MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The Russian national football team is set to play its 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying home match against Slovakia on October 8 in the city of Kazan, the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) press office announced on Wednesday.

The qualifying tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar resumes in September. Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw in Zurich on September 7, 2020 for Europe’s national teams, Russia was seeded in Group H with the national squads from Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.

In March, the Russian national football team played three group stage qualifying matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup defeating Malta and Slovenia with the final score of 3-1 and 2-1 correspondingly and then lost 1-2 to Slovakia.

The Russian squad currently holds 2nd place in its qualifying Group H of the 2022 World Cup with six points.

2022 FIFA World Cup

Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at eight stadiums in seven cities across the country, namely in Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal and Madinat ash Shamal.

Qatar won the right to host the matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on December 2, 2010.

In March 2015, FIFA officially announced that the 22nd edition of FIFA’s flagship event would be played in November and December 2022, with the final match set for December 18, 2022, coinciding with - Qatar National Day. The objective, in principle, was to hold the tournament over 28 days.

Kazan

The city of Kazan hosted matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup as well as matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, being among 11 cities across the country holding the football games — Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The Kazan Arena was built especially for hosting the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2013 Summer Universiade. Following the prestigious games of university students the arena was reconstructed into the 44,800-seat football stadium, which became the home arena for Rubin, the local football club.

The sports arena in Kazan was designed by the same firm of architects as Wembley Stadium and Emirates Stadium in London. It has a unique design, which blends seamlessly into Kazan's urban landscape. Viewed from above, the arena, which stands on the banks of the Kazanka River, resembles a water-lily.