World Cup opening ceremony: Highlights, performers from Al Bayt Stadium as FIFA Qatar 2022 begins

Dom Farrell

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World Cup opening ceremony: Highlights, performers from Al Bayt Stadium as FIFA Qatar 2022 begins image

It was the show before the show. The 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony offered the expected extravaganza of dance, song and pyrotechnics ahead of the opening match between Ecuador and hosts Qatar in Group A.

The Al Bayt Stadium in the city of Al Khor, an $850 million facility built for the World Cup and and featuring a retractable roof, played host to Hollywood star Morgan Freeman and Korean pop sensation Jung Kook among others.

A crowd of 60,000 took in the festivities, which concluded with a spectacular fireworks display, ahead of watching the host nation play its first-ever World Cup match.

The Sporting News followed the ceremony. Have a look at how it unfolded below.

MORE: Watch every World Cup match live with fuboTV (U.S.-only free trial)

World Cup opening ceremony as it happened

40 mins from kickoff: The firework smoke has cleared and both teams are out now going through the comparatively more mundane requirement of their warmups. So that's a warp on the Qatar 2022 opening ceremony. Thanks for joining me, I'll be over on the TSN match blog after grabbing a quick cup of coffee.

LIVE BLOG: Qatar vs Ecuador live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group A match

46 mins from kickoff: 'Uptown Funk' now. No complaints here. Undisputed certified banger.

49 mins from kickoff: We've just had a few words from the Emir (surprised Morgan Freeman didn't pop up to finish his speech, to be honest), and now there's a spectacular fireworks show from the roof of Al Bayt Stadium. It's quite the build-up for an Ecuador side who have drawn four of their past five games 0-0. I'm worried they might not live up to it.

53 mins from kickoff: Morgan Freeman's back! Really putting the work in here, the veteran. He did a spoken word bit towards the end of a performance of the official tournament song 'Dreamers" by Korean star Jung Kook of BTS and Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi.

It's the sort of fluffy, platitude-laden tosh you'd expect U2 or the Black Eyed Peas to roll out on such occasions, so very on-brand.

58 mins from kickoff: Ah, well that bit was fun. A parade of your favourite/forgotten mascots from previous World Cups all came out for a dance. No sign of Ciao from Italia 90. Might be showing my age, but that's a disgrace.

Anyway, the conclusion of what looked like a spectacularly hallucinogenic night out was the appearance of Qatar 2022's  La'eeb. Incorporating traditional Middle Eastern dress into the world of giant sports mascots is not a challenge the organisers have shirked. La'eeb does look a bit like an odd cross between Casper the Friendly Ghost and the Pillsbury Doughboy, though.

1 hr from kickoff: Morgan's turn is done. He was a bid ambassador for the failed US pitch for the 2022 World Cup on that ill-fated FIFA ExCo meeting in Zurich in December 2010. Beckham was pitching for England 2018 that day. Guess time's a healer.

1 hr 5 mins from kickoff: Now into some traditional drumming and dancing, which definitely just featured a bit of singing to the tune of 'Oops Upside Your Head'. The sort of tactical twist that might prove beyond many a coach at this tournament.

1 hr 10 mins from kickoff: Freeman is the star turn so far in a presentation described thusly by the organisers.

The theme of the opening ceremony is a gathering for all mankind, bridging differences through humanity, respect and inclusion. Football allows us to come together as one tribe and the earth is the tent in which we all live.

The seven-act programme will be led by world class talents that interlace Qatari tradition with worldwide culture and will include tributes to the 32 competing teams, previous FIFA World Cup hosts and event volunteers. Along with hundreds of performers, FIFA World Cup Ambassador Ghanim Al Muftah and Qatari singer Dana will encourage dialogue on inclusion and diversity.

1 hr 15 mins from kickoff: Well, well. Morgan Freeman has featured doing his inimitable voiceover work on some pre-tournament clips for FIFA. He's only out in the pitch doing his thing now! I'll let you insert your own jokes about an actor who had a fame-making turn in a film about a man who was wrongfully imprisoned turning up at the Qatar World Cup..

Anyway, here's Marcel Desailly with the most important prop of all.

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: The Emir of Qatar received warm applause from the locals when venturing out onto the pitch. Former England captain David Beckham, whose ambassadorial role for Qatar 2022 has been a matter of considerable debate, is also in attendance

1 hr 30 mins from kickoff: Already plenty of fans in their seats inside the arena. We're ready to go!

LIVE BLOG: Qatar vs Ecuador live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group A match

2hrs from kickoff: Here's what things look like inside the stadium. The opening ceremony is just half an hour away.

2hrs 10 mins from kickoff: This tournament was moved from its usual June-July staging to avoid punishing desert temperatures. As this graphic shows, for the players this evening and the dancers and performers preceding them. it's still going to be pretty warm.

2 hrs 40 mins from kickoff: Once they've finished sitting together and playing chess on designer suitcases, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will play in their fifth and almost certainly final World Cup in Qatar. At The Sporting News, we've put together a series charting their entire international careers. Parts 11 and 12 of Messi & Ronaldo: Destination Mundial are live today.

