2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is a forthcoming men’s international association football championship contested by the senior national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup competition. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world,[1] and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.[a] The tournament is to be the last with a 32-team field; the field is to increase to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Host country
Qatar
Dates
20 November – 18 December
Teams
32 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)
8 (in 5 host cities)
Because of Qatar's intense summer heat and humidity, this World Cup will be held in the winter, the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn; it will be played in a reduced timeframe of 29 days.[2] The opening match will be between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final is to be held on 18 December 2022, Qatar National Day. The reigning World Cup champions are France, who defeated Croatia 4–2 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.
Teams
Qualification
Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
FIFA's six continental confederations organised their own qualifying competitions. All 211 FIFA member associations were eligible to enter qualification. The Qatari national team, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) obliged Qatar to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also act as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[27] Since Qatar reached the final stage as winners in their group, Lebanon, the fifth-best second place team, advanced instead.[28] France, the reigning World Cup champions also went through qualifying stages as normal.[29] Saint Lucia initially entered CONCACAF qualification but withdrew from it before their first match. North Korea withdrew from the AFC qualifying round due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both American Samoa and Samoa withdrew before the OFC qualification draw. Tonga withdrew after the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. Due to COVID-19 outbreaks in their squads, Vanuatu and Cook Islands also withdrew because of the travel restrictions.[citation needed]
Of the 32 nations qualified to play at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 24 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2018.[30] Qatar are the only team making their debut in the FIFA World Cup, becoming the first hosts to make their tournament debut since Italy in 1934. As a result, the 2022 tournament is the first World Cup in which none of the teams that earned a spot through qualification were making their debut. The Netherlands, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon and the United States returned to the tournament after missing the 2018 tournament. Canada returned after 36 years, their only prior appearance being in 1986.[31] Wales made their first appearance in 64 years – a record gap for a European team, their only previous participation having been in 1958.[32]
Four-time world champions and reigning European champions Italy failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup for the first time in their history, losing in the qualification play-off semi-finals.[33] The Italians were the only former champions that failed to qualify, and therefore the highest ranked team in the FIFA World Rankings to do so. Italy are also the fourth team to have failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup having won the previous UEFA European Championship, after Czechoslovakia in 1978, Denmark in 1994 and Greece in 2006.[34] The previous World Cup hosts, Russia, were disqualified from competing due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[35] Chile, the 2015 and 2016 Copa América winners also failed to qualify for the second consecutive time. Nigeria went out to Ghana on away goals in CAF's final playoff round, having qualified for the previous three World Cups and six out of the last seven. Egypt, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Iceland and Sweden, all of whom qualified for the 2018 World Cup, also did not qualify for the 2022 tournament.
Ghana were the lowest ranked team to qualify, ranked 61st.
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate final positions in the FIFA Men's World Ranking before the tournament.
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate final positions in the FIFA Men's World Ranking before the tournament.AFC
Teams
.AFC
Australia (38)
Iran (20)
Japan (24)
Qatar (50) (hosts)
Saudi Arabia (51)
South Korea (28)
CAF (5)
CAF (5)
Cameroon (43)
Ghana (61)
Morocco (22)
Senegal (18)
Tunisia (30)
CONCACAF (4)
Canada (41)
Costa Rica (31)
Mexico (13)
United States (16)
CONMEBOL (4)
Argentina (3)
Brazil (1)
Ecuador (44)
Uruguay (14)
OFC (0)
None qualified
UEFA (13)
Belgium (2)
Croatia (12)
Denmark (10)
England (5)
France (4)
Germany (11)
Netherlands (8)
Poland (26)
Portugal (9)
Serbia (21)
Spain (7)
Switzerland (15)
Wales (19)
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