The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the 22nd edition of the men’s football tournament that draws qualified national teams of FIFA member countries from across the world. The tournament is held every 4 years and is hosted by a country selected by FIFA. A total of 32 nations are set to compete to be crowned the FIFA World Cup Champions. Qatar becomes the first Arab country and the first Muslim-majority nation to host the FIFA World Cup.
Read our World Cup qualifiers predictions and become a winner!
World Cup Qualifiers predictions
Augsburg vs Bayern Munich 19.11.2021
Bayern Munich will resume their charge towards the Bundesliga title, following days of the international break. The Bavarians have been utterly dominant. Augsburg, on the other hand, have been struggling, with only a win in their last five matches. Although the German champions have a long list of players who are going to sit this ... More
Canada vs Mexico 17.11.2021
The battle for the top 3 automatic qualification slots from the CONCACAF region has reached fever pitch with the top 3 teams currently separated by just a point. Canada is right in the thick of things going undefeated in their 7 matches to occupy third place, just a point behind leaders USA and Mexico. Mexico’s ... More
Chile vs Ecuador 17.11.2021
As we approach the final stages of the COMNEBOL qualifiers, Chile and Ecuador will slug it out on Wednesday in the hunt for one of the four automatic tickets to Qatar. Both teams head into this tie with a similar run of 3 wins out of their last 5 matches. However, having won 2 of ... More
Argentina vs Brazil 17.11.2021
A victory here will most likely guarantee Argentina qualification to next year’s World Cup. They are unbeaten in the qualifiers, going back to 26 games in all competitions. Brazil secured qualification with a 1-0 over Colombia in their last match and will be looking to consolidate their top position in the standings. Matches between these ... More
Colombia vs Paraguay 17.11.2021
Colombia and Paraguay are coming off from a 1 nill loss in their previous matches. They will both be looking to redeem themselves. Colombia will be looking to avenge a 1-0 setback to Brazil. Los Cafeteros hope to halt their four-game winless run in World Cup qualifying. Paraguay, on the other side, had a slump ... More
Bolivia vs Uruguay 16.11.2021
Bolivia dropped all 3 points in a 3-0 loss to Peru in their last game. Given the undefeated history of their visitors, this matchday might be a bit cautious one to the host. Uruguay had a back to back losses in their last 3 games hence this might be a chance to get back on ... More
Montenegro vs Turkey 16.11.2021
Turkey need a win in this game as it would guarantee them at least the playoffs route or direct qualification to the World Cup. Failure to win could mean no participation in World Cup 2022. Montenegro are no pushovers, however. They held the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw away and have registered the same scoreline ... More
Wales vs Belgium 16.11.2021
Wales welcome Belgium in the final round of matches this international break. Rob Page’s men are already guaranteed a play-off place having won their Nations League group last year but, to have any chance of a home draw, they must finish second in their World Cup qualifying group. Having already secured progression to the 2022 ... More
Finland vs France 16.11.2021
Another entertaining affair should be in store this Tuesday, with Finland desperate to gain the upper hand in the battle for second place as they are 2 points ahead of Ukraine. Finland have been in a good form coming into this match and will fancy their chances against the WQ champions. On the other hand, ... More
Netherlands vs Norway 16.11.2021
With just two points separating the top three places in group G, the Dutch are ruing the missed opportunity to create a cushion after throwing away a 2-0 lead at Montenegro in their last match with the Falcons making a terrific recovery, scoring twice in the last 10 minutes of the match to pull off ... More
Qualification for Qatar 2022
Qualification for Qatar 2022 is based on the 6 continental football federations under FIFA. Each continental federation is given an agreed number of slots out of the total number of 32. Member nations compete for these slots for the right to participate in the main event. The host nation qualifies automatically. The continental regions are:
- Africa – 5 teams
- Europe – 13 teams
- Asia – 5
- North, Central America, and the Caribbean – 3
- South America – 5 teams
- Oceania – 1 team
Each continental federation has its own format for determining which members qualify to represent the continent at the world cup. This is commonly done through group matches, league format, or knockout matches.
Africa qualification format
Africa is allocated 5 slots out of the final 32 teams to participate in Qatar 2022. There are a total of 54 national teams that are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) competing for the five places available. All the 54 member associations of CAF entered qualification. The seeding was done based on FIFA rankings.
The qualification format used by CAF for Qatar 2022 is divided into three rounds:
First Round
28 teams ranked number 27 to 54 are paired and play each other over two legs home-and-away. The 14 winners advance to the Second Round. The national teams ranked 1 to 26 at the time of the draw also qualify for the second round automatically. The first round was held on 4-7 September 2019 (first leg) and 8-10 September 2019 (second leg).
Second Round
There are now 40 teams and they are divided into 10 groups of 4 teams each. Seeding is done according to FIFFA rankings at the time of the draw. The teams in each group play each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The 10 group winners proceed to the third and final round.
The Second Round consists of 6 matchdays spread through 2021. The first matchday will be held from 31st May to 15th June. The final matchday is scheduled for 4-12th October 2021.
Third Round
The third round is played by the 10 group winners from Round Two. The teams are seeded and paired according to the latest FIFA ranking. They play each other home-and-away over two legs. The five winners qualify for Qatar 2022. The third round matches will be played on 8-16th November 2021.
Europe qualification format
Europe takes the lion’s share of the 32 world cup slots available to FIFA members. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will produce 13 teams for the tournament. All 55 member nations of UEFA will enter qualification to compete for the available slots. The European qualification path follows UEFA’s usual format of Group Stage and Playoff Stage. The results of the 2020/2021 UEFA Nations League will be factored into the qualification process.
Group Stage
There will be 10 groups comprising 5 or 6 teams each. The top 4 teams from the UEFA Nations League finals will be placed in smaller groups. The 10 group winners qualify directly for the World Cup. The 10 group runners-up proceed to the playoff stage.
Playoff Stage
The playoff stage is contested by a total of 12 teams. These include the 10 runners-up from the group stage plus 2 highest ranked UEFA Nations League group winners who fail to finish in the top 2 of the world cup qualifying group stage. The 12 teams at this stage are divided into 3 groups. In each group, the 4 teams are paired and they play each other in a one-legged knockout format of semi-finals and finals. The 3 winners from each group qualify for the world cup. They join the winners from the group stage to make it 13 European teams at the world cup.
Our World Cup qualifiers preditions
Africa
The second round of the qualification format consisting of group stage matches has brought together some interesting matchups. Only 1 team can proceed from each group so some big names are likely to miss out. Continental giants Cameroon and Ivory Coast are both in Group D; Egypt battles Angola in Group F, and Ghana will face South Africa in Group G. The other top teams have relatively easy groups that they are expected to win.
Our World Cup qualifiers predictions for Africa
From the qualification path, the most likely teams to qualify for Qatar 2022 from Africa are; Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Egypt.
Europe
The European format gives a second chance to big teams that fail to top their qualification groups to qualify via the playoff stages. This means that there will be competition for the top 2 slots of each group.
Our World Cup qualifiers predictions for Europe
The 10 teams that are likely to top their respective groups are: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, England, Germany, and Croatia.