LIVE BLOG: Qatar vs Ecuador live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group A match

3 hrs from kickoff: In many respects, this World Cup will be far removed from the quintessential football experience. On the other hand, the traffic outside Al Bayt Stadium is already ridiculous!

3 hrs 15 mins from kickoff: When the festivities get underway in a little under two hours, the Al Bayt Stadium will be a riot of colour. The same can't be said for the journey to the remote venue in the city of Al Khor, which is around 50 kilometres from the capital Doha.

3 hrs 40 mins from kickoff: Our live blog for the opening match itself is also off and running and Qatar vs Ecuador is an int: riguing matchup with plenty of unknowns. The hosts have been squirrelled away in a lengthy pre-tournament training camp and, as we saw on their run to a shock Asian Cup win in 2019, they play football "the right way" under Barcelona-reared coach Felix Sanchez.

Ecuador have once again made their way through the hard-knocks school of CONMEBOL qualification and, if a solid defence is the secret to a good tournament performance they should go far. Their past six results are as follows: 1-0, 0-0, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0. Some goals would be nice, I guess.

LIVE BLOG: Qatar vs Ecuador live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group A match

4 hrs from kickoff: Qatar will get their campaign underway as the smallest nation in the tournament and the smallest country ever to host a World Cup.

This has proved a particular logistical challenge for organisers, with a vast building effort taking place over the past decade far beyond the eight stadiums. As the below video from the BBC shows, Qatar 2022 will provide a, ahem, unique fan experience for many.

4 hrs 25 mins from kickoff: It's tempting to suggest that instead of roping in the likes of Nicki Minaj, Robbie Williams and the Black Eyed Peas (just rumoured performers, to clarify. FIFA always keep these things under their hat until the last minute), organisers might have been better off letting FIFA president Gianni Infantino loose with a microphone on the field. The head of world football's governing body launched into an astonishing address at yesterday's welcome press conference, which was utterly bizarre and often simultaneously deeply offensive and unintentionally hilarious. 

Our man Ben Miller attempted the impossible in terms of trying to work out what on early Infantino was jibbering on about. 

LIVE BLOG: Qatar vs Ecuador live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group A match

4 hrs 45 mins from kickoff: Qatari artist Fahad Al Kubaisi (photo in the tweet below) is teaming up with K-pop star Jung Kook on the performance of the "Dreamers" song which is expected to be one of the highlights of the show. 

5 hrs from kickoff: The opening ceremony is now an established tradition at World Cup tournaments:

World Cup opening ceremony singers, performers

The lead-up to the opening ceremony has been focused on the artists who said no to the Qatar organizers, from Dua Lipa and Rod Stewart. Reports have also indicated popular artist Shakira declined participating.

But K-pop star Jung Kook, a member of band BTS, will perform a new single created specifically for the World Cup called "Dreamers." 

The artists that teamed up on the official FIFA anthem "Tukoh Taka" are expected to perform the song during the show: Maluma, Myriam Fares, and Nicki Minaj, who collaborated on the single which features English, Spanish, and Arabic lyrics. Maluma's had an eventful lead-up after his walking out on an interview went viral.

Other musical artists who will be performing at FIFA Fan Festivals in Qatar could also make an appearance: Diplo, Kizz Daniel, Trinidad Cardona, and Calvin Harris.

Although FIFA never officially released the final list of performers, that hasn't stopped there from being plenty of speculation around other names who could be part of the opening ceremony lineup, with reports suggesting J. Balvin, Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams, and Nora Fatehi are among the other names who could be part of the show.

What time is World Cup opening ceremony?

FIFA confirmed late in the day the official time for the opening ceremonies. Broadcasts around the world will be going live two hours before kickoff of the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador, and the ceremony itself takes place at 17:30 local time. 

  Date Time
USA Sun, Nov. 20 09:30 EST
Canada Sun, Nov. 20 09:30 EST
UK Sun, Nov. 20 14:30 GMT
Australia Mon, Nov. 21 01:30 AEDT
India Sun, Nov. 20 20:30 IST
Hong Kong Sun, Nov. 20 22:30 HKT
Malaysia Sun, Nov. 20 22:30 MYT
Singapore Sun, Nov. 20 22:30 SGT
New Zealand Mon, Nov. 21 03:30 NZDT

World Cup opening ceremony live stream, TV channel

Several official World Cup broadcasters around the globe will be carrying the broadcast and stream of the opening ceremony, as fans get ready for the first game of the tournament.

  TV Channel Streaming
USA FS1, Telemundo fuboTV,
Fox Sports site/app,
Telemundo Dep. site/app,
Peacock
Canada TSN 1/4,
RDS (French)		 TSN site/app,
RDS app
UK BBC BBC iPlayer
Australia SBS SBS On Demand
India — Voot
Hong Kong — —
Malaysia Astro Arena 2 Astro Go
Singapore StarHub (Ch. 251/252),
Singtel TV		 Singtel TV GO, CAST,
StarHub TV+, MeWatch
New Zealand Sky Sport 7 beIN Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW

Watch the opening ceremony on fuboTV in USA:

FuboTV will carry the opening ceremony in the USA via FS1 (English) and Telemundo (Spanish).

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.