The biggest tournament in the world of football, the FIFA World Cup, is about to begin in November, and everyone already has their favorite team for the tournament.
Many people support Argentina, Portugal, England, and other countries. The world cup will be played in Qatar across five cities: Al Wakrah, Doha, Al Khor, Lusail, and Al Rayyan.
However, only a few people know the summary of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, the countries who qualified, and the breakdown of countries that qualified in each continent. Below, you will discover comprehensive information about the FIFA world cup qualifiers.
How Many Teams Qualified for the World Cup 2022?
The FIFA men’s world cup that will be played in Qatar 2022 will have about 32 teams from different countries competing for the trophy.
FIFA has already announced that the competition will take up to 48 teams from the next edition of the tournament, which will be coming up in 2026.
The host country Qatar earned an automatic spot in the world cup, but other countries were required to go through regional qualifying matches.
For the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, a specific number of countries can come from each continent. Below is a breakdown of the maximum number of countries allowed to qualify for the World Cup through the regional qualifying matches.
- Africa (CAF)
About five African countries can qualify for the World Cup, although it is expected to be expanded in 2026.
For the teams that will qualify from Africa, they are mandated to be part of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The qualified African teams include Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, and Tunisia.
- Asia (AFC)
About four countries’ teams plus one playoff qualifier are expected to be at the World Cup from Asia. Since Qatar is part of the Asian continent, they were given free spots at the World Cup since they are the host.
The countries that qualified from Asia include the hosts, Qatar, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. The teams qualified from Asia must be part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
- Europe (UEFA)
Europe is the continent that has the most countries qualifying for the world cup in each edition; about 13 countries are expected to qualify from this continent.
The countries qualifying from Europe must be part of the Union of European Football Association (UEFA).
Countries that qualified from Europe include Belgium, France, Serbia, the Netherlands, England, Germany, Denmark, Croatia, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, and Wales.
- North/Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
About three countries plus one playoff qualifier are expected to come from North/Central America and the Caribbeans. They must be part of the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean Association of Football.
The countries that qualified from this part of the world are the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
- South America (CONMEBOL)
Four countries from South America will be at the World Cup, including one playoff qualifier.
Countries that qualified for CONMEBOL (The South American Football Confederation) are Uruguay, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil.
The FIFA World Cup Teams That Qualified
About 32 teams made it to the world cup after the qualifiers stage, and below are the teams who took a spot for the world cup.
- Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
- Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
- Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
- Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
- Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
- Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
- Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Timeline
Here is a brief timeline of how the FIFA world will run, the date for the kickoff, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final stage.
- November 20 – the World Cup starts.
- December 2 – Final set of group-stage matches is played.
- December 3-6 – The round of 16 stages begins.
- December 9-10 – The quarter-finals stage
- December 13-14 – the World Cup semi-finals take place.
- December 18 – the World Cup final is played.