2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.pngTournament detailsDates 24 March 2021 – 29 March 2022Teams55 (from 1 confederation)Tournament statisticsMatches played250Goals scored763 (3.05 per match)Attendance2,690,148 (10,761 per match)Top scorer(s)EnglandHarry Kane
NetherlandsMemphis Depay
(12 goals each)2018 2026 → All statistics correct as of 16 November 2021. International football rival

The european segment of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ). [ 1 ] A sum of 13 slots in the final tournament are available for UEFA teams. [ 2 ]

Entrants [edit ]

All 55 FIFA -affiliated national teams from UEFA entered qualification. On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency initially handed Russia a four-year ban from all major sporting events, after RUSADA was found non-compliant for handing over manipulate lab data to investigators. [ 3 ] however, the Russia home team could hush enter qualification, as the bachelor of arts in nursing only applies to the final tournament to decide the earth champions. The WADA regnant allowed athletes who were not involved in doping or the coverup to compete, but prohibited the use of the russian iris and anthem at major international sporting events. [ 4 ] An attract to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was filed, [ 5 ] but WADA ‘s decision was uphold though reduced to a biennial ban. [ 6 ] The CAS opinion besides allowed the name “ Russia ” to be displayed on uniforms if the words “ neutral Athlete ” or “ impersonal team ” have equal bulge. [ 7 ] If Russia qualifies for the tournament, its players will not be able to use their state ‘s name alone, masthead or anthem at the World Cup, as a result of the state ‘s biennial ban from world championships and Olympic Games in all sports. [ 7 ]

format [edit ]

The reservation format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meet in Nyon, Switzerland, on 4 December 2019. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The reservation would depend, in separate, on results from the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, although to a lesser degree than the 2018–19 UNL had on qualification for UEFA Euro 2020. The structure maintained UEFA ‘s usual ‘group stage/playoff phase ‘ social organization, with alone the specific format of the play-offs amended. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ]

  • Group stage: 5 groups of 5 teams and 5 groups of 6 teams. Group winners qualified for the World Cup finals.
  • Play-off stage: The 10 group runners-up are joined by the two best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. These 12 teams were drawn into three play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match playoffs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The three path winners will qualify for the World Cup finals.

On 4 December 2019, the UEFA Executive Committee initially approved the use of the video assistant referee system for the qualifiers. [ 10 ] however, VAR was not implemented at the startle of qualification due to the affect of the COVID-19 pandemic on operational and logistic capabilities. [ 13 ] On 5 August 2021, UEFA announced that the VAR system would be used for the remainder of reservation, starting from September 2021. [ 14 ]

agenda [edit ]

Below is the agenda of the european qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. [ 9 ] In March 2020, UEFA announced that the two matchdays planned to take place in June 2021 would be moved following the reschedule of UEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 15 ] To allow for the completion of the qualifying group stage in November 2021 as scheduled, UEFA announced on 24 September 2020 that the March and September 2021 windows in the FIFA International Match Calendar were expanded from two to three matchdays. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] The changes to the International Match Calendar for March and September 2021, which extended each window by one day, were approved by the FIFA Council on 4 December 2020. [ 18 ]

Round

Matchday

Dates

First round
(group stage)

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

Second round
(play-offs)

Semi-finals

24 March 2022

Finals

29 March 2022

The master schedule of the qualifying group stage, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows. [ 9 ]
Original group stage agenda

Matchday

Dates

Matchday 1

25–27 March 2021

Matchday 2

28–30 March 2021

Matchday 3

4–5 June 2021

Matchday 4

7–8 June 2021

Matchday 5

2–4 September 2021

Matchday 6

5–7 September 2021

Matchday 7

7–9 October 2021

Matchday 8

10–12 October 2021

Matchday 9

11–13 November 2021

Matchday 10

14–16 November 2021

first cycle [edit ]

Seeding [edit ]

The draw for the foremost rung ( group stage ) was held in Zürich, Switzerland, on 7 December 2020, 18:00 CET ( UTC+1 ). [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draw was held as a virtual event without any representatives of member associations present. It was originally planned to be held on 29 November 2020. [ 25 ] On 18 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the draw regulations for the qualifying group stage. [ 26 ] The draw was presented by spanish diarist Cristina Gullón and conducted by FIFA ‘s acting director of competitions, Jaime Yarza. [ 27 ] He was assisted by early footballers Daniele De Rossi and Rafael van five hundred Vaart, who drew the balls from the pots. [ 28 ] The 55 teams were seeded into six pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of November 2020, after the conclusion of the league phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League. Pots 1 to 5 contained ten teams, while Pot 6 contained five teams. The teams were drawn into ten-spot groups : five groups of five teams ( Groups A–E ) and five groups of six teams ( Groups F–J ). The withdraw started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 6, from where a team was drawn and assigned to the first available group in alphabetic order. therefore, each six-team group contains one team from each of the six pots, while each five-team group contains one team from each of the beginning five pots. [ 29 ] The succeed restrictions were applied with calculator aid : [ 17 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ]

  • Nations League finalists: The four teams participating in the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals (Belgium, France, Italy and Spain) were drawn into a group with five teams (Groups A–E). Additionally, a group could contain a maximum of one Nations League finalist, but all four teams were in the same pot for the draw.
  • Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between following pairs of teams were considered prohibited clashes, unable to be drawn into the same group: (Kosovo—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia, Kosovo–Russia, Russia–Ukraine. Armenia–Azerbaijan, and Gibraltar–Spain were also identified as prohibited clashes, but the teams in the former pair were in the same pot for the draw, while the teams in the latter pair were restricted to different-sized groups based on draw pots and conditions.)
  • Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues are identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions could be placed in each group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Ukraine.
    • The two “hard winter venues” (Faroe Islands and Iceland) generally cannot host games in March or November, and therefore could not be drawn together; the others shall play as few home matches as possible in March and November.
  • Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries could be placed in each group:
    • Azerbaijan: with Iceland, Gibraltar, Portugal.
    • Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel.
    • Kazakhstan: with England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales. (Andorra and Faroe Islands were also identified with Kazakhstan for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)

Teams were allocated to seeding pots as follows ( November 2020 FIFA Rankings shown in second column ; the national teams which have qualified for the concluding tournament are presented in bold ; the national teams which will take part in the play-offs are presented in italic ). [ 32 ] [ 33 ]

compendious [edit ]

 Winner of each group qualified directly for the Winner of each group qualified immediately for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

 

other teams were eliminated after the first round

Groups [edit ]

The regular list was confirmed by UEFA on 8 December 2020, the day following the draw. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] [ 36 ] Qatar were partnered with the five-team Group A, which enabled the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts to play centralized friendlies against these countries on their “ spare ” match dates. however, these friendlies did not count in the qualifying group standings. [ 37 ] [ 38 ]

Group A [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: reference : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group B [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group C [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group D [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group E [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: informant : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group F [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for categorization : Tiebreakers

Group G [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for categorization : Tiebreakers

Group H [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: reference : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group I [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

Group J [edit ]

UEFA
Rules for classification: source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tiebreakers

moment round [edit ]

The second round ( play-offs ) will be contested by the ten-spot group runner-up and the best two Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall rate, [ 39 ] who finished outside the top two of their passing group. They will be separated into three play-off paths, with each path featuring two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. The semi-finals will be hosted by the six best-ranked runner-up of the qualifying group stage, while the horde of the final examination will be determined by a drawing card. [ 40 ] The semi-finals will be played on 24 March, and the finals on 29 March 2022. The winners of each path will qualify for the World Cup .

team survival and seed [edit ]

Second-placed teams [edit ]

The ten runner-up from the first base round advanced to the play-offs. Based on the results from the qualifying group stagecoach, the six best-ranked teams were seeded, while the bottom four were unseeded in the semi-final draw .

Seed

Grp

Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts

Seeding

1

A
 Portugal
8

5

2

1

17

6

+11

17

Seeded in semi-final draw

2

F
 Scotland
8

5

2

1

14

7

+7

17

3

C
 Italy
8

4

4

0

13

2

+11

16

4

H
 Russia
8

5

1

2

14

5

+9

16

5

B
 Sweden
8

5

0

3

12

6

+6

15

6

E
 Wales
8

4

3

1

14

9

+5

15

7

G
 Turkey
8

4

3

1

18

16

+2

15

Unseeded in semi-final draw

8

I
 Poland
8

4

2

2

18

10

+8

14

9

J
 North Macedonia
8

3

3

2

14

11

+3

12

10

D
 Ukraine
8

2

6

0

11

8

+3

12
UEFA
Rules for classification: Counting only matches against teams ranked first to fifth in the group, 1. Points; 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. Wins; 6. Away wins; 7. Lower disciplinary points total; 8. Position in [40] source : FIFA Rules for classification : Counting alone matches against teams ranked first to fifth in the group, 1. Points ; 2. Goal difference ; 3. Goals scored ; 4. Away goals scored ; 5. Wins ; 6. away wins ; 7. Lower disciplinary points total ; 8. position in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League access tilt

Nations League group winners [edit ]

The best two Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualify group advanced to the play-offs and were unseeded in the semi-final draw .
Key

  • & Team qualified directly for World Cup as qualifying group winner
  • dagger 
  • double-dagger bold) advanced to the play-offs as one of the best two Nations League group winners outside top two of their qualifying group

draw [edit ]

Following the completion of the UEFA First Round, the twelve teams that advanced to the play-offs were drawn into three paths of four teams on 26 November 2021, 17:00 CET, in Zürich, Switzerland. [ 41 ] [ 42 ] [ 43 ] [ 44 ] The follow operation was applied in the draw : [ 40 ]

  • The six seeded teams were allocated to semi-finals 1 to 6 as the host team in the order drawn.
  • The six unseeded teams were allocated to semi-finals 1 to 6 as the away team in the order drawn.
  • Play-off Path A was formed by semi-finals 1 and 2, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final A.
  • Play-off Path B was formed by semi-finals 3 and 4, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final B.
  • Play-off Path C was formed by semi-finals 5 and 6, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final C.
  • The semi-final winners that host play-off finals A, B and C were decided by a draw.

For political reasons, matches between Russia and Ukraine were considered forbid clashes, unable to be drawn into the lapp play-off path. [ 45 ] The six runner-up with the best group stagecoach operation were seeded in the semi-final tie, while the remaining four runner-up and two teams advancing via the Nations League were unseeded. The seedings were as follows :

path A [edit ]

way B [edit ]

Path C [edit ]

Qualified teams [edit ]

 

Team has qualified for World Cup

 

team can qualify

 

Team eliminated

 

Country not a UEFA penis Status of UEFA countries with regard to the 2022 FIFA World Cup : The watch teams from UEFA have qualified for the final tournament. In all, 13 UEFA members will qualify .

top goalscorers [edit ]

There have been 763 goals scored in 250 matches, for an average of 3.05 goals per match ( as of 16 November 2021 ). Players highlighted in bold are still active agent in the competition .
12 goals 8 goals 6 goals Below are broad goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off rounds :

References [edit ]