The 2022 World Cup begins in November with 32 countries traveling to Qatar to compete for football’s biggest prize.
Although the tournament takes place in winter, a key objective for many teams arriving in Doha will be to acclimatize to the warm temperatures.
England will have to adapt to the conditions quickly as they head to the Middle East following the Premier League shutdown a week before the opener.
With temperatures expected to play a big part throughout the tournament, what will the weather be like in Qatar and what is the time zone difference to the UK?
Weather in Qatar
Throughout the year in Qatar, the average temperature is around 29 degrees Celsius with highs during the summer months reaching 40 degrees.
With the heat clearly too strong in summer, the World Cup is played in winter. However, compared to the UK, temperatures will still be very high.
Average temperatures in November and December in Qatar are 26 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees respectively.
Comparing that to the UK, there are averages of 7-12 degrees in November and highs of nine in December.
The two months in which the tournament takes place will also be among the wettest months on average in Qatar.
An average relative humidity of 71% in December is well above the country’s annual average of 59%.
These numbers will be even higher in the stadiums and to counter this they have included state of the art air conditioning inside the pitches.
Time difference with the UK
The UK are currently two hours behind Qatar, but once the tournament kicks off the difference will be three hours from GMT.
Indeed, the clocks go back in the UK in October before the start of the World Cup while in Qatar the time difference does not change.
England’s group matches will take place on 21, 25 and 29 November.
Kick-off times in the UK are 1pm for the opening match and 7pm for the remaining two group stage matches.
With the time difference, these matches will be played three hours later in the day in Qatar.
Watch the World Cup with talkSPORT
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In a huge covered room under the arches of Waterloo in London, we will bring you live screenings of every World Cup game.
There will be Q&A with talkSPORT talent, you’ll be part of our live shows and plenty of food and drink will be on offer too.
Come and have the best World Cup fan experience in London – and enjoy a free pint – with tickets for the England and Wales group stage matches on sale now HERE!