FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2021& 2022
The 22nd FIFA World Cup is expected to begin on November 21, with Senegal taking on the Netherlands at Doha’s Al Thumama Stadium. The road to the FIFA World Cup 2022TM has reached a crossroads in Asia.
After an almost two-year journey in Round 2, twelve teams have qualified for the third round. Group winners: Syria (A), Australia (B), and Iran (IR). Iran (C), Saudi Arabia (D), Japan (F), the United Arab Emirates (G), and the Republic of Korea (H) will be joined by the top five runners-up, China PR (A), Oman €, Iraq (C), Vietnam (G), and Lebanon (H). Qatar won Group E, although as hosts, they have already qualified for the World Cup and will not compete.
What are FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
The FIFA World Cup qualification process is the procedure through which a national association football team qualifies for the FIFA World Cup final competition which also know as FIFA World Cup Qatar. As of the 2022 edition, the qualification decreases the field of eligible contestants from 211 to 32 for the finals (to be expanded to 48 from 2026 onwards).
FIFA’s six continental confederations organize qualifying events: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe).
FIFA determines the number of slots in the finals assigned to each zone for each World Cup based on the number and relative strength of the confederations’ teams.
The hosts receive automatic berths, as have the defending champions throughout the competition’s history. Unlike in other sports, the results of past World Cups or continental championships are not considered.
The current certification procedure, known as the 2022 qualification, began in 2019 and will conclude in 2022.
All World Cup Qualifiers Table and Results
All world cup qualifiers’ results are given below in tables.
GROUP A
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Serbia | 8 | 9 | 20 |
| Portugal | 8 | 11 | 17 |
| Rep of Ireland | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| Luxembourg | 8 | -10 | 9 |
| Azerbaijan | 8 | -13 | 1 |
GROUP B
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Spain | 8 | 10 | 19 |
| Sweden | 8 | 6 | 15 |
| Greece | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| Georgia | 8 | -6 | 5 |
| Kosovo | 8 | -10 | 7 |
Group C
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Switzerland | 8 | 13 | 18 |
| Italy | 8 | 11 | 16 |
| Northern Ireland | 8 | -1 | 9 |
| Bulgaria | 8 | -8 | 8 |
| Lithuania | 8 | -15 | 3 |
Group D
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| France | 8 | 15 | 18 |
| Ukraine | 8 | 3 | 12 |
| Finland | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| Kazakhstan | 8 | –15 | 3 |
Group E
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Belgium | 8 | 19 | 20 |
| Wales | 8 | 5 | 15 |
| Czech Republic | 8 | 5 | 14 |
| Estonia | 8 | -12 | 4 |
| Belarus | 8 | -17 | 3 |
Group F
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Denmark | 10 | 27 | 27 |
| Scotland | 10 | 10 | 23 |
| Israel | 10 | 2 | 16 |
| Austria | 10 | 2 | 16 |
| Faroe Islands | 10 | -16 | 4 |
| Moldova | 10 | -25 | 1 |
Group G
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| The Netherlands | 10 | 25 | 23 |
| Turkey | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| Norway | 10 | 7 | 18 |
| Montenegro | 10 | -1 | 12 |
| Latvia | 10 | -3 | 9 |
| Gibraltar | 10 | -39 | 0 |
Group H
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Croatia | 10 | 17 | 23 |
| Russia | 10 | 13 | 22 |
| Slovakia | 10 | 7 | 14 |
| Slovenia | 10 | 1 | 14 |
| Cyprus | 10 | -17 | 5 |
| Malta | 10 | -21 | 5 |
Group I
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Poland | 10 | 36 | 26 |
| England | 10 | 19 | 20 |
| Albania | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| Hungary | 10 | 6 | 17 |
| Andorra | 10 | -16 | 6 |
| San Marino | 10 | -45 | 0 |
Group J
| Team | GP | GD | Pts |
| Germany | 10 | 32 | 27 |
| North Macedonia | 10 | 12 | 18 |
| Romania | 10 | 5 | 17 |
| Armenia | 10 | -11 | 12 |
| Iceland | 10 | -6 | 9 |
| Liechtenstein | 10 | -32 | 1 |
World Cup Qualifiers
World Cup Qualifiers Asia (AFC)
National teams members of the Asian Football Confederation competed in the Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification as qualifiers for the tournament that will be held in Qatar (AFC). AFC teams had 4.5 slots available in the final match, including Qatar (who qualified automatically as hosts). These slots included four direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot.
