EFL announce 2022-23 Football League season is set to start in JULY to accommodate Qatar World Cup… but only the Championship will take a break during the tournament – and all three divisions will continue playing through the knockout stages
- The 2022-23 Football League season will begin earlier than usual, on July 30
- That is to accommodate 2022 World Cup, taking place in Qatar over the winter
- The Championship will take a five-week break across November and December
- All three divisions will be played throughout the knockout stages of World Cup
The EFL have announced that next season’s Football League campaign will begin in July to accommodate the winter World Cup in Qatar – but will continue their domestic campaigns through the knockout stages of the tournament.
The 2022-23 season – in the Premier League, Football League, and across Europe – is set to be severely disrupted by the international tournament, with the EFL perhaps hardest hit with matches starting as early as July 30.
The current campaign is set to end on May 7, slightly earlier than usual, giving teams 12 weeks to let their players rest before returning for pre-season ahead of the next season.
Football League players will have 12 weeks between the end of this season and the start of next
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to wreak havoc with scheduling in the Football League. Pictured is the Al-Thumama Stadium, one of the venues set to be used for the tournament
Of course, if teams reach the play-offs in their respective leagues, they do not take place until May 21, 28 and 29.
Only the Championship will have any sort of break mid-season for the tournament, with a five-week pause from November 12 to December 10, during the group stages of the World Cup.
The English second-tier will then resume for the knockout stages with its matchday 17, while League One and League Two are to be played throughout the tournament.
The Carabao Cup, meanwhile, will begin on the week commencing August 8, and the final will be held on February 26 at Wembley Stadium.
Football League fans will watch their teams begin the 2022-23 on the earlier date of July 30
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter hands the World Cup to the then-Emir of Qatar in December 2010, after the tournament was awarded to the country at a ceremony in Zurich
The final day of the 2022-23 season across all three divisions will be on the weekend of May 6, 2023, with the play-off finals on May 27, 28 and 29.
Last week, the Premier League revealed its own fixture schedule for next season, with matches starting on August 6, before finishing on May 28, 2023.
There will be a mid-season break between November 14 and December 26 for the English top-flight, such is the massive out-flux of players heading to Qatar.
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