2022 Qatar World Cup final will be played on 18 December

The climax of the winter World Cup will take place a week before Christmas

Fifa president Sepp Blatter (Getty Images)

The Qatar 2022 World Cup Final will take place on December 18th, Fifa has confirmed.

The decision was announced a day earlier than expected, at a meeting of Fifa’s Executive Committee at their headquarters in Zurich.

Fifa’s Director of Communications Walter di Grigorio said: “The ExCo decided today that the World Cup as proposed by the task force, as you know, will be played in November-December, with the final on the 18th of December.”

Mr di Grigorio also said the tournament would almost certainly be shortened to 28 days, to minimise disruption to the rest of the football calendar.

“Based on the proposal of the task force, we’re going to try to play in 28 days,” he said.

“That’s the decision in principle. Now we have to see with the international match calendar how this might be possible.”

It means Premier League fixtures, and possibly Football League too, will be suspended for at least six weeks from mid November, and will likely resume in time for the traditional Boxing Day matches.

European football’s governing body Uefa has originally asked for the final to be played as late as December 23rd.

“The 18th, means there is plenty of time for people to go home and do their Christmas shopping,” Mr Di Grigorio added.

Fifa President Sepp Blatter also announced the Women's World Cup 2019 will take place in France, who won the vote of Fifa's Executive Committee over rivals South Korea.