On This Day: 2022 WC final to be held; Arsenal suffered last loss in 2001-02

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (December 18th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 2022 - World Cup Final will be Held!

On 18 December 2022, the 2022 World Cup final will be held in Qatar.

It will be the first World Cup not to be held in May, June, or July; the tournament is instead scheduled for late November until mid-December. It is to be played in a reduced timeframe of around 28 days, with the final being held on 18 December 2022, which is also Qatar National Day.

Guess which two teams will face off in World Cup Final!

18 December 2001 - It Was Just A Temporary Setback

On 18 December 2001, Arsenal lost to Newcastle 1-3. It was their last loss of the season as they went on to win the title.

The two teams started the day in second and third, with Arsenal ahead only by virtue of a better goal differential. They hosted Newcastle at Highbury on a Tuesday, and took a 20th-minute lead with a goal from Robert Pires. But two minutes before the break, referee Graham Poll ejected Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour, who received his second yellow card of the day for tripping Newcastle's Alan Shearer.

Newcastle made their advantage pay off in the second half, with Andy O'Brien equalizing in the 60th minute. Then, in the 85th minute, Poll awarded a penalty to the visitors for Sol Campbell's foul on Laurent Robert and Shearer converted the kick to put Newcastle up 1-2. Robert scored in stoppage time to extend the final margin to 1-3, giving the Toon their first win in London since 1997 and sent them to the top of league over Liverpool.

Arsenal regrouped, however, and went undefeated for the remainder of the season. They won their last thirteen matches, including an away win over Newcastle, to win the league seven points clear of runners-up Liverpool with a record of 26 wins, 9 draws, and only 3 losses.

On This Day in 2016 - Leicester Won BBC's Team of the Year

Leicester City had been honoured twice at the BBC Sports Personality awards for their shock Premier League triumph. The Foxes took Team of the Year and their manager Ranieri was named top coach after overseeing the remarkable victory.

Leicester started the campaign as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title after almost being relegated in 2014-15.

They lost just 3 league games in 2015-16 and have gone on to reach the Champions League knockout stages.

At the start of April, Leicester were 7 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Exactly one year earlier, they had been bottom of the table, 7 points from safety.

Ranieri, who took over from the sacked Pearson that summer, was seen as an uninspired choice by some fans and pundits after his predecessor had overseen a run of seven wins in nine games as Leicester escaped relegation in 2014-15.

The Italian's previous job ended abruptly when his Greece side lost to European minnows Faroe Islands during Euro 2016 qualifying.

Yet the charismatic 64-year-old's team - assembled for less than £30m and playing pacy, direct, counter-attacking football - confounded the experts.

18 December 2005 - Mineiro Gets His

On 18 December 2005, São Paulo won the FIFA Club World Cup, beating Liverpool 1-0 with a goal from Mineiro.

FIFA first held the competition--initially called the Club World Championship--in 2000, but did not establish it as a regular tournament until 2005, when it merged with the Intercontinental Cup. Unlike the Intercontinental Cup, though, which matched the Copa Libertadores champions against the European Cup/Champions League winners, the 2005 Club World Cup expanded the competition to a six-team mini-tournament that included the winners from similar CONCACAF, Oceania, CAF, and AFC competitions.

While the rest of the teams entered in the quarterfinals, São Paulo and Liverpool received byes into the semis, where they defeated Al-Ittihad and Saprissa, respectively, to set up their meeting in the final, played before a crowd of 66,821 at the International Stadium in Yokohama.

Although Liverpool had just set a club record eight days earlier with their tenth consecutive clean sheet, they were undone in the 27th minute when midfielder Mineiro (pictured) slipped behind the Liverpool defense to reach a lobbed pass, then beat goalkeeper Pepe Reina from just inside the penalty spot.

Liverpool pressed for an equalizer and found the back of the net three times, only for the referee to disallow all three goals. The lone strike from Mineiro proved to be the difference and São Paulo lifted the cup.

On this day in 1921 - The Poles Get In Position

On 18 December 1921, Poland played their first official international, a 1-0 loss to Hungary. It was a humble start for a team that would later claim an Olympic gold medal and twice finish in third place at the World Cup.

The Polish national team was only 2 years old when they lost to Hungary, having been founded in December 1919. And it would take another 5 months before they recorded their first victory, beating Sweden 2-1 in Stockholm. By the 1930s, however, they had improved rapidly, led by prolific goalscorer Ernst Wilimowski (pictured, with the ball). Even without Wilimowski, who was suspended for a year for excessive partying, Poland nearly medalled at the 1936 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth after wins over Hungary and Great Britain.

Poland's greatest achievement came at the 1972 Summer Olympics, when they won the gold medal with a 2-1 victory over Hungary. They followed that performance with a third-place finishes at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups.