For the first time ever, FIFA will be showing highlights of the World Cup with sign language.

Stadium designs were also adapted to make Qatar 2022 a fully inclusive tournament.

FIFA president Infantino assured earlier this month that this would be “the most inclusive and accessible World Cup to this day”.

How do some of Qatar’s foreign residents feel about the FIFA World Cup being held in the country? Al Jazeera spoke to some of them to find out.

Paul El Boustani, resident of Polish-Lebanese descent who was born in Qatar: 

“One day you are driving down a road to work and the next day the road is closed without notice for infrastructure work. That got frustrating on a regular basis,” he said.

Bayan Khayari, Syrian-American who has been in Qatar since 2019:

“There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the Western press about the World Cup coverage. A lot of it is rooted in xenophobia and racism,”

Justin, Kenyan living in Qatar since 2012:

“Since the country really started working on getting ready, there has been a lot of awareness on the importance of sports,” Justin said.

Read more here.

Australian fans have gathered in Doha’s Al Bidda park to cheer on the Socceroos.

In their sixth World Cup appearance, the team will try to beat out their finish to date: Round of 16 in 2006. They face a tough climb in the tournament, drawing France, Denmark and Tunisia in the group stage.

Team profile: Can Australia exceed tempered expectations at the World Cup?

There is a great cultural irony in sports fans standing around commenting on the prowess of professional athletes while holding a beer in their hand, academic Lawrence Wenner wrote 30 years ago.

From podium celebrations with champagne to locker-room shenanigans and sports bars, alcohol, sports – and a certain interpretation of masculinity – have long been commodified together as a tripartite, co-dependent culture.

Read more here.

FIFA chief Infantino’s lengthy condemnation of what he called Western double standards in coverage of the 2022 World Cup has been met with agreement and criticism.

Some seized on the high-paid Infantino’s comparison of his plight as a bullied child to the plight of millions of poor migrant workers across the world, calling the remarks “misleading” and “tone deaf”.

Others said he was reflecting a sentiment “shared by a huge section of the Global South”.

One Twitter user quipped that Infantino had become a “noted post-colonial thinker”.

The timing of a beer ban announced two days before the World Cup start was unfortunate and would create unease among fans, Germany’s team director Oliver Bierhoff said.

The former striker added that FIFA’s plan to use a number of captains’ armbands with different slogans was equally baffling given that Germany and some other European nations would wear their own anti-discrimination “One Love” armbands to promote inclusion.

“I will see how this develops and we will discuss with the other nations from Europe. We expect to be allowed to wear the [One Love] armband,” he said.

Want to test your World Cup knowledge? Take are our quiz.

The World Cup 2022 will begin on Sunday with the opening Group A match between host Qatar and Ecuador.

Stay tuned for the opening match at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

National football teams won’t be the only ones playing at this year’s World Cup.

Diplo, DJ Khaled and Sean Paul are just some of the acts lined up to play at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha’s Al Bidda Park.

Uruguay is the latest team to arrive in Qatar.

Can Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, both aged 35, still carry the team despite their age?

Team profile: How much will Uruguay rely on Suarez, Cavani at World Cup 2022?

Germany forward Niclas Fullkrug, who scored the winning goal in their last warmup game against Oman on Wednesday, missed his team’s first training on Qatari soil because of a flu virus, the team has said.

Germany took to the pitch at the Al-Shamal stadium in the northern tip of Qatar as they prepare for their opening World Cup Group E match against Japan on November 23.

The forward is the highest-scoring German player in the Bundesliga this season with 10 goals.

The opening ceremony of the World Cup will take place on Sunday at 17:30 local time (14:30 GMT) at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium.

FIFA has yet to announce a full list of performers. South Korea’s BTS said Jungkook, one of seven members of the boy band, would perform a track titled Dreamers at the ceremony.

Others named as possible performers include the Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams and Nora Fatehi.

British singer Dua Lipa denied a report that she was set to perform. Some Spanish media reports said Shakira would also not perform.

Keep an ear out for Welsh songs across Qatar, courtesy of the Football Association of Wales.

Cultural ambassador Dafydd Iwan is in Qatar “to lead the singing of the official campaign song Yma o Hyd at various locations”, the association tweeted.

Wales will face the US in their first match on Monday.

After that hour-long news conference by FIFA head Infantino, let’s take a look at what to expect on the pitch.

Al Jazeera has been writing about the teams in the lead-up to the tournament.

Here we look at France’s hopes of repeating their 2018 success. Les Bleus will head into the World Cup with high hopes despite a string of poor results that saw them narrowly miss relegation from the Nations League.

The reigning world champions have won just once in their last six fixtures but are still a firm favourite as they head to Qatar.

Read more here.

During his news conference, Infantino also hailed the “commercial success” of this year’s World Cup, saying FIFA was set to generate $600 to $700m more than past tournaments.

“We sold the media rights for around $200 million more than the last World Cup,” he said. “We sold the sponsorship rights for also around $200 million more than the last World Cup.”

“And as far as ticketing and hospitality rights are concerned, we are at almost two to 300 million more than the last World Cup,” he said.

FIFA chief Infantino defended the about-face decision on the sale of beer at World Cup stadiums.

FIFA said the ban had been agreed after “discussions” with Qatari organisers. The last-minute change appeared to confuse longtime event sponsor Budweiser, although Infantino said the move would make the partnership “stronger”.

“If this is the biggest issue we have … I will go to the beach and relax until 18th of December,” Infantino said.

“Every decision is discussed, debated and taken jointly,” he said of FIFA and Qatari organisers.

FIFA’s chief responded to the treatment of LGBTQ people in Qatar, saying more open laws were “part of a process”.

“They’ve (Qatari organisers) confirmed and I can confirm that everyone is welcome. If you have a person here and there who says the opposite, it’s not the opinion of the country, it’s certainly not the opinion of FIFA,” he said.

Qatar’s penal code currently punishes all forms of extramarital sex – including same-sex relations.

Infantino added that homosexuality was illegal in 1954 when Switzerland held the World Cup.

“Like for the workers, these are processes,” he said.  “Of course I believe it should be allowed as FIFA president, but I went through a process”.

The FIFA head looked visibly irritated by the relentless criticisms of FIFA and the host country.

Infantino called the coverage and criticisms a “double standard”. On one occasion, he sat back with his hands folded, looking straight at reporters.

The clicking sound of photographs accompanied the Swiss-Italian’s every move as his voice filled the large theatre packed with media representatives.

FIFA chief Infantino said Qatar should be recognised for progress on workers’ rights, but said FIFA would continue to monitor reforms after the World Cup.

“I am very pleased to have been having discussions with the Qatar government and director-general of ILO (International Labour Organization),” he said. “There is a real prospect of a dedicated office that would be permanent ILO office which will be having its headquarters in Doha.”

“If Europe would really care about the destiny of these young people,” Infantino said, referring to migrant workers, “Europe could do as Qatar did, create some legal channels, where at least a number, a percentage of these workers could come.”

“Lower revenues … but give them some hope, give them some future. This means we shouldn’t point to what doesn’t work, here in Qatar as well, of course, there are some things that don’t work that need to be addressed.

“This moral lesson giving, one-sided, it’s just hypocrisy,” he said.