Arsenal plan to play three friendlies during World Cup break

May 18, 2024

Arsenal are planning to play three friendlies during the World Cup with one of those games potentially taking place a day before the final in Qatar.

The Premier League leaders are expected to take the players not participating at next month’s World Cup for a warm-weather training camp in Dubai.

Arsenal are hoping to organise at least two friendlies during the camp, while the possibility of hosting a game at the Emirates Stadium has also been discussed.

Several of Arsenal’s first-teamers, including Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, are expected to head to Qatar next month while Martin Odegaard, Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko will remain with their clubs.

Playing one of the three friendlies at the Emirates is a possibility rather than a given as nothing has been confirmed yet. It may well be that it ultimately proves more practical for these matches to take place behind closed doors, be that at the winter training camp in Dubai or at the club’s London Conley training ground.

December 17, a day before the World Cup final, has been earmarked as a potential date for Arsenal to arrange a friendly.

The Premier League said at the start of the season that clubs could arrange friendlies during the World Cup in order to maintain players’ fitness during the month-long tournament.

Arsenal do not have a competitive fixture for six weeks during the break.

They face Wolves at Molineux on November 12 and then are not back in action until December 26 when they host London rivals West Ham.

Arteta previously said of the first-ever mid-season World Cup: “It’s a completely unprecedented season, not only because we are going to be playing a lot of weeks with two or three games, but especially because we have the World Cup coming up.

“We don’t know how that’s going to affect us, so we have to look at the overall picture. You have to go game by game.

“Performances and how players are physically and mentally will dictate how much we use them, but the schedule is hectic and we need to think carefully.”

Arsenal are top of the Premier League having won nine of their 11 games.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

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