Who Has Qualified for the 2022 World Cup? List of Teams Going to Qatar, Standings

Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is well underway, as countries compete to fill 32 spots in this year's showcase on the sport's greatest stage.

The competition, which will be held from Nov. 12-Dec. 18, 2022, will be the last 32-team edition before the 2026 World Cup across North America expands to 48 teams. Qatar secured its berth way back in December 2010, a bid process that has since been shrouded in controversy. In terms of allocation of the other berths, 13 spots go to Europe, five go to Africa, four and a half go to both Asia and South America, three and a half go to North and Central America and the Caribbean, and half to the Oceania region. Those "half" spots earned by teams send them to a pair of intercontinental playoffs for the last two places in the field. It was determined on Nov. 26 which regions will be paired for the playoffs, whose format has changed.

With the qualifying cycle happening at different paces across the world due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the vast majority of the first berths being clinched are coming out of Europe. The majority of the field will be set in March ahead of the April 1 draw, while the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs will be determined in June.

Here's who has qualified for the 2022 World Cup and where qualifying stands for those still vying for berths.

Qualified Teams

• Qatar (host nation) 
• Germany (UEFA Group J Winner) on Oct. 11
• Denmark (UEFA Group F Winner) on Oct. 12
  
• Brazil (One of CONMEBOL's top four teams) on Nov. 11
• Belgium (UEFA Group E Winner) on Nov. 13
• France (UEFA Group D Winner) on Nov. 13
• Serbia (UEFA Group A Winner) on Nov. 14
• Spain (UEFA Group B Winner) on Nov. 14
• Croatia (UEFA Group H Winner) on Nov. 14
• Switzerland (UEFA Group C Winner) on Nov. 15
• England (UEFA Group I Winner) on Nov. 15
• Netherlands (UEFA Group G Winner) on Nov. 16
• Argentina (One of CONMEBOL's top four teams) on Nov. 16
• Iran (Top-two finisher in AFC Group A) on Jan. 27
• South Korea (Top-two finisher in AFC Group A) on Feb. 1

FIFA/Getty Images

Africa (CAF)

After the lowest-ranked 28 teams played two-legged ties, the remaining 40 teams were split into 10 groups of four that competed to advance to the final qualifying round. The winners of each group earned a spot in the last round, in which they will play two-legged ties for five total spots in the last week of March 2022.

The matchups for the final round are: Egypt vs. Senegal, Cameroon vs. Algeria, Ghana vs. Nigeria, DR Congo vs. Morocco and Mali vs. Tunisia.

Ivory Coast and South Africa are among the dozens of African sides whose World Cup dreams are over.

Asia (AFC)

The 12 lowest-ranked nations played for six spots in the second round of qualifying. From there, eight groups of five teams competed, with group winners and the top five runners-up reaching the final round (normally it'd have been all group winners and the top four runners-up, but because Qatar competed in the round, which doubled as Asian Cup qualifying, and had already been guaranteed a berth in the World Cup, seven of the group winners and the top five second-place finishers advanced). Those 12 final teams are playing in two groups of six, where 10 home-and-away matchups will determine the standings. The group winners and runners-up will qualify for the World Cup, while the third-place finishers will play in a playoff for the right to compete in the intercontinental playoff. The groups as of Feb. 1:

Group A: 

1. Iran: 8 games played, 22 points, +11 goal differential (13 scored, 2 conceded)
2. South Korea: 8 games played, 20 points, +9 goal differential (11 scored, 2 conceded)
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3. UAE: 8 games played, 9 points, 0 goal differential (6 scored, 6 conceded)
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4. Lebanon: 8 games played, 6 points, -3 goal differential (5 scored, 8 conceded)
5. Iraq: 8 games played, 5 points, -7 goal differential (4 scored, 11 conceded)
6. Syria: 8 games played, 2 points, -10 goal differential (5 scored, 15 conceded)

Group B:

1. Saudi Arabia: 8 games played, 19 points, +5 goal differential (10 scored, 5 conceded)
2. Japan: 8 games played, 18 points, +6 goal differential (9 scored, 3 conceded)
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3. Australia: 8 games played, 15 points, +9 goal differential (15 scored, 6 conceded)
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4. Oman: 8 games played, 8 points, -2 goal differential (8 scored, 10 conceded)
5. China: 8 games played, 5 points, -8 goal differential (8 scored, 16 conceded)
6. Vietnam: 8 games played, 3 points, -10 goal differential (7 scored, 17 conceded)

(Italics: Automatically qualify | Bold: Go to intercontinental playoff)

Europe (UEFA)

With the group stage coming to a close, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany clinched first-place finishes.

