International Federation of Association Football or FIFA‘s 6 continental assemblies arranges their qualifying tournaments for World Cup 2022. All 211 nations which are current FIFA members are deserved to enter the qualification stage. As per FIFA,s rule the host country direct qualified for the group stage of the World Cup. So, thus 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar automatically qualified in the group stage.
FIFA,s 6 continental assemblies are:
- AFC:
The Asian continent’s assembly of FIFA is called as AFC (Asian Football Confederation). AFC arrange their qualification tournament for World Cup. All members of the AFC are qualified for the tournament. this tournament was held in Qatar. Apart from Qatar as the host, a total of 5 slots were available to qualify from AFC to the World Cup.
The total tournament involved four rounds. In the first round, 12 member nations of the AFC (ranked 35-46) played against each other over 2 legs. The top 6 teams of the 1st round advanced to the 2nd round.
In the 2nd round, 40 nations (ranked1-34 and the top 6 teams from the 1st round) were divided into 8 small groups. Each group had 5 teams. The winning teams from the 8 groups and the 4 best runner-up teams from the 8 groups advanced to the 3rd round.
In the 3rd round, 12 qualified teams from the 2nd round were divided into 2 groups. Each group had 6 teams. The 3rd round was played in a round-robin format. The top 2 teams from each group qualified in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
In the 4th round, 2 third-placed teams of the 3rd round played against each other in a single match. The winning team of this match Australia advanced to the inter-confederation playoffs against Peru. In this match, Australia beat Peru and qualified for World Cup.
Thus a total of 6 teams from the AFC qualified for the World Cup. The teams are Australia, Iran, Japan, Qatar(host), South Korea, and Saudi Arabia.
- CONCACAF:
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) is among the 6 continental assemblies of FIFA. They changed their World Cup qualifying tournament’s format.
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As per the new format in the 1st round, 30 CONCACAF teams, ranked 6 to 35 based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2020, were divided into six small groups of five and played single matches in a round-robin format. Where each group winner advanced to the 2nd round.
In the 2nd round, 6 winners of the previous round played with each other in a home-away series over 2 legs. The 3 winning teams of this round qualified for the next round.
In the final round, a total of 8 nations (3 second-round winning teams and the top 5 CONCACAF teams based on FIFA rankings) played home and away matches in one group in a round-robin format. The top 3 teams advanced to the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the 4th placed country Costa Rica qualified for inter-confederation playoffs against New Zealand. where the winning team of this match Costa Rica advanced to the World Cup.
All 4 CONCACAF teams who qualified for the World Cup 2022 are Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and United States.
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- UEFA:
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the biggest federation of FIFA. The federation has World champions like Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and England. UFEA arranged a big qualifying tournament for European teams for the World Cup. A total of 13 slots were available for the UEFA teams in this final tournament.
In the group stage,10 groups (5 groups of 5 teams and 5 groups of 6 teams) fight against each other. where the10 winning countries of the 10 groups advanced to the World Cup.
In the playoff stage 10 runners-up teams from the group stage and 2 Nations League group winners, a total of 12 European countries compete against each other in a new format. Thus, the three winners of this playoff also qualified for the World Cup.
Total of 13 European teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022. They are Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and Wales.
- CAF:
The Confederation of African Football is also known as CAF. They arrange a tournament for the member countries of CAF to qualify for the World Cup.
The tournament involved a total of 3 rounds. In the 1st round, 28 African nations (ranked 27-54) played home and away matches against each other over 2 legs. The top 14 teams advanced to the 2nd round.
In the 2nd round, 40 teams (14 winning teams of the 1st round and 16 teams ranked between 1-26) were divided into 10 small groups. Each group had 5 teams. This round was played in a round-robin format. Where the top 10 teams from the 10 groups qualified for the next round.
In the final round, the top 10 winning teams from the previous round played against each other over 2 legs. Thus, the 5 winning teams direct advanced to the group stage of the World Cup.
The 5 African nations are Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia.
- CONMEBOL:
The South American Federation of FIFA, CONMEBOL has big boys like Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. One of the biggest federations of FIFA, CONMEBOL arranged the World Cup qualifying tournament for their region.
The CONMEBOL council decided to keep the same format that was used for previous tournaments on 24th January 2019. The 10 South American countries play in a tournament of home and away matches in a round-robin format.
The council decided to use the video assistant referee for the tournament. Thus, four countries from CONMEBOL qualified for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. They are Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay.
- OFC:
Oceania Football Confederation is also known as OFC. This federation arranged a tournament for the 2022 World Cup qualification. The champion team of this tournament, New Zealand advanced to inter-confederation playoffs. Where they lost their opportunity against Costa Rica. Thus, no teams qualified from OFC for the 2022 World Cup.
FAQ
Can the CAF teams play well in this World Cup?
There is no doubt that many African players like Sadio Mane, Md. Salah is making a great impact at the international level. But although some players have matched themselves in individual performance, Africans as a team are still far behind. So if they can make themselves strong as a team then they will win the World Cup.
Will team Russia participate in the Qatar World Cup?
FIFA and UFEA both organization have made the big decision to ban the Russian national football team from participating in the upcoming Qatar World Cup for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
How many countries are the current members of FIFA?
FIFA recognizes 211 national associations and their respective men’s national football teams.
Which countries are the original member of Fifa?
FIFA was founded on 21st May 1904. It was established by 7 national associations- Belgium, France, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden- to promote association football and to build friendly relations among all national associations and players.