The fact is now as popular as football that the FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to be held in Qatar. It would be the first time ever in the history of football that the FIFA World Cup is going to be held in the Arab World. This is the 22nd World Cup since 1930 when the first World Cup tournament was played in Uruguay (host as well as winner country). The World Cup Qatar 2022 will start from mid November and end in mid December. This is why everyone is excited to know what teams and groups are going to play in the FIFA World Cup Qatar.
A number of 32 nations are qualified to play in the tournament which represents six different regions of the world. Most of the teams which have qualified are from Europe making the fact clear that Europe dominates the sport of football. But what is more interesting is which are these teams? Which nations finally made it to the World Cup Qatar? Which and how many groups are going to compete in the group stage? Let’s take a look at the teams and groups.
Who has made it to the World Cup 2022
Since 1998, six world cups have been played and the number of qualified teams has been 32. Only 32 countries have been participating in the tournament since 1998 when this number was changed from 24 to 32. From the next world cup (2026) this field is going to extend to 48 and 16 more nations would be allowed to qualify for the tournament. Well, the World Cup is not just a tournament but it is the base on which the world champion is determined. Well now it’s time to know who these countries are?
The first country who qualified for the world cup is the Nation with the most World Cup titles, Brazil. Brazil is the legend of football and is also the team which participated in the FIFA World Cup for most of the time. It qualified as a member of CONMEBOL, the South American football federation. Other than Brazil, three more countries have qualified for the world cup 2022. These include the Football king Lionel Messi’s hometown, Argentina, Ecuador and the first host country of the World Cup, Uruguay.
From Europe Denmark, Belgium, Croatia, the Netherlands, Poland, England (originator of Soccer), Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Wales and France, the current world football champion have qualified for the Qatar world cup. Wales has qualified for the first time in 64 years. These countries will accompany Germany, the first European qualifier to the World Cup 2022 with the spirit of Winning. One more country from Europe succeeded in occupying the spot in Qatar world cup, which is Portugal. Portugal qualified through playoffs.
Other than Qatar, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia qualified for the Qatar World Cup as a member of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representing Asia, the largest continent. From South Africa Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon are going to play in the FIFA World Cup 2022. Canada, United States, Mexico and Costa Rica qualified from the North America and Caribbean region.
Groups qualified for FIFA World Cup 2022
Group A
Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands
Group B
England, Iran, the United States and Wales
Group C
Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland
Group D
France, Australia, Denmark and Tunisia
Group E
Spain, Costa Rica, Germany and Japan
Group F
Belgium, Canada, Morocco and Croatia
Group G
Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon
Group H
Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea
Qatar World Cup Fixtures
The Qatar World Cup is scheduled to be played from November 20 to December December 18. The tournament is divided into two phases – group phase and knockout phase. The group phase will run from November 20 to December 2 where the above mentioned groups will compete with each other. On the other hand, the knockout phase will run from December 2 to 18. On December 18, the finale of the tournament will take place which is also a special day for the hosting Country. It’s Qatar National Day on December 18.
Stadiums
Everybody knows that the FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to be held in Qatar but not everyone knows in which stadiums they have to mark their attendance in order to watch their favorite teams and players playing football on the international level. The tournament will go on for around a month and a total of 64 matches will be played across eight different venues. The stadiums are as follows:
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Khalifa International Stadium
- Al Thumama Stadium
- Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium
- Lusail Stadium
- Stadium 974
- Education City Stadium
- Al Janoub Stadium
Tickets
Be quick. It’s the time to revive your craze and passion for football. Just don’t be late to book your tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2022 as the Last Minute Sales Phase is open and will run until December 18. The ticket demand is really very high as a result of which you might lose the opportunity to sit in the front row of the stadium. So, hurry. The online ticket counter is open. You just have to go on the official website of FIFA (fifa.com) and buy tickets. There are two slots of tickets – Qatar residents or International fans.
Squads, Substitutions and much more
Whereas the FIFA World Cups comprised a 23 players squad, qualified nations will take their 26-men squads to the Qatar World Cup. All of the teams are expected to submit their squads by November 14 while some of the nations have already revealed their squads:
Australia Squad
Brazil Squad
Japan Squad
But the process doesn’t end here. All of the squads are provisional until FIFA announces the final list of 26 players for each team on November 15, just the day after submission of squads.
Other than this, there is also a substitution provision for the coaches. Coaches would be allowed to make five substitutions during a normal game and if the match goes on for extra time, they will be permitted one extra substitution.
