EFL outline how the Qatar World Cup will impact Sunderland's schedule for the 2022/23 season

The World Cup has been moved to a winter slot due to the high temperatures of the host nation, and the league schedule has been adjusted to accomodate the five-week competition.

To begin with, all three leagues will kick off a week earlier than usual, with the first slate of league fixtures set to take place on the weekend beginning July 30th.

The Championship will pause after the round of fixtures beginning November 12th, with the call-up period for all selected players beginning the following Monday.

The second tier will pause for around a month, resuming on December 10th, after the group stages of the World Cup finish.

Leagues One and Two will continue as normal through that period, though standard international call-up rules will remain in place.

That means that any side who have three or more players called up will be able to postpone any of their league fixtures during the competition.

The final day of the 2022/23 season in the Championship, League One and League Two will be across the weekend of May 6th, with the play-off finals scheduled for the May 27th to 29th.

The Carabao Cup will begin in the week beginning August 8th, with the Papa John's Trophy set to start in the week beginning August 29th.

The finals of both competitions will be held at Wembley Stadium, on February 26th for the Carabao Cup and March 19th for the Papa John’s Trophy.

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