The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the qualifying process that decided the 31 teams that would join hosts and debutants Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Parallel tournaments were organised by FIFA's six confederations. Qualification began on 6 June 2019 with several matches of the AFC zone, the first being between Mongolia and Brunei, and ended on 14 June 2022 with an inter-confederation play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand.At the time a rescheduled match of the CONMEBOL section was still due to be played, but it was ultimately cancelled. Mongolian player Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal netted the first goal.
In contrast to previous editions, there was no general preliminary draw, with confederations carrying out separate draws due to their differing timelines. The qualification process suffered numerous postponements from March 2020 onwards due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualified teams
TeamMethod ofqualificationDate ofqualificationTotaltimesqualifiedLasttimequalifiedCurrentconsecutiveappearancesPrevious bestperformanceHosts 2 December 2010 1 —1 —UEFA Group J winners 11 October 2021 20 2018 18 Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)UEFA Group F winners 12 October 2021 6 2018 2 Quarter-finals (1998)CONMEBOL winners 11 November 2021 22 2018 22 Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)UEFA Group D winners 13 November 2021 16 2018 7 Winners (1998, 2018)UEFA Group E winners 13 November 2021 14 2018 3 Third place (2018)UEFA Group A winners 14 November 2021 13 2018 2 Fourth place (1930, 1962)UEFA Group B winners 14 November 2021 16 2018 12 Winners (2010)UEFA Group H winners 14 November 2021 6 2018 3 Runners-up (2018)UEFA Group C winners 15 November 2021 12 2018 5 Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)UEFA Group I winners 15 November 2021 16 2018 7 Winners (1966)UEFA Group G winners 16 November 2021 11 2014 1 Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)CONMEBOL runners up 16 November 2021 18 2018 13 Winners (1978, 1986)AFC third round group A winners 27 January 2022 6 2018 3 Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018)AFC third round group A runners-up 1 February 2022 11 2018 10 Fourth place (2002)AFC third round group B winners 24 March 2022 6 2018 2 Round of 16 (1994)AFC third round group B runners-up 24 March 2022 7 2018 7 Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018)CONMEBOL third place 24 March 2022 14 2018 4 Winners (1930, 1950)CONMEBOL fourth place 24 March 2022 4 2014 1 Round of 16 (2006)CONCACAF third round winners 27 March 2022 2 1986 1 Group stage (1986)CAF third round winners 29 March 2022 4 2014 1 Quarter-finals (2010)CAF third round winners 29 March 2022 3 2018 2 Quarter-finals (2002)UEFA play-offs Path B winners 29 March 2022 9 2018 2 Third place (1974, 1982)UEFA play-offs Path C winners 29 March 2022 8 2018 6 Third place (1966)CAF third round winners 29 March 2022 6 2018 2 Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018)CAF third round winners 29 March 2022 6 2018 2 Round of 16 (1986)CAF third round winners 29 March 2022 8 2014 1 Quarter-finals (1990)CONCACAF third round third place 30 March 2022 11 2014 1 Third place (1930)CONCACAF third round runners-up 30 March 2022 17 2018 8 Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)UEFA play-offs Path A winners 5 June 2022 2 1958 1 Quarter-finals (1958)AFC v CONMEBOL play-off winners 13 June 2022 6 2018 5 Round of 16 (2006)CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners 14 June 2022 6 2018 3 Quarter-finals (2014) Notes
Qualification process All FIFA member associations, of which there were 211, were eligible to enter qualification. Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar was obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also acted as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. As Qatar won their group, the fifth-best group runners-up, Lebanon, advanced to the AFC third round instead. For the first time after the initial two tournaments of 1930 and 1934, the World Cup would be hosted by a country whose national team had never played a finals match before. The reigning World Cup champions France also participated in qualifying as normal.
The allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich, Switzerland after the FIFA Congress. The committee decided that the same allocation used in 2006, 2010, and 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments:
AFC (Asia): 4 or 5 CAF (Africa): 5 CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean): 3 or 4 CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5 OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1 UEFA (Europe): 13 Hosts: 1
Summary of qualification ConfederationAvailable slots Teams startedTeams eliminatedTeams qualifiedQualifying start dateQualifying end dateAFC 4+1 or 5+1 45+1 40 5+1 6 June 2019 13 June 2022CAF 5 54 49 5 4 September 2019 29 March 2022CONCACAF 3 or 4 34 30 4 24 March 2021 14 June 2022CONMEBOL 4 or 5 10 6 4 8 October 2020 13 June 2022OFC 0 or 1 7 7 0 17 March 2022 14 June 2022UEFA 13 55 42 13 24 March 2021 5 June 2022Total31+1205+117431+1 6 June 2019 14 June 2022
Withdrew or suspended 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 due to travel restrictions following the pandemic. 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.
