2022 World Cup qualifying: All you need to know

What is it?

The process by which UEFA's 55 member associations were whittled down to 13 teams for the 2022 final tournament in Qatar.

How did it work?

There were two stages to qualifying:

Group stage
Teams were split into ten groups of five or six (the four teams who reached the 2021 UEFA Nations League finals – Belgium, France, Italy, Spain – were in the smaller groups). The ten group winners qualified for the World Cup.

Play-offs
The three remaining World Cup berths were determined via the play-offs.

Who qualified?

Ten teams qualified after topping their qualifying groups:

Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Netherlands
Serbia
Spain
Switzerland

A further three teams qualified after winning play-offs:

Poland
Portugal
Wales

What was the play-off schedule?

Semi-finals – Thursday 24 March 2022
Path A: Wales 2-1 Austria
Path B: Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic (aet)
Path C: Italy 0-1 North Macedonia, Portugal 3-1 Turkey 

Semi-final – Wednesday 1 June 2022
Path A: Scotland 1-3 Ukraine

Finals – Tuesday 29 March 2022
Path B: Poland 2-0 Sweden
Path C: Portugal 2-0 North Macedonia

Final – Sunday 5 June 2022
Path A: Wales 1-0 Ukraine

What were the groups?

The groups were determined by a draw in Zurich on 7 December 2020.

Group A: Portugal, Serbia*, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan

Group B: Spain*, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo

Group C: Italy, Switzerland*, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania

Group D: France*, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan

Group E: Belgium*, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia

Group F: Denmark*, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Moldova

Group G: Netherlands*, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar

Group H: Croatia*, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta

Group I: England*, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino

Group J: Germany*, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein

*Group winners

When did the qualifying matches take place?

Matchday 1: 24–25 March 2021
Matchday 2: 27–28 March 2021
Matchday 3: 30–31 March 2021
Matchday 4: 1–2 September 2021
Matchday 5: 4–5 September 2021
Matchday 6: 7–8 September 2021
Matchday 7: 8–9 October 2021
Matchday 8: 11–12 October 2021
Matchday 9: 11–13 November 2021
Matchday 10: 14–16 November 2021
Play-offs: 24 & 29 March 2022, 1 & 5 June 2022

When is the 2022 World Cup?

The 22nd finals in Qatar will be the first World Cup not held in May, June, or July; the tournament is instead scheduled for a reduced timeframe between 21 November to 18 December. The World Cup draw took place on Friday 1 April in Doha, Qatar.