The 2022 World Cup groups have been confirmed
The draw for the FIFA 2022 World Cup group stage took place on Friday with 32 nations discovering who they will face in Qatar this coming November.
Hosts Qatar have been drawn alongside the Netherlands, Senegal and Ecuador. Qatar v Ecuador will be the opening game of the tournament.
England, meanwhile, have been drawn in a favourable group alongside Iran, the USA and the winners of the playoff path between Ukraine, Scotland and Wales.
Here is the full draw and information about the draw.
How did the draw work?
All 32 teams who have qualified for the tournament were divided into four pots of eight teams.
FIFA ruled that only one nation from each qualification zone should be in a group, for example, Brazil could not be drawn in the same group as Argentina – however this rule does not apply to UEFA teams.
Each group could have at least one, but no more than two teams from the UEFA confederation. It meant that five out of the eight groups have two European teams.
Who has qualified for the World Cup?
- Qatar (hosts)
- Germany
- Denmark
- Brazil
- France
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Spain
- Serbia
- Switzerland
- Netherlands
- Argentina
- Iran
- South Korea
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
- Ecuador
- Uruguay
- Canada
- Poland
- Portugal
- Scotland/Ukraine/Wales (play-offs still to be played)
- Peru/Australia/UAE (play-offs still to be played)
- Senegal
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Canada
- USA
- Mexico
- New Zealand/Costa Rica (play-offs still to be played)
How does the seeding work?
There were four separate pots that are determined by the FIFA rankings, which will be published on March 31, 2022.
Pot one will feature Qatar and the seven highest-ranking qualified teams, pot two by the eight next-highest-ranked teams, as will pot three while pot four will also feature the two inter-continental play-off winners.
For example, as England are the fifth-highest-ranked nation in the world, they will be in pot one, whereas should Wales or Scotland qualify, they will be in pot four.
Who is in which pot?
Pot One:
- Qatar
- Brazil
- Belgium
- France
- Argentina
- England
- Spain
- Portugal
Pot Two:
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Croatia
- Uruguay
- Mexico
- USA
Pot Three:
- Iran
- Japan
- Morocco
- Serbia
- Poland
- South Korea
- Senegal
- Tunisia
Pot Four:
- Australia/UAE/Peru (play-offs still to be played)
- New Zealand/Costa Rica (play-offs still to be played)
- Scotland/Ukraine/Wales (play-offs still to be played)
- Saudi Arabia
- Ecuador
- Ghana
- Cameroon
- Canada
World Cup 2022 draw.
Here is the full draw for the tournament
Group A
Qatar
Ecuador
Senegal
The Netherlands
Group B
England
Iran
United States of America
Scotland or Ukraine or Wales (play-offs still to be played)
Group C
Argentina
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
Poland
Group D
France
Peru or Australia or UAE (play-offs still to be played)
Denmark
Tunisia
Group E
Spain
New Zealand or Costa Rica. (Playoff to be played).
Germany
Japan
The draw for the 2022 World Cup 🏆 pic.twitter.com/QFT3qmBRvx
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 1, 2022
Group F
Belgium
Canada
Morocco
Croatia
Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
Group H
Portugal
Ghana
Uruguay
South Korea
When does the World Cup start?
The World Cup begins on November 21, 2022, and will feature host nation Qatar playing against another side from group A.
The kick-off will be at 1 pm local time, 10 am British and Irish time. The group stage matches will kick off at 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm British and Irish time.
When is the World Cup final?
The tournament will run for approximately a month, with the final taking place on December 18, 2022, with kick-off at 6 pm local time and 3 pm British and Irish time.
