From key dates to kick-off times, here’s all you need to know about next year’s tournament.
When and where is the 2022 World Cup?
The 2022 World Cup is taking place in Qatar in the winter months rather than the usual summer ones, due to the heat.
The tournament kicks off on Monday November 21 at the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor with a match that will feature the host country.
The final will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Doha a week before Christmas on Sunday December 18.
Who has qualified so far?
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As hosts, Qatar received automatic qualification to next year’s tournament.
Four-time World Cup winners Germany were the first team to guarantee a spot through the qualification process in Europe, while Brazil – the most successful national team in World Cup history with five trophies – secured swift qualification as one of the top four teams in South America’s groups.
England secured their place in November by topping their qualifying group. Saudi Arabia and Japan became the latest nations to be confirmed in Qatar after the Samurai Blue beat Australia 2-0 on March 24.
Uruguay and Ecuador secured their spots at the World Cup finals, joining Brazil and Argentina as the automatic qualifiers from the South American group.
Peru clinched the play-off spot thanks to a 2-0 win against Paraguay in the final qualification game.
Canada qualified for the World Cup finals for just the second time, beating Jamaica 4-0 to book their ticket to Qatar and end 36 years of failure and heartache.
Mexico and the United States also qualified for the World Cup in their final qualifier, while Costa Rica will face New Zealand in a play-off in June for a spot in Qatar.
On Tuesday, Senegal, Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon booked their places at Qatar 2022. Sadio Mane scored the winning kick as Senegal beat Egypt 3-1 on penalties, with Mo Salah among the Egyptian players to miss their spot-kicks.
In Europe, Portugal and Poland progressed to the finals after winning their play-off finals against North Macedonia and Sweden respectively. The third and final European play-off, which will feature Wales against Scotland or Ukraine, has been delayed until June.
When is the draw?
By the end of March, we will know 29 of the 32 participants at the first winter World Cup. The final three places will be decided in the intercontinental playoffs in June as well as the final European playoff final which has been delayed due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
The draw for the tournament takes place on Friday 1 April 2022, at the DECC venue in Doha, Qatar at circa 5pm BST.
You can follow the draw live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
What is the format of the draw?
The 32 nations involved in the 2022 World Cup will be drawn into eight groups of four.
Host nation Qatar will be in position one of Group A. The other nations will be split into four pots based on FIFA rankings with the top-rated teams joining Qatar in pot one.
Each group will have no more than one nation from any confederation, aside from Europe who can have no more than two nations in any one group.
Who will be the seeded nations?
Scotland will be in with the lowest-ranked seeds, along with Wales.
FIFA has revealed that the three teams still in with a chance of progressing through the play-off path by the time of the draw will be treated as one entrant, and placed in pot four with the lowest-ranked nations.
The seeding of other nations who have definitely qualified by the time of the draw will be determined by the FIFA rankings due to be published on March 31.
The top pot of seeds will feature the seven highest-ranked sides involved, plus hosts Qatar. England are currently ranked fifth in the world, with only Belgium, Brazil, France and Argentina above them.
It means England could be drawn in the same group as Germany – who are currently ranked 11th and therefore among the pot of second seeds.
Who could England face?
World Cup seeds (Pot One – England’s group):
- Qatar
- Brazil
- Belgium
- France
- Argentina
- Spain
- Portugal
Pot Two (Guaranteed):
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Croatia
- Uruguay
- Mexico
- USA
Pot Three (Guaranteed):
- Iran
- Japan
- Morocco
- Serbia
- Poland
- South Korea
- Senegal
- Tunisia
Pot Four (Guaranteed):
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Ecuador
- Saudi Arabia
- Ghana
- + 3 UEFA, intercontinental playoffs
UEFA and Intercontinental play-offs:
- Wales vs Scotland or Ukraine
- Australia or United Arab Emirates vs Peru
- Costa Rica vs New Zealand
So who could England face?
Worst-case scenario: England, Germany, Senegal, Peru
Best-case scenario: England, Switzerland, Canada, Saudi Arabia
Podcast: Could timing be as important as opposition?
Sky Sports’ senior football journalist Peter Smith on the Essential Football Podcast:
“There’s always speculation about these draws but there has been some additional talk about whether England might prefer to be drawn in one of the later pots, which would then allow them to have a few more days preparing before their first game, with the tournament coming mid-season.
“I think whatever happens, there’ll be debate for and against whatever England have to face!”
Who’s in the European qualifying play-offs?
Portugal qualified for the World Cup after beating North Macedonia in the final of Path C after Italy crashed out in the semi-finals while Sweden were defeated by Poland, who were given a bye in their semi-final against Russia.
But because Scotland and Wales have been pitched in the same path, it means Scotland and Wales will play each other for a place at next year’s World Cup if Scotland progress past Ukraine in their delayed play-off semi-final. Wales reached the final after defeating Austria.
How does the Ukraine-Russia crisis impact the draw?
Wales must wait until June to learn their fate in their playoff final due to Scotland vs Ukraine being postponed until then.
The intercontinental play-offs will be contested on 13-14 June in Qatar, with the AFC representative facing the CONMEBOL representative and the Concacaf representative taking on the OFC representative.
What is the World Cup format and schedule?
The 2022 World Cup will feature 32 teams in eight groups of four.
Four matches will be played each day during the group stage, which will run over a 12-day period and see winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16.
Matches will only be assigned to particular venues after the finals draw, so organisers can choose optimal kick-off times to suit television audiences in different countries, as well as supporters out in Qatar.
Unlike at Euro 2020, there will be a third-place play-off game on December 17.
Group stage: November 21- December 2
Round of 16: December 3-6
Quarter-finals: December 9/10
Semi-finals: December 13/14
Final: December 18
When will the matches kick off?
FIFA has confirmed the first two rounds of matches will kick off at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm local time (10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm in the United Kingdom).
Kick-off times in the final round of group games and knock-out round matches will be at 6pm and 10pm local time (3pm and 7pm UK time).
The final is scheduled to kick off at 6pm local time (3pm UK time)
What are the venues?
The group games will take place across eight stadia: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Lusail Stadium, Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, Education City Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium.
What will happen with the Premier League?
The Premier League has confirmed key dates for the 2022/23 campaign, with the season adjusted to accommodate a World Cup that takes place in the middle of the domestic calendar.
The season will start a week earlier than normal on August 6 2022, with 16 matchdays taking place up to the weekend of November 12/13, before the tournament kicks off on November 21.
The Premier League will resume on Boxing Day following the World Cup final, which takes place on December 18.
The final match round of the 2022/23 season will be played on May 28 2023.
Key World Cup, Premier League, Scottish Premiership dates
April – World Cup draw.
July 30 – Scottish Premiership season starts along with the EFL Championship, League One and League Two.
August 6 – Premier League season starts.
November 12-13 – Final round of Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premiership matches before the World Cup.
November 21 – World Cup starts.
December 2 – Final set of group stage matches.
December 3-6 – The round of 16 starts.
December 9-10 – The quarter-finals.
December 10 – The Championship resumes.
December 13-14 – World Cup semi-finals.
December 17 – The Scottish Premiership resumes.
December 18 – World Cup final.
December 26 – The Premier League resumes.
World Cup 2022: Who could England face and when is Friday’s draw?
Source: Pinoy Portal Articles