The 2022 World Cup groups have been confirmed
The draw for the FIFA 2022 World Cup group stage took place on Friday (April 1), with England and the other 31 nations discovering who they will face in Qatar this coming November.
The Three Lions, who eased through qualifying without suffering a single defeat, are amongst the favourites to win the prestigious tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s men could be joined by one of the other home nations in Wales or Scotland – depending on how either fare in their World Cup play-off matches.
Here is everything you need to know from the draw:
Which group are England in?
The Three Lions, placed in Group B, will face-off against USA, Iran and either Scotland, Wales or Ukraine in the group stages of the World Cup.
Southgate’s men will kick-off their tournament against Iran on November 21.
What are the other groups?
GROUP A:
Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador
GROUP B:
England, USA, Iran, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine
GROUP C:
Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia
GROUP D:
France, Denmark, Tunisia, UAE/Australia/Peru
GROUP E:
Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica/New Zealand
GROUP F:
Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada
GROUP G:
Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon
GROUP H:
Portugal, Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana
How did the draw work?
All 32 teams who have qualified for the tournament were divided into four pots of eight teams.
Teams were then drawn from each pot and allocated into one of the eight groups. The draw worked pot-by-pot, so: all of pot one came first, then pot two, then pot three and finally, pot four.
Once each team was drawn, they were allocated into one of the eight groups, from A to H.
As the tournament hosts, Qatar had a different coloured ball and were automatically allocated to group A. The remaining seven teams from pot one were allocated into groups B-H.
FIFA also rules that only one nation from each qualification zone could be in a group, for example, Brazil could not be drawn in the same group as Argentina. However, this rule did not apply to UEFA teams.
Each group could have at least one, but no more than two teams from the UEFA confederation. It meant that five out of the eight groups featured two European teams.
Who has qualified for the World Cup?
- Qatar (hosts)
- Germany
- Denmark
- Brazil
- France
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Spain
- Serbia
- Switzerland
- Netherlands
- Argentina
- Iran
- South Korea
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
- Ecuador
- Uruguay
- Canada
- Poland
- Portugal
- Scotland/Ukraine/Wales (play-offs still to be played)
- Peru/Australia/UAE (play-offs still to be played)
- Senegal
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Canada
- USA
- Mexico
- New Zealand/Costa Rica (play-offs still to be played)
When does the World Cup start?
The World Cup begins on November 21, 2022 and will feature host nation Qatar against Ecuador.
Kick-off will be at 1pm local time, 10am British time .
When is the World Cup final?
The tournament will run for approximately a month, with the final taking place on December 18, 2022 with kick-off at 6pm local time and 3pm British time.
Related links:
- UEFA drop controversial coefficient-ranked Champions League plan
- Gareth Southgate ‘unsure’ what boycotting Qatar World Cup would achieve
- Gareth Southgate says FA are educating England players about Qatar ahead of World Cup
