Poland defender Matty Cash had a special request for Aston Villa team mate and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez ahead of their meeting at the World Cup: to get him Lionel Messi's shirt.

Germany team official Oliver Bierhoff said Saturday he "could not understand the decision" to ban beer from stadium perimeters at the Qatar World Cup.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino blasted the "hypocrisy" of Western critics of Qatar's human rights record on Saturday, making a passionate defence of the World Cup in the Gulf state on the eve of the kick-off.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday that World Cup fans can survive for three hours a day without beer after sales were banned around stadiums.

Belgium’s defeat to Egypt in Friday’s World Cup warm-up international was a wakeup call before the tournament, said coach Roberto Martinez.

An Indian man has been arrested after upsetting his football-mad neighbours by tearing up a Portugal flag, hoisted for the World Cup, when he mistook it for the emblem of a controversial Islamist group.

The World Cup always provides a stage for young players to make a name for themselves and the younger generation will be eagerly awaiting Sunday's start of the 2022 edition.

A team from outside of Europe has not won the World Cup since 2002, but the public is expecting that to change in Qatar this year.

 Italian Daniele Orsato will referee Sunday's opening World Cup match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador in Group A, FIFA said on Friday.

Spain coach Luis Enrique has said that if his team cannot triumph at the World Cup in Qatar he would like to see Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez crowned with Argentina and Uruguay respectively.

Brazil's former midfielder Ze Roberto said criticism of Dani Alves' call-up for the World Cup in Qatar was due to a cultural taboo on veterans that was still present in Brazilian football, something that he experienced in his last finals in 2006.

FIFA World Cup 2022 will be the shortest ever -- only 28 days.

This is the first time that the FIFA World Cup is being held in the winter. Breaking the tradition of being held from mid-June to mid-July, the World Cup in Qatar will be held from mid-November to mid-December. 

FIFA WORLD CUP Fixtures (Group Stage)

Belgium were beaten 2-1 by Egypt in a friendly international on Friday in a sobering defeat that belied their status as one of the fancied teams for the World Cup in Qatar.

Robert Lewandowski said on Friday that Poland's World Cup squad had been left in shock earlier this week after the missile strike in his homeland that left two people dead.

Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand said Friday his team will not be silenced over the issue of human rights at the Qatar World Cup and hopes the tournament can spark reforms in football.

Spain dropped injured left-back Jose Gaya from their World Cup squad on Friday, with teenager Alejandro Balde replacing him.

Bangladesh football team may remain light years away from playing a FIFA World Cup, but the upcoming showpiece event in Qatar has a strong connection to Bangladesh -- regarding the construction of one of the eight World Cup venues this time.  

Defending champions France are hoping Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane will be fit enough to feature in their opening World Cup match against Australia, with teammate Adrien Rabiot insisting both are "determined to play".