Italian referee Daniele Orsato will officiate the opening game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar between the host nation and Ecuador on Sunday.
The fixture follows the opening ceremony at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor at 16.00 GMT.
The tournament was originally meant to begin on Monday November 21, but this game was anticipated by a day.
Orsato is the only Italian referee at this World Cup and has been chosen to oversee the first match of the competition.
Qatar and Ecuador are in Group A with Senegal and the Netherlands.
Orsato will turn 47 on November 23 and officiated the Champions League Final in 2019-20 that saw Bayern Munich beat PSG 1-0.
This will be his first World Cup experience and he was in charge of three games at the EURO 2020 tournament, including the Round of 16 between Sweden and Ukraine.
The IFFHS named Orsato the best referee in the world for 2020.