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Group of death for England? All you need to know before FIFA World Cup 2022 draw

Tommy Joyce
March 24, 2022

The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup draw is just around the corner. There hasn’t been too much noise about it yet, but before you know it, you’ll be able to put up your wall chart and start predicting England’s route to the final.

The World Cup will kick off on 21 November and end on 18 December.

In this article, we will provide you with everything you need to know before the FIFA World Cup 2022 draw; when and where it’s taking place, who might draw who, where you can watch it, and more.

When is the 2022 World Cup draw?

The draw for the World Cup finals will happen on Friday 1 April.

FIFA announced yesterday (21 March) that it will be taking place at 7pm local time, so that means it will start at 5pm in the UK.

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Where is the 2022 World Cup draw taking place?

The World Cup is taking place in Qatar, as will the draw for the tournament.

Doha is the location for the draw – Qatar’s capital city. The final will take place in Lusail, a city just 23km north of Doha.

How can I watch the 2022 World Cup draw?

As per usual, you’ll be able to watch the draw on the BBC.

The programme will start at 4.45pm, 15 minutes before the start.

The draw will be hosted by Mark Chapman, and will broadcast on BBC One until 6pm, before moving to BBC Two between 6pm and 6.30pm.

What is the format for the 2022 World Cup draw?

The Qatar World Cup will be the last tournament that includes 32 teams, making the draw relatively straightforward and familiar.

The 32 nations will be divided into four different pots based on their FIFA ranking. They will then draw eight groups of four teams.

Each group is made up of one team from each of the four individual pots, and no group can have more than one team from a single continental confederation, apart from Europe which can have two at most.

After the group stages, two teams out of four will progress into the knockout stages (Round of 16), while the two teams who are at the bottom of their groups will be eliminated.

From 2026, when the finals will take place across USA, Mexico and Canada, there will be 48 teams involved and the existing format will change.

Which teams have qualified for the 2022 World Cup?

As it stands, just 15 countries have secured their place in the 2022 World Cup draw.

By the time the draw comes around, 29 nations will be confirmed, meaning a whole bunch will secure their place in the next week or so.

These are the sides that have qualified so far:

UEFA (Europe)

  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Spain
  • Serbia
  • England
  • Switzerland
  • Netherlands

Conmebol (South America)

  • Brazil
  • Argentina

AFC (Asia)

  • Iran
  • South Korea
  • Qatar (hosts)

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1506311512410890240?s=20&t=uzXzJIBeLcdACklSv9o9bw

13 qualify from UEFA (leaving three more), five nations qualify from CAF (Confederation of African Football), where play-offs are upcoming.

Four automatically qualify from Conmebol (leaving one more for the intercontinental play-offs), two more will qualify automatically from AFC (leaving one to play the South American team in the intercontinental play-offs).

In CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), three teams will qualify automatically (but are yet to do so), with one more playing in an intercontinental play-off. That match will be against the winner of the OFC qualifying campaign (which tends to be New Zealand).

What do the 2022 World Cup pots look like at the moment?

With less than half the countries in the tournament confirmed, it’s hard to predict exactly how the pots will look during the draw on 1 April.

However, Pot 1 looks pretty much made up – and it’s good news for England fans.

  • Qatar (host nation)
  • Belgium
  • France
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • England
  • Italy*
  • Spain

https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1506261741604384768?s=20&t=uzXzJIBeLcdACklSv9o9bw

Qatar automatically go into Pot 1 as hosts, while Italy still have to qualify, so could be replaced by Portugal if they end up qualifying. If neither do, then Denmark are the likely candidates.

There will be two European teams in five of the eight groups with one in the other three.

The pots are determined by FIFA ranking, so the next eight best-ranked teams will be in Pot 2 and so on.

Who could England draw in the 2022 World Cup?

Being in Pot 1 is good news for England, but that doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to avoid a difficult group. This is arguably the most important competition in world sport – so a dreaded group of death is still a possibility for England.

Germany, who England knocked out in the European Championships, will be in Pot 2, so they could face their old rivals wanting some revenge. Other countries such as Switzerland and Croatia are potential opponents.

If Uruguay are forced to go through the intercontinental play-offs, then they could be in Pot 4, meaning England could have Uruguay and Germany in the same group, though it is unlikely.

Countries will have much more of an idea of their potential routes once the pots have been confirmed, which will be shortly before 1 April.

https://twitter.com/pickguruapp/status/1506922924695031810?s=20&t=2qDnoVQpZf0jNMD34fSQeg

Who are favourites to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

It’s tight at the top of the market, but at the time of writing, bookmakers have installed Brazil as favourites to lift the trophy at odds of about 6/1.

They are very closely followed by France, who are actually joint-favourites with some firms. The best price for the French is 7/1, although generally they are between 6/1 and 13/2.

Next in most oddsmaker’s lists are England (7/1), Spain (8/1), Germany (10/1), Argentina (11/1) and Belgium (12/1).

The market is likely to be shaken up depending on the outcome of several qualifying playoffs, most notably if Italy (currently 14/1) or Portugal (25/1) confirm their place in the finals.

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