Four rounds made up the qualification phase; the first two also served as the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifying rounds. Qatar took part in these rounds even though they were already qualified as hosts to the Asian Cup. For the cancelled 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup, the first round would have served as a qualifying match.
Entrants
The AFC’s 46 FIFA-affiliated countries all participated in qualification. Which countries would face off in the first round was decided using the FIFA World Rankings as of April 2019. The most recent FIFA Rankings previous to those draws will be used for seeding in the second and third-round draws.
Both China PR and Qatar, the hosts of the 2023 Asian Cup and the 2022 World Cup, respectively, advanced to the second round of the qualifying tournaments by the combined format.
Timor-Leste was disqualified from the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying when it was discovered that they had fielded 12 players who were ineligible for the campaign. Timor-Leste was permitted to compete but was not allowed to qualify for the Asian Cup because FIFA did not prohibit them from the World Cup qualifiers.
World Cup Qualifiers South America (CONMEBOL)
National teams of the South American Football Confederation compete in the South American region of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification as qualifiers for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar (CONMEBOL). The final event offers CONMEBOL teams a total of 4.5 spots (4 direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot).
The application period started on October 8, 2020, and expires on September 21, 2022. Luis Suárez of Uruguay scored the opening goal of the round-robin. Suárez opened the scoring in the group for the third time (after 2010 and 2014) and for the fourth time in a row (Martin Cáceres scored the opening goal of the 2018 process).
Entrants
All ten of CONMEBOL’s national teams participated in qualification. Teams from Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay earned World Cup spots.
World Cup Qualifiers African (CAF)
National teams of the Confederation of African Football competed in the African section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification as qualifiers for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar (CAF). There were a total of five spots available for CAF teams in the championship tournament.
Entrants
All 54 CAF football associations with FIFA affiliations participated in the qualification. Which countries would face off in the first round was decided using the FIFA World Rankings as of July 2019. The latest recent FIFA Rankings previous to those draws were used for seeding in the second and third rounds.
If Libya didn’t settle debts owed to their former coach Javier Clemente, they risked being barred from the qualifying rounds. But after FIFA gave Libya a new deadline, they obliged. Due to the suspension of their football association, Sierra Leone also faced the possibility of being disqualified from the qualifying rounds. The FIFA Council revoked the ban on June 3, 2019.
World Cup Qualifiers Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)
National teams that are members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football competed in the North, Central American and Caribbean region of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to qualify for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar (CONCACAF). The final tournament offered CONCACAF teams three direct spots and one inter-confederation play-off slot.
Entrants
The CONCACAF region’s 35 FIFA-affiliated national teams initially participated in qualification. Based on their FIFA rankings as of July 2020, teams were seeded. However, Saint Lucia later withdrew, leaving only 34 teams in the competition.
World Cup Qualifiers Oceania (OFC)
National team members of the Oceania Football Confederation competed in the Oceanian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification as qualifiers for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar (OFC). There were 0.5 berths overall, or one inter-confederation play-off slot, available for OFC teams in the championship event.
The qualifier was held as a consolidated competition in Qatar from March 17 to 30, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania.
Entrants
On July 28 2020, the OFC confirmed that the qualifications would involve all eleven OFC teams. On November 29 2021, the date of the group stage draw, FIFA reported that nine of the eleven FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC would enter qualification, as American Samoa and Samoa had withdrawn. On January 29 2022, two months after the group stage draw but two months before the competition was to begin, Tonga also started due to the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami.
Due to the majority of players testing positive for COVID-19 after the competition began on March 19, 2022, Vanuatu withdrew. Due to players testing positive for COVID-19 on March 23, 2022, Cook Islands was also removed from the competition after it had begun.
World Cup Qualifiers Union of European (UEFA)
National teams of the Union of European Football Associations competed in the European section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to qualify for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar (UEFA). For the final tournament, UEFA teams could choose from 13 different spots.
Following the relocation of UEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to the COVID-19 epidemic, UEFA confirmed in March 2020 that the two matchdays scheduled to take place in June 2021 would be changed.
The March and September 2021 windows in the FIFA International Match Calendar were increased from two to three matchdays, as stated by UEFA on September 24, 2020, to enable the completion of the qualifying group stage in November 2021 as planned. The FIFA Council accepted the modifications to the International Match Calendar on December 4, 2020, extending each window for March and September 2021 by one day.
Entrants
World Cup qualifiers Europe was open to all 55 UEFA-affiliated national teams.