Participation of Russia On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency handed Russia a four-year ban from all major international sporting events, after RUSADA was found non-compliant for handing over manipulated lab data to investigators. However, the Russia national team could still enter qualification, as the ban only applied to the World Cup proper as a world championship. The WADA ruling allowed athletes who were not involved in doping or the coverup to compete, but prohibited the use of the Russian flag and anthem at major international sporting events. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was filed, but WADA's decision was upheld though reduced to a two-year ban. The CAS ruling also allowed the name "Russia" to be displayed on uniforms if the words "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team" had equal prominence. If Russia had qualified for the tournament, its players would not have been able to use their country's name alone, flag or anthem at the World Cup, as a result of the nation's two-year ban from world championships and Olympic Games in all sports.
On 27 February 2022, after the threat of boycotts by the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden (the three teams alongside Russia in the UEFA second qualifying round play-off bracket) amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA prohibited the Russia national team from playing home matches in Russia; the team would have to play matches behind closed doors at neutral sites. In addition, the team would have been prohibited from competing under the name, flag, or national anthem of Russia, and had to compete under the name "Football Union of Russia" (RFU). On 28 February, however, FIFA suspended the participation of Russia. Poland were subsequently given a walkover for their play-off semi-final match scheduled against Russia. The Russian Football Union announced they would appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Their request for a temporary lift of the ban was rejected on 18 March.
Format The formats of the qualifying competitions depended on each confederation (see below). Each round was played in either of the following formats: League format, in which more than two teams formed groups to play home-and-away round-robin matches, or in exceptions permitted by the FIFA Organising Committee, single round-robin matches hosted by one of the participating teams or on neutral territory. Knockout format, in which two teams played home-and-away two-legged matches or single-legged matches.
Tiebreakers In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.4 and 20.6): Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Overall goal difference Overall goals scored Points in matches between tied teams Goal difference in matches between tied teams Goals scored in matches between tied teams Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format) Fair play points first yellow card: minus 1 point indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points direct red card: minus 4 points yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
In cases when teams finishing in the same position across different groups were compared to determine which teams advanced to the next stage, the criteria depended on the competition format and required the approval of FIFA (regulations Article 20.8).
In knockout format, the team that had the higher aggregate score over the two legs progressed to the next round. If aggregate scores finish level, then the away goals rule was applied. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out (regulations Article 20.10).
Confederation qualification
AFC
The opening two rounds of qualifying also served as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Therefore, Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup host, only participated in the first two rounds of qualifying.
The qualification structure was as follows: First round: Twelve teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round. Second round: Forty teams (ranked 1–34, including Qatar as the host, and the six winners from the first round) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up were set to advance to the third round and AFC Asian Cup. As Qatar won their group, the fifth-best runner-up advanced in their stead. Third round: Twelve teams that had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the World Cup, and the two third-placed teams advanced to the fourth round. Fourth round: One third-placed team in each third round group played against each other in a single match, the winners advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions (third round)
Group AGroup B
Fourth round
CAF
CAF announced on 10 July 2019 a reversion to the format used for its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification competition.
First round: Twenty-eight teams (ranked 27–54) played home-and-away over two legs. The fourteen winners advanced to the second round. Second round: Forty teams (teams ranked 1–26 and fourteen first-round winners) were divided into ten groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The ten group winners advanced to the third round. Third round: Ten teams that had advanced from the second round played home-and-away over two legs. The five winners qualified for the World Cup, and no teams advance to the intercontinental playoffs.
Third round
CONCACAF
CONCACAF initially announced on 10 July 2019 a restructured format for the qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, on 25 June 2020, following FIFA's decision to postpone the September international window because of the pandemic, CONCACAF noted that "the challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, means our current World Cup qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed." On 27 July, CONCACAF announced a new qualifying format for the World Cup.