1. World Cup 2022 qualification

World Cup 2022 qualification

The World Cup 2022 qualification for Europe is played by all 55 members of UEFA. 13 teams will qualify for the final tournament in Qatar. The qualifying matches will be played from March 2021 to March 2022.

The 2022 World Cup qualification is held around the World, organized by FIFA, the football associations and participating countries. More than 800 qualifying matches are played over a period of 2.5 years. 211 countries will participate in the World Cup qualification.

The countries must qualify for the soccer World Cup through tournaments on their own continent. The number of countries on a continent that ultimately qualifies for the World Cup depends on the strength of that continent. The stronger the continent, the more countries can qualify. Qatar is automatically qualified as a host country.

Qualifying group England

England plays in group I of the World Cup qualification. In it, the Three Lions compete against Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino.

2 ways to qualify for the 2022 World Cup

There are 2 ways to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, namely through the group stage and the playoffs.

Qualifying through the group stage

In the group stage of the World Cup 2022 qualification, 55 teams are divided into 10 groups of 5 or 6 countries each. Ultimately, all 10 group winners will directly qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

Qualifying through the playoffs

3 countries can qualify for the World Cup through the play-offs. The playoffs are played by the 10 numbers 2 from the group stage + 2 nations from the Nations League.

These 2 countries are the best teams according to the Nations League overall ranking, who have not become first or second in the group stage of the World Cup qualification.

The 12 countries are then divided into 3 paths, the winner of which qualifies. Each path of 4 countries consists of two semifinals and a final.

2022 World Cup qualification per football association

Below is the number of participating countries per football association and the number of countries that can qualify for the 2022 World Cup:

Association	Continent	Members	Participants	Places
AFC	Asia	46	45 + 1 host country	4 or 5 + 1 host country
CAF	Africa	54	54	5
CONCACAF	North America	35	35	3 or 4
CONMEBOL	South America	10	10	4 or 5
OFC	Oceania	11	11	0 or 1
UEFA	Europe	55	55	13
Total		211	210 + 1 host country	31 + 1 host country

FIFA has determined the above number of countries per football association on May 30, 2015.

All 211 countries that are members of FIFA can participate in the qualification for the World Cup. Myanmar has to play the home games abroad. This is because Myanmar was initially excluded from participating in supporter riots during the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Oman. Zimbabwe is also excluded from participating in the 2022 World Cup because the former coach José Claudinei did not pay. Subsequently, Indonesia was also excluded because of a penalty from the Football Association of Indonesia.

Match days schedule qualification

The World Cup 2022 qualifying schedule consists of the following match days:

• Matchday 1: 24 - 25 March 2021
• Matchday 2: 27 - 28 March 2021
• Matchday 3: 30 - 31 March 2021
• Matchday 4: 1 - 2 September 2021
• Matchday 5: 4 - 5 September 2021
• Matchday 6: 7 - 8 September 2021
• Matchday 7: 8 - 9 October 2021
• Matchday 8: 11 - 12 October 2021
• Matchday 9: 11 - 13 November 2021
• Matchday 10: 14 - 16 November 2021
• Playoffs: 24, 25, 28, and 29 March 2022

The group matches of the schedule will therefore take place from March to November 2021. It concerns both a home and an away match against each opponent in the group.

The playoff games will be played in March 2022.

Statistics World Cup qualification 2022

The 211 countries participating in the 2022 World Cup qualification is a new record. The previous record stood at 203 football countries for the 2014 World Cup.

Although Qatar has been automatically placed as a host country, it still takes part in the qualifying competitions. The host country is classified in group E, with the matches counting for the points of the other group members (Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh). The group matches of Qatar also count towards the qualification for the AFC Asia Cup.

The first time more than 100 countries participated in the qualification rounds for a World Cup was more than 30 years ago. At the time, 103 countries competed for one of the 24 places at the WK1982 in Spain.

More about the numbers and facts of the World Cup 2022 qualification.

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The 2022 World Cup qualifiers will be played by 55 members of UEFA, of which 13 countries qualify. Which countries have qualified for the 2022 World Cup?

About the author of 'World Cup 2022 qualification: England and qualified countries'

Author of this content is Patrick. I have been playing soccer for more than 25 years and follow the daily news closely. My hobbies include playing football, running and maintaining various websites, in addition to my job as a financial professional.

I do not work for any related company or institution, so the information is reliable and independent. The information has been collected accurately from reliable sources and is regularly updated.