The draw for the 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place this week, following the conclusion of all international friendlies and qualifiers. The remaining places for Qatar will be decided following the last round of qualifiers this week, before the normal football schedule resumes at the weekend.
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We are currently in the midst of the final round of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This current international break is the first of the year, and represents the final stages of qualifying for countries dreaming of playing in the World Cup Finals.
The 32 spaces are beginning to fill up rapidly for the most prestigious tournament in football, with just a few spaces left for countries to snap up. By the time of the draw on Friday (1st April), 29 of the 32 qualifying spots will have been confirmed.
The updated FIFA World Rankings will also have been confirmed by then, with England already confirmed as one of the top seeds for the tournament.
Here is all you need to know for the upcoming draw for the 2022 Qatar World Cup!
When is the 2022 FIFA World Cup draw?
The Group Stage draw for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in will be made at 5pm (BST) on Friday, April 1, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, Doha, Qatar.
By this stage, the vast majority of qualifying will have taken place and 29 of the 32 available World Cup slots will have been confirmed. The three spaces that will not be confirmed until June 2022, are the two nations who qualify through the inter-confederation play-offs and the final spot will go to the winner of the UEFA’s Path A play-off.
How to watch the 2022 World Cup draw
The draw will be broadcast live on FIFA’s website, but for UK viewers it will be televised on BBC 1. You can also access it via the iPlayer on your TV or via the iPlayer app on your phone, tablet, laptop or however you usually access it. Coverage will begin at 4.45pm.
How the draw works
However, for this draw the teams will be allocated into the four pots based on the latest round of FIFA World Rankings. The updated rankings are published on Thursday (31st March) before the draw, and the top seven seeds will be drawn into Pot 1, along with the hosts, Qatar.
Pot 2 will then contain the next eight highest ranked teams, while the same will be applied for Pot 3 and Pot 4. However, Pot 4 will also contain the two winners of the inter-confederation play-offs and the winner of the last UEFA play-off, which will not be determined until June 2022, as previously mentioned.
Rules for the draw
As hosts of the tournament, Qatar will be automatically assigned to Group A, while the rest of the seven teams in Pot A will be allocated to Groups B-H in the order they are drawn out. The same process will be applied for Pot B, Pot C and Pot D.
As UEFA have 13 nations competing at the tournament, five out of the eight groups will have two European nations in the same group. This is the maximum amount allowed in one group, so a maximum of two European nations could be pitted against eachother. It is essential that each group has at least one team from UEFA.
The rules are different for all of the other continents, as they aren’t allowed to have more than one of it’s nations in the same group. For example, it is impossible for Brazil and Argentina to be drawn in the same group, as they are two South American countries. The same applies for Asia, Africa and North America.
Who has already qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
The majority of teams have already been confirmed for the World Cup. England qualified back in November, after topping their qualifying group. Qatar automatically qualify for the tournament as they are the host nation.
Here is a list of the teams who have qualified for the World Cup:
Africa: Five teams TBC
Asia: Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea
Europe: England, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland and one more TBC
North America: Canada and two more TBC
South America: Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador
Inter-confederation play-offs: One team from Asia, South America, North America and Oceania will compete in the play-offs for the final two spots in June
Current seeding (will be updated on Thursday 31st March)
1: Belgium
2: Brazil
3: France
4: Argentina
5: England
6: Italy
7: Spain
8: Portugal
9: Denmark
10: Netherlands
11: Germany
12: Mexico
13: USA
14: Switzerland
15: Croatia
16: Uruguay
17: Sweden
18: Senegal
19: Colombia
20: Wales
21: Iran
22: Peru
23: Morocco
24: Japan
25: Serbia
26: Chile
27: Ukraine
28: Poland
29: South Korea
30: Austria
Other seeds >
33: Canada
44: Ecuador
Qatar (52) and Saudi Arabia (53) have also already qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
When do the Group Stages begin?
The Group Stage will take place over a period of 12 days, with four matches being played each day. As outlined earlier in this article, each team will play each other once in the group stages. The first match is set to take place on Monday, November 21, 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium. This will feature the hosts Qatar in a Group A fixture.
Groups A, B, E and F will all play their matches at the same four stadiums: Al Bayt Stadium (60,000 capacity) Al Thumama Stadium (40,000 capacity), Ahmed bin Ali Stadium (44,740 capacity) and the Khalifa International Stadium (40,000 capacity).
Groups C, D, G and H will play all of their matches at the four other stadiums: Lusail Iconic Stadium (80,000 capacity), Education City Stadium (45.350 capacity), Al Janoub Stadium (40,000 capacity) and Stadium 974 (40,000 capacity).
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