Postpublished at 14:13 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
I can't imagine Cristiano Ronaldo is too excited about the Premier League being back...
Summary
World Cup starts on Sunday with hosts Qatar v Ecuador (16:00 GMT)
Fifa president Gianni Infantino accuses west of 'hypocrisy' in speech
England's Eric Dier speaks to the media
Beer sales banned at World Cup stadiums in Qatar
England face Iran on Monday (13:00 GMT), before Wales take on USA (19:00)
Get involved: #bbcfootball or text 81111 (UK only - texts will be charged at your standard message rate)
Postpublished at 14:13 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Postpublished at 14:12 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport in DohaIs that THE Ronnie? Portugal legend and Manchester United forward?
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 14:10 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
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Can't wait for the Premier League to start again
Ronnie
Postpublished at 14:05 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport in DohaManchester City forward Bernardo Silva is the player up in front of the media.
Unfortunately my Portuguese isn't that great.
(Non-existent).
Postpublished at 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Image source, .England and Wales are still expected to wear the OneLove captain's armband at the World Cup despite Fifa launching its own armband initiative.
Fifa announced new armbands in partnership with three United Nations agencies on the eve of the tournament.
The armbands will feature a different social campaign throughout each round.
The captains of nine countries, including England and Wales, had planned to wear the OneLove armband to promote diversity and inclusion.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 13:56 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
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I have all games booked off work. Am waiting patiently for my World Cup wall chart to arrive. It's the World Cup, regardless of where it is being held it is still the greatest sporting event in the World. Come on England.
Kix
Postpublished at 13:55 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
BreakingBreaking news. We have a positive text message.
Postpublished at 13:51 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
What were the best moments of the 2018 World Cup?
See what Micah Richards and Alan Shearer picked as the top 10 - and have your say with the ranking list at the bottom.
Only one man we're after...published at 13:46 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport in DohaA 15-minute drive from the international broadcast centre down Dukhan Highway brings us to the Portugal camp.
And there is huge media interest as we wait to see who joins coach Fernando Santos on the top table.
Will questions about a certain Cristiano Ronaldo be allowed?
There are plenty of British journalists here so surely they can't stop all of us from asking the questions on his Manchester United future and how THAT interview has affected the camp.
Lewa's World Cup goal dreampublished at 13:41 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Image source, .Robert Lewandowski is one of football's most prolific goalscorers but still has one dream remaining - to score a goal at a World Cup finals.
The 34-year-old Barcelona forward is Poland's captain and record scorer with 76 goals in 134 appearances, but yet to make his mark on the biggest stage of all.
His country failed to qualify for the 2010 and 2014 tournaments and only managed two goals as they finished bottom of their group in Russia four years ago.
"I think about the last World Cup for sure," said Lewandowski in an hour-long interview with Guillem Balague for BBC Radio 5 Live.
"To score at a World Cup would be a huge dream and I'm going to do everything for this dream. I hope in this World Cup it will happen."
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 13:36 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
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I've been watching World Cups since 1976 but this one leaves me feeling cold, no exciting build up, no anticipation for the tournament itself, and players now put on the spot about all the issues when nations should have been strong and withdrawn from qualifying years ago.
Eddie
Postpublished at 13:31 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Amnesty International has just released a statement about Gianni Infantino's comments.
Steve Cockburn, Amnesty's head of economic and social justice said: “In brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms, Gianni Infantino is dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers to make his flagship tournament possible – as well as Fifa's responsibility for it.
"Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some sort of culture war – they are universal human rights that Fifa has committed to respect in its own statutes.
“If there is one tiny glimmer of hope, it is that Infantino announced that Fifa would establish a legacy fund after the World Cup. This cannot be mere window dressing, however. If Fifa is to salvage anything from this tournament, it must announce that it will invest a significant part of the $6bn the organisation will make from this tournament and make sure this fund is used to compensate workers and their families directly.”
Postpublished at 13:23 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Read this piece from Dafydd Pritchard on the making of Wales boss Rob Page.
Some players to watchpublished at 13:18 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Image source, .BBC Sport commentators Guy Mowbray, John Murray and Vicki Sparks have picked out 10 players from outside the Premier League who are worth watching in the World Cup.
They are...
- Daichi Kamada (Japan)
- Pedri (Spain)
- Antonio Silva (Portugal)
- Noah Okafor (Switzerland)
- Pedro (Brazil)
- Gavi (Spain)
- Jewison Bennette (Costa Rica)
- Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)
- Garang Kuol (Australia)
- Bilal El Khannouss (Morocco)
Postpublished at 13:13 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Image source, .Chris Sutton is doing his predictions for the World Cup.
He is backing France to win the World Cup, believes England will reach the quarter-finals and thinks Wales will not get out of their group.
Click here for his predictions from the opening round of games.
Postpublished at 13:07 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
In case anyone thinks we're only putting in the negative messages and ignoring the positive ones... the one we published at 11:18 is the only tweet or text we've had this morning from anybody who is excited about the World Cup.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 13:05 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
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16th World Cup in my lifetime. Loved all the pre tournament build up to all the 14 I was aware of. Excitement, tension and as an England supporter ultimately, bar 1, disappointed. But this one, none of that exists. Why are we there why are any of the countries that pay lip service to very real grievances and wrong doings there, why are the players there???? Not excited. Not interested. Not watching.
Michael, Andalusia
Postpublished at 13:01 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
John Bennett
BBC World Service Sport in QatarYou thought the World Cup started tomorrow? Well I’ve been watching England v Argentina. It’s at a fans' tournament in Al Rayyan with England, Argentina, Mexico and Spain taking part, as well as one team not playing at the World Cup, Bangladesh.
The 7-a-side games have been great fun to watch. And there’s plenty of passion, one of the England lads got booked for dissent. All smiles at the end though. Sadly for England, Argentina won 3-2. They’ll have to have a rematch if both of the real sides get to the real final next month.
Postpublished at 12:56 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
Here's a clip of that Gianni Infantino press conference we have been talking about today.
Media caption, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino replies to criticism around the 2022 Qatar World Cup
Sportshour at the World Cup in Qatarpublished at 12:50 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2022
BBC World ServiceOn this week’s Sportshour with Katie Smith, we take you live to downtown Doha as we get the latest on the ground ahead of the start of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar from Sportsworld’s Delyth Lloyd.
Fans have travelled from all around the world for the marquee event of the football calendar and we speak to a couple of Welsh fans who have taken a very unusual route. Former Cardiff City footballer Scott Young and Nick Smith attempted to travel the 5,000-mile distance to the tournament solely by electric car, which they named Morris, in time for Wales’ first match against the USA. After covering 18 countries, they fell at the final hurdle of Saudi Arabia, who refused to let them through in a right-hand drive car, forcing them to fly the final leg from Jordan to Qatar.
Former Australia captain turned broadcaster and human rights advocate Craig Foster stops by to tell us why he’s decided to donate all of his broadcast fees for the World Cup to the families of deceased migrant workers in Qatar, as well as LGBT & women’s rights charities. He says every footballer involved in the World Cup should make a stand of some sort and insists that sport is capable of impacting change, some of which we have already seen.