The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
[Also the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers".] was the
qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, who received an automatic spot, at the
2022 FIFA World Cup.
Parallel tournaments were organised by
FIFA's six
confederations
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
. Qualification started on 6 June 2019 with several matches of
the AFC zone, the first being between
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
, and ended on 14 June 2022 with an
inter-confederation play-off between
Costa Rica and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
[At the time a rescheduled match of the CONMEBOL section was still due to be played, but it was ultimately cancelled.] Mongolian player
Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal netted the first goal, while the last one was scored by
Joel Campbell
Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels (; born 26 June 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Liga MX club León and the Costa Rica national team.
Campbell joined Arsenal in 2011 and was thereafter l ...
of Costa Rica. In contrast to previous editions, there was no general preliminary draw, with confederations carrying out separate draws due to their differing timelines. The qualification process
suffered numerous postponements from March 2020 onwards due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Qualified teams
![2022_world_cup_qualification](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/2022_world_cup_qualification.jpg)
;Notes
Qualification process
All
FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, were eligible to enter qualification.
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, 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
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
for the
2023 AFC Asian Cup
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...
. Qatar won their group so the fifth-best group runners-up advanced to the AFC third round instead.
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. The reigning
World Cup champions France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
also participated in qualifying as normal.
The allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the
FIFA Executive Committee
The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...
on 30 May 2015 in
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
after the FIFA Congress.
The committee decided that the same allocation used in 2006, 2010, and 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments:
*
AFC (Asia): 4 or 5
*
CAF (Africa): 5
*
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
(North, Central America and Caribbean): 3 or 4
*
CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5
*
OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1
*
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
(Europe): 13
* Hosts: 1
Summary of qualification
Withdrew or suspended
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
withdrew from the
AFC second qualifying round for safety concerns related to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Other smaller island states likewise retracted their participation during the World Cup qualification:
Saint Lucia,
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
,
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
,
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
and
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
, while
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
withdrew after the
2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami.
On 9 December 2019, the
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
initially handed Russia a four-year ban from all major international sporting events, after
RUSADA
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; russian: Российское антидопинговое агентство, РУСАДА), established in January 2008, is the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspen ...
was found non-compliant for handing over manipulated lab data to investigators. However, the
Russia national team could still enter qualification, as the ban only applies to the World Cup proper as a world championship. 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. An appeal to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
was filed, but WADA's decision was upheld though reduced to a two-year ban. The CAS ruling also allowed the name "Russia" to be displayed on uniforms if the words "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team" have equal prominence.
If Russia had qualified for the tournament, its players would not have been able to use their country's name alone, flag or anthem at the World Cup, as a result of the nation's two-year ban from world championships and Olympic Games in all sports.
On 27 February 2022, after the threat of boycotts by the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Sweden amid the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, FIFA prohibited the
Russia national football team
The Russia national football team (russian: Сборная России по футболу, Sbornaya Rossii po futbolu) represents the Russian Federation in men's international association football. It is controlled by the Russian Football Uni ...
from playing home matches in Russia; the team would have to play matches
behind closed doors at neutral sites. In addition, the team would have been prohibited from competing under the name, flag, or national anthem of Russia, and had to compete under the name "Football Union of Russia" (RFU). On 28 February, however, in accordance with a recommendation by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC), FIFA suspended the participation of Russia.
Poland were subsequently given a
walkover
John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...
for their
play-off semi-final match scheduled against Russia.
The
Russian Football Union announced they would appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Their request for a temporary lift of the ban was rejected on 18 March.
Format
The formats of the qualifying competitions depended on each confederation ''(see below)''. Each round might be played in either of the following formats:
*League format, in which 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, in which two teams play 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):
#
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
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
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 when teams finishing in the same position across different groups are compared to determine which teams advance to the next stage, the criteria depend on the competition format and require the approval of FIFA (regulations Article 20.8).
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. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
(regulations Article 20.10).
Confederation qualification
AFC
The opening two rounds of qualifying also served as
qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
for the
2023 AFC Asian Cup
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...
