2022 World Cup draw: All you need to know

The Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is almost upon us. And as the eyes of the football world turn towards Qatar, and excitement builds in the nations who’ve sealed their places at the global finals, here are all the details about where, when and how the groups and fixtures will be decided.

Where

The Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) in Qatar.

When

Friday 1 April, 18.00 CAT (GMT+2)

Who’s involved

The 32 nations involved in the 2022 World Cup, 29 of which are currently known, will be drawn into eight groups of four. Two of the remaining three spots will be filled by the winners of the Intercontinental Play-offs on 13 or 14 June, with the final berth determined by Path A of the European qualifying play-offs, in which Wales will face off against either Scotland or Ukraine in the final.

The draw will be attended by 2,000 guests and will be led by Carli Lloyd, Jermaine Jenas and Samantha Johnson, assisted by the likes of Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (IR Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia/Mexico), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia).

Procedures

The Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions outlined that the teams already qualified will be allocated according to sporting principles to Pots 1 to 4 based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking released on 31 March. A detailed overview of the draw procedures is available here.

Pots

As hosts, Qatar will take position A1 from Pot 1, where they will be joined by the FIFA Ranking’s seven highest-ranked qualified teams. The countries occupying positions 8-15 on the ranking of the qualified teams will be allocated to Pot 2, while the 16th-23rd best-ranked qualifiers will be placed in Pot 3. Finally, Pot 4 will include the qualified teams in positions 24 to 28, plus three placeholders representing the two winners of the intercontinental play-offs and the remaining UEFA play-off winners.

POT 1

Qatar
Belgium
Brazil
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal

POT 2

Denmark
Netherlands
Germany
Mexico
United States
Switzerland
Croatia
Uruguay

POT 3

Senegal
Iran
Japan
Morocco
Serbia
Poland
South Korea
Tunisia

POT 4

Australia/United Arab Emirates/Peru
New Zealand/Costa Rica
Ukraine/Scotland/Wales
Saudi Arabia
Ecuador
Ghana
Cameroon
Canada

Qatar 2022 World Cup format and schedule
The Qatar World Cup, still with 32 teams, will maintain a classic format of eight groups of four teams that will play three round-robin, one-legged matches. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the round of 16 and will face each other in the following format: A vs B, C vs D, E vs F and G vs H.

In the World Cup, unlike what happens in the European Championship, there is an extra match, the third and fourth place match played by the two teams that lose in the semifinals, the day before the final.

- Group stage: From November 21 to December 2
- Round of 16: 3 to 6 December
- Quarterfinals: December 9 and 10
- Semifinals: December 13 and 14

What’s next

The match schedule will be confirmed after games have been assigned to a stadium and kick-off time for each matchday. The World Cup itself will take place between 21 November and 18 December 2022, with the group stage lasting 12 days and featuring four matches per day.