2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 June 2019 – June 2022 (expected) |
| Teams | 209[note 1] (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 599 |
| Goals scored | 1,732 (2.89 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,723,233 (6,216 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ali Mabkhout (12 goals) |
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification[note 2] is the qualifying process which will decide 31 of the 32 teams that will participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, joining hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot.
Parallel tournaments are organised by FIFA's six confederations. Qualification started on 6 June 2019, when the first match played was between Mongolia and Brunei and the first goal was scored by Mongolian player Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal, and is set to end in June 2022 with the inter-confederation play-offs. Unlike with previous editions, there was no general preliminary draw, and instead various draws were held separately due to different timelines used by each confederation.[1]
The qualification process has suffered numerous postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Consecutive finals appearances |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Qatar |
Hosts | 2 December 2010 | 1st | N/A | 1 | – |
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers began in June 2019 and are expected to finish in June 2022.
Qualification process
All FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, are eligible to enter qualification. Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar was obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also acted as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[2] Qatar won their group so the fifth-best group runners-up advanced instead.[3] For the first time after the initial two tournaments of 1930 and 1934, the World Cup will be hosted by a country whose national team has never played a finals match before.[4] The reigning World Cup champions France also participate in qualifying as normal.[5] Saint Lucia initially entered qualification in the CONCACAF zone, but later withdrew from the competition. North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich after the FIFA Congress.[6] The committee decided that the same allocation used in 2006, 2010 and 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments:[7]
- AFC (Asia): 4 or 5
- CAF (Africa): 5
- CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean): 3 or 4
- CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5
- OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1
- UEFA (Europe): 13
- Hosts: 1
Summary of qualification
If Russia qualifies for the final tournament, its players will not be able to use the country name alone, flag or anthem as a result of the nation's two-year ban from world championships and Olympic Games in all sports after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigated the country's state-sanctioned tampering of a doping testing laboratory database.[8] WADA had initially proposed a four-year ban on 9 December 2019, after RUSADA was found non-compliant for handing over manipulated lab data to investigators.[9] The WADA ruling allowed athletes who were not involved in doping or the coverup to compete, but prohibited the use of the Russian flag and anthem at major international sporting events.[10] The ruling was appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).[11] CAS ruled on the appeal on 17 December 2020, cutting the ban from four to two years, until 16 December 2022.[12] The CAS ruling also allowed the name "Russia" to be displayed on uniforms if the words "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team" have equal prominence.[8]
| |||||||||
| Confederation | Available slots in finals | Teams started | Teams eliminated | Teams can still qualify | Teams qualified | Qualifying start date | Qualifying next match date | Qualifying end date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 4+1 or 5+1 | 45+1 | 33 | 12 | 0+1 | 6 June 2019 | 12 October 2021 | June 2022 | |
| CAF | 5 | 54 | 22 | 32 | 0 | 4 September 2019 | 11 October 2021 | March 2022 | |
| CONCACAF | 3 or 4 | 34 | 26 | 8 | 0 | 24 March 2021 | 13 October 2021 | June 2022 | |
| CONMEBOL | 4 or 5 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8 October 2020 | 14 October 2021 | June 2022 | |
| OFC | 0 or 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | March 2022 | March 2022 | June 2022 | |
| UEFA | 13 | 55 | 14 | 41 | 0 | 24 March 2021 | 11 October 2021 | 29 March 2022 | |
| Total | 31+1 | 209+1 | 95 | 114 | 0+1 | 6 June 2019 | 11 October 2021 | June 2022 | |
Format
The formats of the qualifying competitions depended on each confederation (see below). Each round might be played in either of the following formats:[13]
- League format, where more than two teams formed groups to play home-and-away round-robin matches, or in exceptions permitted by the FIFA Organising Committee, single round-robin matches hosted by one of the participating teams or on neutral territory.
- Knockout format, where two teams played home-and-away two-legged matches or single-legged matches.
