World Cup 2022 QUALIFICATIONS
Rules and overview: All you need to know
We are left with just months before another season of the men’s FIFA World Cup which will be the very first edition to be hosted in the Middle East and the first to be held at the end of the year’s calendar in November and December. Qatar 2022 will have eight stadiums prepared across five major cities (Lusail Stadium, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah, and Doha) where the fight for the crown as World’s football champion will be determined. The World Cup 2022 Qualifications matches have been spread for just over a year, which started March 2021 to end March 2022 following strict rules. This is due to the effect of the coronavirus which has greatly affected the viability of the qualifying paths coupled with local situations in various countries.
How it works: match dates, group stage, play-off format, finals
The 2022 World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar and due to its hot nature, it will be the first to be held in the winter months rather than the usual summer ones. The final draw is expected to be held in April 2022 immediately after the international opening fixtures in March to determine the playoff formats. The process by which the FIFA governing body (comprising of UEFA’s 55 member associations) uses in deciding which teams are fit for the FIFA World Cup has been whittled down to 32 teams to compete in eight groups for the 2022 final tournament, which has been like a tradition for the last six editions since France 1998, thus making this World Cup 2022 Qualifications even more enticing!
The official launching ceremony will be held at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor with an opening match featuring the host country on Monday, November 21st. While Sunday, December 18th will mark the end of the tournament where a final will be played at Lusail Stadium in Doha exactly one week before Christmas day. As agreed by the FIFA Executive Committee in Zürich that slots allocation would stand as follows:
- AFC (Asia): 4 or 5
- CAF (Africa): 5
- CONCACAF (North, Central America, and the Caribbean): 3 or 4
- CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5
- OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1
- UEFA (Europe): 13
- Hosts: 1
Rules of advancing to
the next stage
Formats
Each confederation is responsible for the qualification formats used at every round of play during their qualifier. The league format is where round-robin matches (everyone plays everyone) are organized between all groups formed. While the knockout layout is seen as two teams playing home-and-away on two-legged matches.
Tiebraker
When there is a tie between 2 or 3, the ranking of teams in each group is established on the following basis:
- Points scheme (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and none for a loss)
- Overall goal difference
- Points obtained in matches between the tied teams
- All goals scored in matches between the tied teams
- In case where only two sides are considered, all goals scored during away matches are counted
- Taking into consideration the fair play mechanism, we have: first yellow card(-1 point), second yellow card = indirect red card (-3 points), direct red card (-4 points), yellow and direct red cards (-5 points)
Qualifier Group Stage
55 European nations have been competing in the World Cup 2022 Qualifications since March 2021 to secure a spot among the 13 seats available consisting of ten groups of 5 or 6 members. These runners-up will successfully join the playoffs with the two best-ranked group winners (Austria and Czech Republic) from the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League who happen not to appear among the top two qualifiers in their respective groups.
A draw was made on the 26th of November, where the 12 teams were paired into groups of three routes, each having 4 teams featuring a semifinal and final for a place at the World Cup. These were seeded based on round points achieved while the two UEFA Nations League sides were unseeded.
England after 10-0 landslide victory over San Marino, sealed an automatic qualification as they appeared top on their group. Whereas Portugal, Scotland, and Wales are still to push through the playoffs where three teams will proceed in March to add the already qualified to round up the figure 13.
Which Teams Have Qualified so far?
The very first squad to secure the 2022 World Cup was the four-time World Cup winner Germany from their European qualification process. Brazil was equally the first to earn a place from their South American side with five World Cup 2022 Qualifications matches left followed by Argentina. A complete list of already nations include:
Playoff format, scheme
dates, and venues
A total of 32 teams will feature for this year’s edition of the World Cup competition which will be categorized into groups of four containing 4 or 5 teams. To qualify for the tournament, two stages (rounds) exist:
1st Round Group Stage
This phase will run for a period of 12 days (that is from November 21 to December 2) where round-robin matches (precisely four) will be played on a daily to see winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16. Also, as a means to choose the best kick-off times and fit into the different time zones (for television audiences and supporters outside Qatar), matches will only be slotted to specific stadiums after the final draw has taken place for certainty purposes. Eight stadiums will be used throughout the group games which include: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Lusail Stadium, Ras Abur Aboud Stadium, Education City Stadium, and Al Janoub Stadium.
The round of 16 follows suit from the third to the sixth of December and at this level, two teams from each of the eight groups will qualify for the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament while the bottom two are eliminated. This will see the number trimmed down from 16 to 8 to battle at the second round of the gameplay.
Rules for the knockout stages
- Extra times are played if a draw is seen after 90 minutes of playtime and if still in a deadlock after extra time, penalty shootouts will take effect.
- Four substitutions are permitted during the extra time for each team.
2nd Round
Quarter-finals mark the beginning of the next round of the contest to take place December 9 and 10 while the kick-off times for these games will be at 6pm and 10pm local time. Winners of each pair qualify to the semi-finals while maintaining the same match regulations as above. The four winners of the quarter-finals face each other in a battle for the grand final at the Doha stadium where the champion will emerge. The ultimate question is, will the World’s defending champion France make it up to this stage?
A third-place play-off will equally be played on the seventeenth of December and on the eighteenth, the tournaments final which will be a must-watch match by all throughout the world. As football supporters will be anxious to witness the world’s greatest champ ascend to glory in a clash after month-long wait.