World Cup 2022: How To Watch, USA Team Schedule, What To Know

UNITED STATES — Soccer fans of all levels rejoice. The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday.

After missing out on the global tournament in 2018, the United States men's team is back in the field this time around.

Outside of the American team, most of the world's biggest stars will be competing, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and more.

The 2022 Men's World Cup is the first rendition of the tournament ever to not be held in May, June, or July. The decision to play the tournament in November and December was to avoid the intense heat that comes with summer in Qatar.

It is also the first time the World Cup has been hosted in the Middle East.

Here's everything you should know about the World Cup, including how to watch, the controversy surrounding the host-nation Qatar and more details on the American team.

Teams + Format

A total of 32 teams are heading to Qatar to compete in the 2022 Men's World Cup.

Those squads are broken down into eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the next round after three games.

Teams will get three points for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss.

The 16 teams that advance will then play single elimination games until the final, when one country will be crowned the best in the world.

• GROUP A: Qatar (hosts), Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands.
• GROUP B: England, Iran, United States, Wales.
• GROUP C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland.
• GROUP D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia.
• GROUP E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan.
• GROUP F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia.
• GROUP G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon.
• GROUP H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

The tournament kicks off on Sunday and lasts almost an entire month until Dec. 18.

How To Watch

All the games will take place between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. EST.

Qatar is eight hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, nine hours ahead of Central Time in the United States, and 11 hours ahead of the west coast.

All of the matches will be televised on either FOX or Fox Sports 1 (FS1) in English as well as in Spanish on Telemundo. You can also stream games on Peacock, Fubo, SlingTV, and Vidgo.

When Does The USA Play?

For those looking to strictly tune in for the USA team, their journey gets under way on Monday.

Here's the schedule for the USA squad.

• United States vs. Wales: Monday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.
• United States vs. England: Friday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.
• United States vs. Iran: Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m.

The match most people have circled is the Americans' game against England on Thanksgiving Friday.

The England squad is coming off a final appearance in the last European Championship and semi-final appearance in the 2018 World Cup.

In terms of players to keep an eye on for the USA team, the list starts with Christian Pulisic.

The Hersey, Pennsylvania native and current player for Chelsea Football Club in England is widely considered the best American player in the world and will captain the squad.

Other possible American stars include 20-year-old Gio Reyna, who plays for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and is the son of American soccer legend Claudio Reyna, along with Timothy Weah, who plays forward for the French-side Lille.

The American team is one of the youngest in the competition and most experts agree that a win in their first game against Gareth Bale and Wales is a must-do in order to qualify for the Round of 16.

The Tournament's Biggest Stars

The 2022 Men's World Cup will be the stage for the best soccer players in the world.

Leading that list will be Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. The two superstars have been the best players in the world over the last 10 to 15 years, and both have said they expect it to be their last major international tournament with their respective countries.

Neither have ever won a World Cup.

Other massive names competing include Brazil's Neymar, France's Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, Poland's Robert Lewandowski, Senegal's Sadio Mane (hopefully an injury doesn't keep him out), and Germany's Manuel Neuer.

France won the tournament in 2018 and are going in as the defending champions.

The biggest team not to qualify for the tournament this time around? Italy.

Other major countries with past World Cup success not to qualify are Sweden, Columbia, Chile, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast.

Qatar Controversy

In the 12 years since Qatar was named as the host country for the 2022 Men's World Cup, there has been a litany of controversy involving allegations of corruption and human rights violations.

On a purely scheduling point, this year's World Cup was initially planned to take place like usual in the summer, but FIFA eventually recommended that Qatar host a shorter World Cup during the winter months.

This means that the world's biggest leagues are having to pause their domestic campaigns that typically last through around May.

On the side of human rights, homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and competing countries, players, and fans have raised issue with traveling to the country because of it.

Qatar has continued to say that all people are welcome to the tournament, but that visiting fans needed to accept the country's rules surrounding the topic, as well as those around alcohol consumption.

Denmark will go to the tournament without their families as a protest against Qatar's human rights record and the Australian team has also spoken against the country's stance on same-sex relationships.

Another element of the controversy was the welfare of migrant workers who built the infrastructure to make the World Cup happen.

The country has been the target of major criticism over its treatment of migrant workers, and allegations that thousands of workers were trapped in the country and not paid properly during their work.

The Guardian published a story in 2021 reporting that 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka had died building infrastructure in Qatar for the World Cup.

The Qatar government has strongly denied this number and said not all the deaths were related to projects involving the World Cup, and that others were due to old age or natural causes.

You can check out all World Cup related news on ESPN's dedicated website.