Where is Qatar? Why is World Cup being staged there? Why is it so controversial?

England and Wales will be among the nations gunning for glory in what will be the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup.

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In addition, Qatar will also be the smallest nation by land size ever to stage football's most famous and fabulous tournament.

Yet neither fact about the Arab state is the reason it has been surrounded in controversy since FIFA announced them as hosts in 2010.

Where is Qatar?

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The country is located in in the Middle East, specifically on the continent of Asia - in the North eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

It shares a border with eastern Saudi Arabia as well as maritime borders with Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Qatar is expected to welcome 1.2 million people, equivalent to almost 40 percent of its population, for the World Cup, according to FIFA.

It defeated bids from South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States in 2010 after receiving an outright majority of 14 in the fourth round of voting.

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Why is the World Cup in Qatar controversial?

Accusations concerning the treatment of migrant workers and a poor record of human rights have plagued the Gulf state in recent times.

Male homosexuality is punishable by up to three years in prison and same-sex marriages are not recognised by the government.

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Women's rights are also much worse than in other parts of the world, with females needing permission from a male guardian to leave Qatar if unmarried and under the age of 25.

In addition, the reporting of sexual violence remains a great concern, owing to precedents set by Qatari law.

Several recent cases have seen victims accused of extra-marital sex - a crime which carries a prison sentence - instead of being offered support.

If the defendant is Muslim then they risk flogging as well, which is banned by international human-rights law.

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The UK government has warned survivors that their passport may be held during any police investigation, while emergency contraception is not available without a marriage licence.

Hummel released a statement about their 'toned down' Denmark kit for the 2022 World Cup, saying it's in protest of Qatar's human rights record.

adidas, who are a lead sponsor for the World Cup, recently backed a compensation fund for migrant workers.

Due to all these concerns, FIFA has faced questions for the past 12 years over the legitimacy of the bidding process that saw Qatar become hosts.

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Fifteen of the 22 FIFA executive committee members who were involved in the selection have since faced criminal charges or been banned by world football's governing body.

This includes former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who publicly admitted years later that the decision was a mistake.

Harry Kane will wear an anti-discrimination armband during England's World Cup matches in Qatar.

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It will be in support of the OneLove campaign against discrimination, with the captains of nine other nations also taking part, including Wales, throughout the tournament this winter.

Qatar's World Cup chief, Nasser Al Khater, has said fans can display rainbow flags but 'it's a FIFA matter' whether approval is given over whether Kane and Gareth Bale can wear multicoloured armbands.

He added: "This is a sporting tournament that people want to come (to) and enjoy. Turning it into a platform of political statements I don't think is right for the sport."

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What has been said?

"All we ask is for people to be respectful of the culture," Mr Al Khater said. "At the end of the day, as long as you don't do anything that harms other people, if you're not destroying public property, as long as you're behaving in a way that's not harmful, then everybody's welcome and you have nothing to worry about."

He added: "Everybody is welcome here and everyone will feel safe when they come to Qatar."

On whether that invite extends to LBTQ+ fans, for example, holding hands in public, Mr Al Khater added: "Yes. If I held your hand now, and I walked out into the street for hours and hours and hours nobody would say anything to us."

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Questions have been raised over whether England should boycott the World Cup in Qatar and talkSPORT host Simon Jordan weighed in on the debate back in March.

"First of all, it is unfair of putting footballers that position", Jordan said.

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"They should be aware of the back drop of the situation surrounding the building of stadiums in that country.

"Whilst we know the western standards we want are not being replicated in Qatar, it is not necessarily our job, and certainly not the job of our footballers to go into another country and tell them what their standards, protocols and approaches to society should be.

"We know in the west that that being homophobic and misogynistic are not traits that we want to see around the world, but it is not our gift to go to Qatar and lecture them about how their society is held together, and it certainly isn't the gift of our footballers.

"Now, you extrapolate that up, and if you want to say to those footballers, you want to have an opinion, you're entitled to have one.

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"If you then want to lever neutral space of the football pitch to vast out opinion, then why don't you go the full hog? If you want to do that and make a sacrifice. That is the full length and breadth of the argument."