By Sourit Sanyal
In six days' time, the FIFA World Cup 2022 is scheduled to begin in Qatar, ending the four-year wait since its last edition, held in Russia in 2018. Over a million fans are expected to flock to the middle-eastern country that will create history as the first Arab country to host football's biggest event.
Thirty-two teams are divided into eight groups of four, with 64 matches being played to decide the winner of the FIFA World Cup 2022. As football's biggest tournament is ready to take place in Qatar, Indian fans can watch the group stage matches live at 3:30 pm, 6:30 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:30 pm and 12:30 pm Indian Standard Time (IST) respectively.
From OTT to television channels through DTH, here's how fans can watch the live telecast of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
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What Time Will The Matches Take Place In India?
Qatar will face Ecuador in the opening match at the Al Bayt Stadium, following up with the tradition of the host match playing the first match of the coveted tournament.
The match will start at 9:30 pm IST after a grand opening ceremony that will feature entertainers such as BTS' Jung Kook and Moroccon-Canadian actress Nora Fatehi in the lineup.
Qatar vs Ecuador will also mark the beginning of the group stage matches that will start from 3.30 pm, 6.30 pm, 9.30 pm and 12.30 am IST respectively.
The last eight matches of the group stages will be taking place at 8:30 pm IST. At the end of the group stage, the teams topping their respective groups will qualify for the Round of 16, marking the end of the round-robin stage.
The Round of 16, starting on December 3 will also mark the beginning of the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 followed by the winners advancing to the quarter-finals, beginning on December 9. These matches will be played at 8:30 pm and 12:30 am IST respectively.
The final four will play the semi-finals on December 14 and December 15 at 12:30 am IST.
The teams losing in the semi-finals will play for the third-place play-off on December 17, taking place from 8:30 pm IST at the Khalifa International Stadium.
The semi-final winners will face each other for the FIFA World Cup 2022 final, taking place on December 18 at the Lusail Stadium. The match will start at 8:30 pm IST.
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Where To Watch FIFA World Cup 2022 Live?
With Reliance Industries' Viacom18 media winning the broadcast rights of telecasting the FIFA World Cup 2022, fans in India can tune into the Sports18 channel on their TV sets for the live broadcast. Sports18 will provide both SD and HD live broadcasts of the World Cup in Qatar with fans able to get options between English and Hindi feeds.
Viacom18 has also provided options to fans for streaming the match live on Reliance's JioCinema app.
