1. World Cup 2022 qualification
  2. Qualifying draw

World Cup 2022 qualifying draw

The World Cup 2022 qualifying draw determines which countries are classified in which groups. All 55 members of UEFA participate in the qualifying draw.

The qualifying draw is on December 7, 2020 in Zurich, Switzerland. The draw can be watched live from 6 p.m. on Fifa.com.

Due to the limitations surrounding the corona virus, no delegates from the participating countries will be present. The draw is performed by a small number of people and is otherwise completely virtual.

Results World Cup qualifying draw

The draw for the World Cup qualification has been made and the result is known. These are the World Cup qualifying groups 2022.

England plays in group I of the World Cup qualification. In it, the Three Lions compete against Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino.

WC 2022 qualification draw England
WC 2022 qualification draw England

Draw qualification procedure

The draw for the World Cup qualification starts at pot 1 and then goes to pot 2 to pot 6. Each pot is first emptied before moving to the next pot.

The teams are drawn in the groups in alphabetical order. The country that is drawn first ends up in group A, the second country in group B, and so on. The computer will indicate when one of the restrictions below occurs and the country will be placed in the next available group.

Since pot 6 contains only 5 teams, these teams are divided into pools F to J.

Pot classification World Cup 2022 qualification draw

The pot layout of the World Cup 2022 qualifying draw includes all 55 participating countries. The teams are classified based on the FIFA World Ranking of November 26, 2020.

Based on this ranking, the 55 countries are divided into 6 pots. Pots 1 through 5 each contain 10 teams and Pot 6 contains the remaining 5 teams.

The ten highest ranked European nations are allocated in pot 1, the next ten in pot 2, and so on, until the last 5 teams remain for pot 6.

Pot 1
Belgium Belgium
France France
England England
Portugal Portugal
Spain Spain
Italy Italy
Croatia Croatia
Denmark Denmark
Germany Germany
Netherlands Netherlands
Pot 2
Switzerland Switzerland
Wales Wales
Poland Poland
Sweden Sweden
Austria Austria
Ukraine Ukraine
Serbia Serbia
Turkey Turkey
Slovakia Slovakia
Romania Romania
Pot 3
Russia Russia
Hungary Hungary
Ireland Ireland
Czech Republic Czech Republic
Norway Norway
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Iceland Iceland
Scotland Scotland
Greece Greece
Finland Finland
Pot 4
Bosnia Herz. Bosnia Herz.
Slovenia Slovenia
Montenegro Montenegro
Macedonia Macedonia
Albania Albania
Bulgaria Bulgaria
Israel Israel
Belarus Belarus
Georgia Georgia
Luxembourg Luxembourg
Pot 5
Armenia Armenia
Cyprus Cyprus
Faroe Islands Faroe Islands
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Estonia Estonia
Kosovo Kosovo
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
Lithuania Lithuania
Latvia Latvia
Andorra Andorra
Pot 6
Malta Malta
Moldova Moldova
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein
Gibraltar Gibraltar
San Marino San Marino

 

Restrictions on qualifying draw 2022 World Cup

When putting together the pools and the schedule, UEFA wants to take into account fairness for the participants, the expectation of the commercial partners and the likelihood that the matches can take place as planned.

This means that there are certain restrictions in the qualifying draw, such as prohibited duels, extremely low temperatures or long travel distances.

If any of the restrictions occur, the computer will assist in the draw. The computer will indicate in which greeting the drawn country will be classified.

The classification of a country by the computer is not only based on the country itself, but also the computer looks at the remaining countries that are still to be drawn. The computer calculates all possible scenarios so that the draw does not get stuck later in the process.

Competition related restrictions

Due to the busy schedule, the 4 teams that play the Nations League finals will be drawn in a group of 5 teams. In addition, the 4 teams cannot be drawn together in the same pool.

Prohibited duels

For example, prohibited duels are countries that are not allowed to play against each other for political reasons.

  • Armenia - Azerbaijan
  • Gibraltar - Spain
  • Kosovo - Bosnia-Herz.
  • Kosovo - Serbia
  • Kosovo - Russia
  • Ukraine - Russia

Extremely low temperatures

10 countries are dealing with extremely low temperatures. To prevent too many games from taking place, a maximum of two countries in the same group may be drawn.

  • Belarus
  • Estonia
  • Faroe Islands
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Norway
  • Russia
  • Ukraine

Long travel distances

Long travel distances are not desirable for both footballers and fans. Therefore, a maximum of 2 countries that are far apart may be drawn together in the group.

  • From Kazakhstan to Andorra, England, France, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Wales.
  • From Azerbaijan to Iceland, Gibraltar and Portugal.
  • From Iceland to Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia and Israel.
Date published: 16-03-2010 | Date updated: 24-04-2024 | Author:

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The 2022 World Cup qualifying draw is on December 7 at 7:00 PM in Zurich. The pot format for the draw consists of pot 1 to 6. Watch the World Cup draw live.

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