which sounds more like something you’d hear at a UN session than a football presser.
“Tyler will be the captain for the World Cup. We’ve been working with a leadership council and they thought it would be better to have a captain for the World Cup,” says head coach Gregg Berhalter.
“We’re proud to name Tyler as our captain. We think he has great leadership capabilities and leads with his actions.”
Adams says: “It’s a huge honour for me to be named as captain.”
Fans arriving at Al Bayt Stadiumpublished at 12:45 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 12:42 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter tells Radio 5 Live's new podcast series Powerplay that Qatar's human rights record "was not discussed" during the World Cup bidding process.
Blatter, 86, was president of world football's governing body when Qatar was awarded the tournament in 2010. He stated that additional "social and cultural conditions" for potential host countries were introduced after the decision, and that no such checks were in place during Qatar's bid.
The Swiss also said that a report rating the suitability of all potential 2022 World Cup hosts gave the Gulf state "the lowest qualification".
'Powerplay: House of Sepp Blatter' is available to listen to on BBC Sounds.
Media caption,
Sepp Blatter says Qatar's human rights record was not discussed during its World Cup bid.
Postpublished at 12:40 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Gary Lineker is joined by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards as they look back on England's 2018 World Cup shootout win against Colombia and discuss what went wrong for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate at the Euro 2020 final.
Listen to brand new World Cup episodes of Match of the Day Top 10 on Sounds, and watch the box set on iPlayer.
Available to UK users only.
Media caption,
Lineker, Shearer & Richards look back on Eric Dier's historic World Cup penalty
Can we have a selfie, Virgil?published at 12:37 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport in Doha
Image source, BBC Sport
It's not often you see this but some reporters were very eager to get a few photos with Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal and captain Virgil van Dijk.
The room was absolutely packed for the media conference.
'Hopefully an adventure for us'published at 12:33 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport in Doha
Netherlands captain and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk said he is "excited" to get going tomorrow.
"We have trained hard and had important sessions so are looking forward to the World Cup," he added.
"These last few days have passed really slowly. Finally, things will be happening tomorrow so we’re going for it and hopefully it will be a great adventure for all of us."
Image source, BBC Sport
Postpublished at 12:30 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
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Postpublished at 12:28 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
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All in the prep...published at 12:25 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Qatar v Ecuador (16:00 GMT)
Howard Nurse
BBC Sport in Qatar
BBC TV commentary team Steve Bower and Dion Dublin are already in Al Bayt Stadium.
Plenty of time to finish off their preparations and to identify some of the key issues they want to talk about during today’s match.
Image source, BBC Sport
Maguire the player to watch?published at 12:24 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Get involved #bbcfootball or text 81111 (UK only - texts will be charged at your standard message rate)
As we build up to the World Cup I've been asking for your top tips for:
1) Winning the World Cup
2) Surprise package
3) Top scorer
4) Player to watch
Here's a few more:
Gary Lake: 1 Brazil 2 Ghana 3 Messi 4 James Maddison
Jordan Jones: 1. England 2. England 3. Harry Kane 4. Harry Maguire
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 12:19 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
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'I wanted to sign Mane'published at 12:17 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport in Doha
Image source, BBC Sport
Next up in front of the media is the Netherlands, who take on Senegal in their first match tomorrow.
Manager Louis van Gaal and Virgil van Dijk have been discussing Sadio Mane.
"Mane is an extraordinary player. I wanted him when I was the manager at Manchester United. I chased him at the time," said Van Gaal.
"I am a fan of Mane. He can break open a match and I would say Senegal will really miss him.
"But the same applies to us. We are missing our top scorer and king of the assists [Memphis Depay].”
Asked about wearing the OneLove armband, Van Gaal added: "I am no longer going to speak about political issues. I am focused on the match.
"We have put a full stop on this. I requested all my players to also stop doing that and to focus on the match against Senegal."
Mitoma's bold decision pays offpublished at 12:13 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, who plays for Premier League side Brighton, had an interesting path to becoming a professional footballer.
Back when he was playing in his native country he turned down a pro contract to instead go to University.
"I thought it would be better to go to university in order to make it as a professional footballer,” Mitoma told Eurosport.
"So I studied lots of things – coaching, sports and nutrition. I learned lots of things.”
It has clearly paid off because he now plays in one of the best leagues in the world and is representing his country at a World Cup.
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Your World Cup top tipspublished at 12:09 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022
#bbcfootball or text 81111 (UK only - texts will be charged at your standard message rate)
Josh Hecken: 1) Winners? Brazil. 2) Surprise package? Germany. 3) Top scorer? Antony. 4) Player to watch? Bella-Kotchap
Richard Gibbs: 1) Argentina 2) Japan 3) Harry Kane 4) Kaoru Mitoma