What does the winter World Cup in Qatar mean for the 2022/23 Bundesliga season?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will take place during part of the northern hemisphere's winter, from 21 November to 18 December 2022. What will happen in the Bundesliga whilst the tournament is being held? bundesliga.com has the answers...
Qatar 2022 is being played in winter to avoid the intense heat of the Middle East's summer, though temperatures can still be expected to reach up to 30C. To accommodate the finals, the DFL has planned for an extended winter break in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2.
The Winterpause (winter break) traditionally falls at the midpoint of the season, once 17 rounds of games have been played. This provides an easy demarcation between what’s known as the Hinrunde and the Rückrunde - better explained in English as the first and second half of the season.
The Bundesliga has at times in the past taken up to six weeks off and not returned until February. More recently, it’s been about four weeks - sometimes less when the league needs to start late or finish early because of an international tournament in the summer. In 2022/23, there will be a hiatus of approximately two months.
The 2022/23 Bundesliga will start on 5 August 2022, with Bundesliga 2 kicking off three weeks earlier on 15 July 2022. The final matchday of the calendar year in the Bundesliga (Matchday 15) and Bundesliga 2 (Matchday 17) are slated for the weekend of 11-13 November 2022.
Following the World Cup and the subsequent winter break, Bundesliga matches will resume on 20 January 2023, with Bundesliga 2 kicking off again on 27 January 2023. The final matchday of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season is scheduled for Saturday 27 May 2023. Bundesliga 2 Matchday 34 will take place one day later, on 28 May 2023.
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The winter World Cup also means inevitable schedule changes to domestic and European cup competition.
The first matches in the DFB Cup will be held between 29 July and 1 August 2022. The German Supercup 2022, which pits Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich against DFB Cup winners RB Leipzig, will take place the same weekend, on Saturday 30 July. Accordingly, the first-round DFB Cup matches involving the two Supercup participants have been scheduled for 30 and 31 August 2022.
The second round of the DFB Cup will follow on 18-19 October 2022, the third round will take place on 31 January-1 February and 7-8 February 2023, and the quarter-finals are scheduled for 4-5 April 2023. The semi-finals will be held on 2 and 3 May 2023. The DFB Cup final will take place on 3 June 2023.
On the continental field, eight Bundesliga clubs start the season involved in UEFA competition. Typically, the Champions, Europa and Conference League group stages span mid-September through to the second week of December. However, to make way for the World Cup, the 2022/23 groups will commence in the first week of September and conclude in the first week of November 2022.
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