The draw takes place on Friday April 1
The draw for the FIFA 2022 World Cup group stage takes place on Friday April 1 - no, really - as nations discover who they will face in Qatar this coming November.
England, who breezed through qualifying without suffering a single defeat, are amongst the favourites to win the tournament.
They could also be joined by one of the fellow home nations in Wales or Scotland, depending on how either fare in their World Cup play-off matches.
Here is everything you need to know about the draw.
Who are the current holders of the World Cup?
France are the current world champions. They beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 final in Moscow.
Mario Mandzukic's own goal was followed by goals from Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé - enough to overcome goals from Ivan Perisic and Mandzukic for Croatia.
When is the draw and what time will it start in the UK?
The draw for the FIFA 2022 World Cup group stage takes place on
Friday April 1, 2022 at the DECC venue in Doha, with a start time of 7pm local time,
5pm in the UK.
How does the draw work?
All 32 teams who have qualified for the tournament will be divided into
four pots of
eight teams.
Teams will then be drawn from each pot and be allocated into one of the eight groups. The draw will also work pot-by-pot, so: all of pot one first, then pot two, then pot three and finally, pot four.
Once each team is drawn, they will be allocated into one of the eight groups, from A to H.
As the tournament hosts, Qatar will have a different coloured ball and will therefore be automatically allocated to group A. The remaining seven teams from pot one will be allocated into groups B-H.
FIFA also rules that only
one nation from each qualification zone should be in a group, for example: Brazil should not be drawn in the same group as Argentina - however this rule does not apply to UEFA teams.
Each group can have at least
one, but no more than
two teams from the UEFA confederation. It means five out of the eight groups will 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 are
four separate pots which 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
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.
Kick-off will be at 1pm local time,
10am British 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 6pm local time and
3pm British time.
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