FIFA confirmed that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be played in the winter, announcing Thursday that its governing executive committee had set the date of that year’s final for Dec. 18.

The move away from the summer months to winter had been expected for years. Almost immediately after awarding the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, top FIFA officials, including the president, Sepp Blatter, acknowledged that playing the event in the searing heat of the Gulf summer was unworkable, and unwise.

While the final is now set, it remains unclear when the tournament will begin. The 2014 tournament in Brazil lasted 32 days, and the 2018 World Cup in Russia is scheduled at the same length. A similar timetable in Qatar would put the World Cup opener around Nov. 17, though FIFA officials suggested Thursday that a 28- or 29-day schedule was under consideration.

Few in soccer disputed the need for a move away from the summer once FIFA declared that there was no chance Qatar would lose the right to host. The problem was finding an open window on the calendar.