With over 200 days until the 2022 FIFA World Cup gets underway, here is the guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Draw in Qatar.
Qatar are set to host the FIFA World Cup for the very first time between 21 November – 18 December 2022, where France enter the tournament as reigning champions in what is set to be a competitive tournament.
Despite only 32 teams qualifying for the Finals tournament, 37 teams however will feature in the draw due to the qualifying play-offs not being fully completed, meaning that Wales and Scotland will also be in the hat alongside England for the interest of UK based fans.
Now here is a full guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Draw from qualified teams to date and time of the draw itself.
When and Where Does The Draw For 2022 FIFA World Cup Take Place?
The draw for 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place on Friday 1 April at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre from 7pm AST (5pm UK Time).
Who Is Involved In The Draw?
Qatar automatically qualified for the draw as tournament hosts and have since been joined by 27 other teams from several federations across the world, although three further qualifying spots won’t be finalised until June 2022 (denoted * where appropriate).
AFC
- Iran
- South Korea
- Saudi Arabia
- Japan
- United Arab Emirates/Australia*
*Winner of United Arab Emirates’ AFC play-off against Australia will face Peru in an inter-confederation play-off in June for one of the last remaining spots in the World Cup.
CAF
- Senegal
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- Morocco
- Tunisia
CONMEBOL
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Ecuador
- Peru*
*Peru will play the winner of United Arab Emirates’ Play-Off tie against Australia in an inter-confederation play-off in June for one of the last remaining spots in the World Cup.
CONCACAF
- Canada
- Mexico
- USA
- Costa Rica*
*Costa Rica will play New Zealand in an inter-confederation play-off in June for one of the last remaining spots in the World Cup.
OFC
- New Zealand*
*New Zealand will play Costa Rica in an inter-confederation play-off in June for one of the last remaining spots in the World Cup.
UEFA
- Serbia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- France
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Croatia
- England
- Germany
- Portugal
- Poland
- Wales/Scotland/Ukraine*
*One of Wales, Scotland or Ukraine will qualify but Scotland and Ukraine are yet to play their Play-Off Semi-Final, with the winner of that tie facing Wales in the Play-Off Final.
How Will The Draw Work?
With 32 teams set to feature at the tournament despite three qualification spots not yet finalised, there will be four pots of eight balls in the draw with hosts, Qatar designated A1 in Pot One which will automatically translate to Group A once the draw is underway.
Qatar will be joined by the seven highest-ranked qualified teams according to FIFA Rankings with the eight next best qualified teams to Pot Two and likewise for Pot Three, whilst Pot Four will contain the five lowest-ranked qualified teams plus undecided play-off spots.
Here is how all four pots look in full with eight teams allocated to each pot.
| Pot One | Pot Two | Pot Three | Pot Four |
| Qatar | Mexico | Senegal | Cameroon |
| Brazil | Netherlands | Iran | Canada |
| Belgium | Denmark | Japan | Ecuador |
| France | Germany | Morocco | Saudi Arabia |
| Argentina | Uruguay | Serbia | Ghana |
| England | Switzerland | Poland | Wales/Scotland/Ukraine |
| Spain | USA | South Korea | Peru/Australia/UAE |
| Portugal | Croatia | Tunisia | Costa Rica/New Zealand |
No teams from the same confederation across AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF will be permitted to be drawn together in the same group, whilst a maximum of two teams from within UEFA’s confederation can be allocated to a single group together.
The draw will begin with Pot One and end with Pot Four, with each team once selected allocated to the first available group in alphabetical order, with teams in the first pot automatically placed as position one within each group,
The constraints applied to UEFA teams placement in groups will also be applied to the the placeholder teams involved in undecided play-offs based on their confederation.
Further draws related to the positioning of teams within pots two-four (e.g. A2, A3 & A4 in Group A) will follow once a team from those three pots have been drawn out.
FIFA have also confirmed that the eight groups have been split for the Group Stage in terms of stadium allocation, with four groups in each separate overall group sharing four stadiums amongst those groups.
Groups A, B, E & F have been allocated the following four stadiums:
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Khalifa International Stadium
- Al Thumama Stadium
- Ahmed bin Ali Stadium
Groups C, D, G & H meanwhile have been allocated the following four stadiums:
- Lusail Iconic Stadium
- Stadium 974
- Education City Stadium
- Al Janoub Stadium
How To Watch 2022 FIFA World Cup Draw?
FIFA will stream the draw live for international viewers via FIFA.com as well as their social media channels across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Several individual broadcasters around the world will also televise the draw live so check your local TV guide to discover how you can watch the draw from wherever you’re currently based.
UK fans will be able to watch coverage on BBC One from 4:45pm BST, although BBC will shift coverage across to BBC Two at 6pm BST to make way for the national news bulletin on the main channel.
BBC will also stream full coverage for UK fans on BBC iPlayer if unable to watch live on linear TV.
Leave a Reply