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.
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World Cup Qualifiers predictions
Brazil vs Peru 10.09.2021
Brazil will look to continue their 100% win record in the Qualifiers when they take on Peru on Friday. After their last game against Argentina was abandoned due to COVID, the five-time World Champions will have their eyes set on securing all three points here. Considering Brazil’s current form and how dominant they have been ... More
Argentina vs Bolivia 10.09.2021
After their match with Brazil was called off, Argentina will be feeling fresh as they welcome Bolivia in Buenos Aires. They remain unbeaten in the World Cup qualifiers (W4 D3). Bolivia, on the other hand, are on a winless run of 6 matches (D2 L4). Playing away to Argentina may not present the best chance ... More
Colombia vs Chile 10.09.2021
Colombia and Chile will continue their quest for a place in Qatar 2022 World Cup when both sides square up to each other, in the latest in their series of qualification matches. The home side has had a decent run, but the same cannot be said of the visitors, who are languishing in 8th position ... More
Uruguay vs Ecuador 10.09.2021
Uruguay had been enjoying some spectacular results and they have won 3 of their last four matches. As for Ecuador, their recent results have been pretty mixed, with one win from their previous 9 games. Although Uruguay haven’t been in great form themselves of late, they are actually in a better position to have a ... More
Greece vs Sweden 08.09.2021
Greece is the only team with the highest number of draws in this group with exception of not playing with Sweden in this season’s qualification matches. The last time Greece met with Sweden was 13 years ago with no success to defeat them. We expect this time they will fight to change this history. Sweden ... More
Kosovo vs Spain 08.09.2021
Kosovo will be facing an uphill climbing task on this matchday with the bad record of not scoring goals at home; facing among the top-class football national team will automatically switch their play mode to cautious mode hoping to defend at least a point at home grounds. Spain already dropped 3 points to Sweden. They ... More
Iceland vs Germany 08.09.2021
Germany have taken control of Group J with their comprehensive 6-0 win over Armenia that saw them dislodge the visitors from the top of the group Iceland seem to be sinking deeper into oblivion as a 2-2 draw at home against North Macedonia has them rooted in 5th on the table Joachim Low has got ... More
Belarus vs Belgium 08.09.2021
These are tough times for Belarus. They have lost all their last 4 games, including the last 3 games in this World Cup qualifying group. In contrast, Belgium have enjoyed this international break so far, winning both their games and scoring a total of 8 goals in the process. The last time these two teams ... More
Poland vs England 08.09.2021
England will take their imperious form to Warsaw for a date with Poland, in what is a battle of the top two teams in Group I. The Three Lions have won all their games so far, but their resolve will be tested by Poland that trounced San Marino 1-7 away from home last time out. ... More
France vs Finland 07.09.2021
When Finland visits Groupama Stadium in Lyon on Tuesday, France sorely needs to return to the victory after losing two more points. The reigning World Champions were the last time to save a tie with Ukraine, with Finland leading the way in 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan. Only two of the last five games have generated ... 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.