Tiebreakers
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.4 and 20.6):[13]
- Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
- Overall goal difference
- Overall goals scored
- Points in matches between tied teams
- Goal difference in matches between tied teams
- Goals scored in matches between tied teams
- Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
- Fair play points
- first yellow card: minus 1 point
- indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
- direct red card: minus 4 points
- yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
- Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
In cases where teams finishing in the same position across different groups are compared for determining which teams advance to the next stage, the criteria are dependent on the competition format and require the approval of FIFA (regulations Article 20.8).[13]
In knockout format, the team that has the higher aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round. If aggregate scores finish level, then the away goals rule is applied; i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progresses. If away goals are also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time are played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time; i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team qualifies by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (regulations Article 20.10).[13]
Confederation qualification
AFC
The opening two rounds of qualifying also served as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Therefore, Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup host, only participated in the first two rounds of qualifying.[14]
The qualification structure is as follows:[15]
- First round: 12 teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
- Second round: 40 teams (ranked 1–34, including Qatar as the host, and the six winners from the first round) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The seven group winners and the five best group runners-up advanced to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification and also qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Qatar finished as winners in their group, so the fifth-best runners-up advanced to the third round in their stead.[3]
- Third round: The 12 teams that advanced from the second round will be divided into two groups of 6 teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the World Cup.
- Fourth round: The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other in a single match to determine which team advances to the inter-confederation play-offs, playing a team from a confederation to be determined.
Current stage (third round)
| Group A | Group B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Updated to match(es) played on 7 October 2021.
Source: FIFA |
Updated to match(es) played on 7 October 2021.
Source: FIFA |
CAF
CAF announced on 10 July 2019 a reversion to the format used for its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification competition.[16]
- First round: 28 teams (ranked 27–54) played home-and-away over two legs. The fourteen winners advanced to the second round.
- Second round: 40 teams (teams ranked 1–26 and fourteen first round winners) were divided into ten groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The ten group winners will advance to the third round.
- Third round: The ten teams that advance from the second round will play home-and-away over two legs. The five winners will qualify for the World Cup.
Current stage (second round)
| Group A | Group B | Group C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Group D | Group E | Group F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Group G | Group H | Group I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Group J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CONCACAF
CONCACAF initially announced on 10 July 2019 a restructured format for the qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[17] However, on 25 June 2020, following FIFA's decision to postpone the September international window due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONCACAF noted that "the challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, means our current World Cup qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed."[18] On 27 July 2020, CONCACAF announced a new qualifying format for the World Cup.[19]
- First round: CONCACAF teams ranked 6 to 35 based on the FIFA rankings of July 2020 were drawn into six groups of five and played single round-robin matches (two home and two away), the six group winners advanced to the second round.
- Second round: The six first round group winners played in a two-legged home-and-away series. The three winners advanced to the final round.
- Third round: The three second round winners will join the top five CONCACAF teams (Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Honduras[20]) also based on the FIFA rankings of July 2020 and play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group. The top three teams qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth-placed team advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Current stage (third round)
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mexico
|
5 | 11 |
| 2 |  United States
|
5 | 8 |
| 3 |  Panama
|
5 | 8 |
| 4 |  Canada
|
5 | 7 |
| 5 |  Costa Rica
|
5 | 6 |
| 6 |  El Salvador
|
5 | 5 |
| 7 |  Honduras
|
5 | 3 |
| 8 |  Jamaica
|
5 | 2 |
CONMEBOL
The CONMEBOL Council decided on 24 January 2019 to maintain the same qualification structure used for the previous six tournaments.[21] From October 2020 to June 2022 (previously scheduled March 2020 to November 2021, but later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), all ten CONMEBOL teams will play in a league of home-and-away round-robin matches. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup, and the fifth-placed team advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Current stage
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brazil
|
10 | 28 |
| 2 |  Argentina
|
10 | 22 |
| 3 |  Ecuador
|
11 | 16 |
| 4 |  Uruguay
|
11 | 16 |
| 5 |  Colombia
|
11 | 15 |
| 6 |  Paraguay
|
11 | 12 |
| 7 |  Peru
|
11 | 11 |
| 8 |  Chile
|
11 | 10 |
| 9 |  Bolivia
|
11 | 9 |
| 10 |  Venezuela
|
11 | 7 |
OFC
Qualifying was expected to begin in September 2020,[25] but the FIFA international window in that month for the OFC was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26]
In July 2020, the OFC submitted a proposal to FIFA for the qualifiers in response to the pandemic, intending to organise a group stage in March and June 2021 followed by semi-finals and a final in September and October of that year.[27] After continued delays,[28][29] by September 2021 the OFC felt it was "not possible at this time to organise a qualifying competition within the Oceania region" and now planned to stage it in Qatar in March 2022.[30]
UEFA
The draw for the first round (group stage) was held in Zürich, Switzerland on 7 December 2020, 18:00 CET (UTC+1).[31] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draw was held as a virtual event without any representatives of member associations present. It was originally planned to be held on 29 November.[32] On 18 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the draw regulations for the qualifying group stage.[33] The 55 teams were seeded into six pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of November 2020, after the league phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League.
The qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December 2019.[34][35] The qualification will depend, in part, on results from the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, although to a lesser degree than UEFA Euro 2020. The structure maintained UEFA's usual 'group stage/playoff stage' structure, with only the specific format of the play-offs amended.[36]
- First round (group stage): Ten groups of either five or six teams with group winners qualifying for the World Cup finals. The four teams in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals (France, Belgium, Italy and Spain) were put into the smaller groups.
- Second round (play-off stage): The ten group runners-up will be joined by the best two Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. These twelve teams will be drawn into three play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals and finals, with the home teams to be drawn), with the three path winners qualifying for the World Cup.
Current stage (first round)
| Group A | Group B | Group C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Group D | Group E | Group F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Group G | Group H | Group I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Group J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Inter-confederation play-offs
There will be two inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots for the finals. They are scheduled to be played in June 2022.[26]
Top goalscorers
There have been 1720 goals scored in 594 matches, for an average of 2.9 goals per match (as of 10 October 2021). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
12 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
Below is goalscorers lists for all confederations and inter-confederation play-offs:
Notes
- ^ Not including North Korea, all of whose matches were annulled.
- ^ The notation used in the logo is "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers".
- ^ The Brazil v Argentina match, originally scheduled on 5 September 2021, was suspended after five minutes at 0–0, after Argentina walked off because Brazilian health officials entered the pitch demanding the isolation of four Argentine players accused of violating the COVID quarantine rules, three of whom were in the starting lineup.[22][23][24]
References
- ^ "2022 World Cup: How qualifying works around the world". ESPN FC. ESPN. 25 May 2019.
- ^ Palmer, Dan (31 July 2017). "Hosts Qatar to compete in qualifying for 2022 World Cup". inside the games. Dunsar Media Company. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Groups finalised for Qatar 2022 & China 2023 race". AFC. 17 July 2019.
- ^ Harding, David (6 September 2017). "World Cup failure puts Qatar back in spotlight". Yahoo Sports. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "2022 World Cup odds: France favorite to repeat in Qatar; USA behind Mexico with 16th-best odds". CBS Sports. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "2022 FIFA World Cup to be played in November/December". FIFA. 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup confederation slots maintained". FIFA. 30 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Russia banned from using its name, flag at next two Olympics". ESPN. Associated Press. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ "Russia banned for four years to include 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup". BBC. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- ^ "Can Russia play at the World Cup 2022 and Euro 2020?". BBC. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- ^ "WADA files official request with Court of Arbitration for Sport to resolve RUSADA dispute". World Anti-Doping Agency. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ "Russia banned from Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Cup after Cas ruling". BBC. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Regulations – 2022 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. 15 March 2019.
- ^ Palmer, Dan (31 July 2017). "Hosts Qatar to compete in qualifying for 2022 World Cup". inside the games. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Pakistan to learn World Cup, Asian Cup qualifying fate on April 17". Dawn.com. 22 March 2019.
- ^ "CAF reverts to previous format for 2022 African World Cup qualifiers". Ahram Online. 10 July 2019.
- ^ "Concacaf Announces Format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Confederation Qualifiers". Concacaf.com.
- ^ "CONCACAF confirms 2022 World Cup qualifying will change". TSN. Canadian Press. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "New Concacaf Qualifiers announced for regional qualification to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022". www.concacaf.com. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "USMNT learns World Cup qualifying road including Mexico dates". sports.yahoo.com. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Clasificatorio sudamericano al Mundial de Qatar arrancará en marzo del 2020" (in Spanish). Conmebol. 24 January 2019.
- ^ FIFA [@fifamedia] (5 September 2021). "FIFA can confirm that following a decision by the match officials, the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying match Brazil vs. Argentina has been suspended" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Brazil v Argentina abandoned five minutes after kick-off after visiting players accused of Covid violation". BBC. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Esclarecimento: suspensão do jogo Brasil x Argentina" (in Portuguese). Anvisa. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ "New Zealand Football successful with bid to host the 2020 OFC Nations Cup". Stuff. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council unanimously approves COVID-19 Relief Plan". FIFA. 25 June 2020.
- ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
- ^ "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
- ^ "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.
- ^ Savannah Tafau-Levy (16 September 2021). "OFC update on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – Oceania Qualifiers". Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Road to Qatar 2022 mapped out for Europe". FIFA. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ "2020 European football calendar". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2020. Archived from the original on 23 January 2020.
- ^ "Temporary emergency measures for Financial Fair Play". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Nyon meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2020/21" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 13 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ "Game changer: group stage for UEFA Women's Champions League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.