World Cup 2022 friendly fixtures: What international games are on BEFORE Qatar showpiece?

THE World Cup is nearly here and some teams are looking to get in as much preparation as possible.

The last international break came at the end of September when the Nations League group stages were on.

ReutersThe 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar and gets underway on November 20[/caption]

And with the World Cup being held in the middle of the domestic season, there hasn’t been another opportunity for international teams to prepare for the Qatar showpiece.

So most squads will be going into the World Cup without much on-field prep whatsoever.

But there are 19 teams at the World Cup who have opted to arrange friendlies ahead of the tournament.

England are NOT one of those teams, with the Three Lions last game coming against Germany, who they drew 3-3 with at Wembley in the Nations League.

Other sides not participating in friendly games are Brazil, France and the Netherlands.

The list is as follows:

Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Cameroon
Costa Rica
Iran
South Korea
Canada
Ecuador
Belgium
Argentina
Germany
Croatia
Poland
Ghana
Switzerland
Japan
Spain
Portugal
Serbia

Each of those teams have organised friendlies to take place between Wednesday, November 9 and Friday, November 18 – two days before the World Cup starts.

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World Cup 2022 friendly fixtures

Wednesday, November 9

Qatar vs Albania – 5.30pm GMT
Mexico vs Iraq – 8pm GMT
Cameroon vs Jamaica – 5pm GMT

Thursday, November 10

Costa Rica vs Nigeria – 2am GMT
Panama vs Saudi Arabia – 12pm GMT
Iran vs Nicaragua – 4pm GMT

Friday, November 11

South Korea vs Iceland – 11am GMT
Bahrain vs Canada – 4pm GMT

Saturday, November 12

Iraq vs Ecuador – 5.30pm GMT

Tuesday, November 15

Iraq vs Belgium – TBC

Wednesday, November 16

UAE vs Argentina – TBC
Oman vs Germany – 5pm GMT
Saudi Arabia vs Croatia – 10am GMT
Poland vs Chile – 5pm GMT

Thursday, November 17

Japan vs Canada – 1.40pm GMT
Iraq vs Costa Rica – 2pm GMT
Jordan vs Spain – 4pm GMT
Portugal vs Nigeria – 6.45pm GMT

Friday, November 18

Cameroon vs Panama – 10am GMT
Belgium vs Egypt – 3pm GMT
Bahrain vs Serbia – 4pm GMT