. Therefore,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, the 2022 FIFA World Cup host, only participated in the first two rounds of qualifying.
The qualification structure is as follows:
*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 eight group winners and the four best group runners-up were set to advance to the third round. As Qatar won their group, the fifth-best runner-up advanced in their stead.
[
*Third round: 12 teams that had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of 6 teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the World Cup, and the two third-placed teams advanced to the fourth round.
*Fourth round: One third-placed team in each third round group played against each other in a single match, the winners advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
]
Final positions (third round)
Fourth round
CAF
CAF announced on 10 July 2019 a reversion to the format used for its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification competition.
*First round: Twenty-eight teams (ranked 27–54) played home-and-away over two legs. The fourteen winners advanced to the second round.
*Second round: Forty 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 advanced to the third round.
*Third round: Ten teams that had advanced from the second round played home-and-away over two legs. The five winners qualified for the World Cup, and no teams advance to the intercontinental playoffs.
Third round
CONCACAF
CONCACAF initially announced on 10 July 2019 a restructured format for the qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, on 25 June 2020, following FIFA's decision to postpone the September international window because of the 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." On 27 July, CONCACAF announced a new qualifying format for the World Cup.
*First round: Thirty 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: Six first round group winners played in a two-legged home-and-away series. The three winners advanced to the third round.
*Third round: Eight teams, three second-round winners and the top five CONCACAF teams (Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras) also based on those FIFA rankings, played home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group. The top three teams qualified for the World Cup and the fourth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions (third round)
CONMEBOL
The CONMEBOL Council decided on 24 January 2019 to maintain the same qualification structure used for the previous six tournaments. From October 2020 to March 2022 (previously scheduled for March 2020 to November 2021, but later postponed by the pandemic), all ten CONMEBOL teams played in a league of home-and-away round-robin matches. The top four teams qualified for the World Cup and the fifth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions
OFC
Qualifying was expected to begin in September 2020, but the FIFA international window in that month for the OFC was postponed by the pandemic.
Earlier in July that year, 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. After continued delays, by September 2021 the OFC felt it was "not possible at this time to organise a qualifying competition within the Oceania region" and it was instead staged in Qatar in March 2022.
The qualifying stage was to be a single match on 13 March 2022 between the two lowest-ranked participating OFC nations in the FIFA World Rankings
The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...
, with the winner advancing to the group stage. Then eight remaining teams were drawn into two groups of four, playing single leg round-robin. The top two teams from each group advanced to a single leg knockout stage. The final winner advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final stage
UEFA
The draw for the first round (group stage) was held in Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, Switzerland, on 7 December 2020, 18:00 CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
(UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
**B ...
). However, because of the 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. Earlier on 18 June, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the draw regulations for the qualifying group stage. The 55 teams were seeded into six pots based on the FIFA Men's World Rankings
The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil national football team, Brazil . The teams of the List of men's national football teams, men's member nations of FIFA, football's w ...
of November 2020, after the league phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League
The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...
.
The qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon
Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Ge ...
, Switzerland on 4 December 2019. The qualification depends, in part, on results from the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, although to a lesser degree than UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
. The structure maintained UEFA's usual 'group stage/playoff stage' structure, with only the specific format of the play-offs amended.
* 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): 12 teams (ten group runners-up and the best two Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) were drawn into three play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn), with the three path winners qualifying for the World Cup.
Final positions (first round)
Second round
Inter-confederation play-offs
There were two inter-confederation play-offs[Described by FIFA's website as "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 intercontinental play-offs".] to determine the final two qualification spots for the finals. They were played in Qatar on 13–14 June 2022.
AFC v CONMEBOL
CONCACAF v OFC
Top goalscorers
Below are goalscorer lists for all confederations and the inter-confederation play-offs:
* AFC
* CAF
*CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
* CONMEBOL
* OFC
*UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
* Inter-confederation play-offs
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022 Fifa World Cup Qualification
Qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
FIFA World Cup qualification
Sports events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
Sports events affected by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine