The ESPN FC crew predicts for who has the best probability to win the 2022 World Cup outside of favorites Brazil and France. ( 1:41 ) Who has best opportunity to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup ? ( 1:41 ) Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup began on June 6, 2019, when minor nations from the asian confederation played their first base round of golf of matches. Mongolia ‘s Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal scored the very first goal in qualifying in a 2-0 winnings over Brunei Darussalam. QUALIFIED (13/32): Qatar ( as hosts ), Germany, Denmark, Brazil, Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Argentina

World Cup qualifying has been seriously affected by the coronavirus pandemic with many qualifying paths suspended. The information below may change depending on the viability of the qualifying paths and local situations.

EUROPE (UEFA; 13 PLACES)

• European qualifying home page Qualified teams: Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands There are 55 european nations and qualifying began in March 2021. There were 10 groups of 5 or 6 teams, with qualifying triple headers in March and September to make up for the lose World Cup qualifying dates of June 2021 ( when Euro 2020 was played ). The 10 group winners, in bold, went direct to the finals. Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan
Group B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo
Group C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan
Group E: Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia
Group F: Denmark, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group G: Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar
Group H: Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta
Group I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino
Group J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein – Final tables The final three places will be allocated via playoffs. This will involve the 10 runner-up plus the two best-ranked group winners from the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League who do not finish in the circus tent two in their qualify group. Austria and Czech Republic qualified for the playoffs by virtue of their Nations League operation. There are three routes, each with four teams featuring a semifinal and a final for a locate at the World Cup. The draw was seeded based upon qualifying-round points. The two UEFA Nations League teams were unseeded. PATH A Semifinals
Scotland vs. Ukraine
Wales vs. Austria Final
The winners of Wales vs. Austria will be at base in the concluding PATH B Semifinals
Russia vs. Poland
Sweden vs. Czech Republic Final
The winners of Russia vs. Poland will be at home in the final PATH C Semifinals
Italy vs. North Macedonia
Portugal vs. Turkey Final
The winners of Portugal vs. Turkey will be at home in the final examination The semifinals will be played on Thursday, March 24, with the finals on Tuesday, March 29 .

SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL 4.5 PLACES)

• South American qualifying home page Qualified teams: Brazil, Argentina As in recent qualify competitions, all 10 nations play each other home and away. The top four nations qualify directly to the finals. The fifth-place team will go into an intercontinental playoff against a nation from Asia. The first four rounds of qualifiers in March and September 2020 were suspended and it ultimately began in October 2020. however, the two planned rounds of matches in March 2021 were postponed due to issues with european players being able to travel to South America amid the pandemic. Qualifying resumed with two rounds of games before the Copa America in early June 2021. There will be an extra external break in January 2022, in ordering to complete qualifying in full moon in the existing format. Brazil were the first country to qualify, on Nov. 11, 2021, and Argentina followed five days belated, leaving two automatic rifle slots to play for. Remaining match dates:
MD 15 : Jan. 27, 2022
MD 16 : Feb. 1, 2022
MD 17 : March 24, 2022
MD 18 : March 29, 2022 – Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Latest table

NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN (CONCACAF; 3.5 PLACES)

• CONCACAF qualifying home page CONCACAF has 35 FIFA-affiliated nations, most of them very minor in world football. A vamp reservation process was confirmed for the 2022 edition, which was due to begin in September 2020 and run to September 2021. however, this was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic. The format had to be reworked again, as follows : Round One: Nations ranked 6-35 in the FIFA World Ranking were drawn into six groups of five. Each team played every other team in their group only once, in March and June 2021. The six group winners progressed. – Final tables Group A: El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat, US Virgin Islands
Group B: Canada, Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Aruba
Group C: Curaçao, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, British Virgin Islands
Group D: Panama, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Dominica, Anguilla
Group E: Haiti, Nicaragua, Belize, St Lucia ( seclude ), Turks and Caicos Islands
Group F: Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Bahamas Round Two: The six group winners played dwelling and away in a direct elimination format, on June 12 and 15, 2021. The three winners progressed.

Saint Kitts and Nevis ( F ) 0-6 El Salvador ( A )
Haiti ( E ) 0-4 Canada ( B )
Panama ( D ) 2-1 Curacao ( C ) Final Round: Winners Canada, El Salvador and Panama join the teams ranked 1-5 in FIFA ‘s World Ranking ( Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, United States ). The eight teams will play each other home and aside, a sum of 14 matches. The crown three qualify directly, with the fourth-placed team going to a intercontinental playoff against a nation from Oceania in June 2022 .

Remaining match dates:
MD 9 : Jan. 27, 2022
MD 10 : Jan. 30, 2022
MD 11 : Feb. 2, 2022
MD 12 : March 24, 2022
MD 13 : March 27, 2022
MD 14 : March 30, 2022 – Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Latest table

AFRICA (CAF; 5 PLACES)

• African qualifying home page There are 54 FIFA-affiliated nations. Round One: The 28 lowest ranked nations played two-legged ties, played in September 2019, with the wax number of results available here.
Round Two: The 14 winners from the first round were joined by the other 26 african nations. Those 40 teams were split into 10 groups of four teams, with the group winners advancing to the final round. This round was ascribable to begin in March 2020 and run through to October 2021 until football was suspended. The group stage finally began in September 2021, and was completed in November — effectively concluding the group phase in 11 weeks. The groups were : Group A: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Djibouti
Group B: Tunisia, Zambia, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea,
Group C: Nigeria, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Liberia
Group D: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Malawi
Group E: Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda
Group F: Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Angola
Group G: Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia
Group H: Senegal, Congo, Namibia, Togo
Group I: Morocco, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan
Group J: Congo DR, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania – Final tables Round Three: The 10 group winners will be drawn into five neck and neck, two-legged ties to earn one of the five places at the World Cup. Fixtures to be played in March 2022. The absorb will take identify on Jan. 26, with the pots as follows : Seeded: Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria
Unseeded: Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, DR Congo

ASIA (AFC; 4.5 PLACES)

• Asia qualifying home page The beginning two rounds of qualifying were completed precisely the same as four years ago. Round One: The 12 lowest ranked nations played two-legged ties in June 2019. Guam, Macau, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh and Cambodia advanced.
Round Two: The six winners from the foremost round joined the other 34 asian nations, drawn into eight groups of five teams — besides played as qualifiers for the 2023 asian Cup finals ( for this reason World Cup hosts Qatar took part ). In an undertake to get all games completed, the AFC decided to hold all matches on a centralize basis. The round was finally completed between May 31 and June 15, 2021. The seven group winners ( Qatar were the eighth ) and the five best group runner-up progressed. The 12 nations shown in boldface advanced to round three. Group A: China, Syria, Philippines, Maldives, Guam
Group B: Australia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait, Nepal
Group C: Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Cambodia
Group D: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen, Singapore
Group E: Bangladesh, Oman, India, Afghanistan, Qatar
Group F: Japan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Mongolia
Group G: United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Group H: South Korea, Lebanon, North Korea (withdrew), Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka Round Three (final group round): The remaining 12 nations were drawn into two groups of six teams. Group winners and runner-up will qualify for the World Cup. Group A: Iran, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon
Group B: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Vietnam Remaining match dates:
MD 7 : Jan. 27, 2022
MD 8 : Feb. 1, 2022
MD 9 : March 24, 2022
MD 10 : March 29, 2022 – Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Latest tables Round Four: The teams finishing one-third in round off three played a two-legged playoff, to be played May or June 2022. The winners then progress to an intercontinental playoff against a nation from South America, to be played June 2022 .

OCEANIA (OFC; 0.5 PLACES)

• Oceania qualifying home page Nine of the 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams will take part in qualify, which will ultimately be played in March 14-30, 2022 and will be played in Qatar. Round One: Tonga and Cook Islands — the two lowest-ranked OFC teams in the FIFA World Ranking — will play a single elimination match. Round Two: Teams rent into two groups of four teams and will play each other once. The acme two nations in each group progress. Group A : solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Tonga or Cook Islands
Group B : New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea

Round Three: The four teams play semifinals and then a final for the right field to go through to the intercontinental playoff against a team from CONCACAF .

INTERCONTINENTAL PLAYOFFS (2 PLACES)

AFC vs. CONMEBOL
CONCACAF vs. OFC The games will be played in Qatar on June 13 and 14 .