The second-place finishers in each group occupy 10 spots in the 12-team final qualifying playoff round, and they are be joined by two teams who cemented places via the UEFA Nations League route (the two top-ranked group winners from the Nations League that didn't already qualify for the World Cup or the playoff through their group finish are part of this final round).

The teams in the playoff round are: Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Wales, Scotland, Turkey, Russia, Poland, North Macedonia, Austria and Czech Republic.

In the playoff, the 12 teams (six seeded, six unseeded) were drawn into three four-team brackets, where single-elimination matches in March 2022 will determine the region's final three berths. Each path contains two seeded teams and two unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the semifinal matches. The Nov. 26 draw resulted in the following playoff brackets:

PATH A

Scotland vs. Ukraine

Wales vs. Austria

PATH B

Russia vs. Poland

Sweden vs. Czech Republic

PATH C

Italy vs. North Macedonia

Portugal vs. Turkey

North America, Central America, Caribbean (Concacaf)

Each of the Concacaf teams ranked outside the top five played in a preliminary elimination process that whittled the bottom 30 teams down to just three. Those three teams to survive the first two rounds of qualifying (Canada, El Salvador and Panama) joined the top-five ranked Concacaf squads in the Octagonal final qualifying stage, where each team plays every opposing squad home and away. The top three teams qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth enters the intercontinental playoff. The standings for the 14-match competition are: 

1. Canada: 11 games played, 25 points, +14 goal differential (19 scored, 5 conceded)
2. United States: 11 games played, 21 points, +9 goal differential (16 scored, 7 conceded)
3. Mexico: 11 games played, 21 points, +6 goal differential (14 scored, 8 conceded)
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4. Panama: 11 games played, 17 points, +1 goal differential (14 scored, 13 conceded)
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5. Costa Rica: 11 games played, 16 points, +1 goal differential (8 scored, 7 conceded)
6. El Salvador: 11 games played, 9 points, -7 goal differential (6 scored, 13 conceded)
7. Jamaica: 11 games played, 7 points, -7 goal differential (9 scored, 16 conceded)
8. Honduras: 11 games played, 3 points, -17 goal differential (5 scored, 22 conceded)

(Italics: Automatically qualify | Bold: Go to intercontinental playoff)

Oceania (OFC)

Due to "logistical challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic," according to an OFC statement, the region has not yet begun the process of anointing its entrant in the intercontinental playoffs, and it's being taken down to the wire.

Oceania is currently slated to stage the entirety of its qualifying process in March 2022, in Qatar. Only nine of the 11 teams in the region will participate, with Samoa and American Samoa withdrawing.

The competition will feature two groups, with the top two advancing to semifinals and a March 30 final deciding the winner. New Zealand was drawn with New Caledonia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, while the other group features Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu, in addition to the winner of a play-in game between Tonga and Cook Islands.

The top two in each group advance to the semifinals, with a March 30 final to decide Oceania’s entry in the intercontinental playoffs, where it'll face the fourth-place finisher in Concacaf, also in Qatar.

South America (CONMEBOL)

Brazil became the first South American team to qualify and was followed not long after by Argentina, whose 0-0 draw against Brazil, coupled with results in other matches to close the November international window, sealed a top-four finish. In the 10-team CONMEBOL region, each nation plays against each other home and away over the course of an 18-match gauntlet. The top four teams in the single table advance to the World Cup, while the fifth-place team goes to an intercontinental playoff. 

Beyond Brazil and Argentina, the standings are currently: 

3. Ecuador: 16 games played, 25 points, +10 goal differential (25 scored, 15 conceded)
4. Uruguay: 16 games played, 22 points, -3 goal differential (19 scored, 22 conceded)
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5. Peru: 16 games played, 21 points, -4 goal differential (17 scored, 21 conceded)
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6. Chile: 16 games played, 19 points, -1 goal differential (19 scored, 20 conceded)
7. Colombia: 16 games played, 17 points, -3 goal differential (16 scored, 19 conceded)
8. Bolivia: 16 games played, 15 points, -12 goal differential (23 scored, 35 conceded)
9. Paraguay: 16 games played, 13 points, -14 goal differential (9 scored, 23 conceded)
10. Venezuela: 16 games played, 10 points, -16 goal differential (14 scored, 30 conceded)

(Italics: Automatically qualify | Bold: Go to intercontinental playoff)

Intercontinental playoff

FIFA announced on Nov. 19 a significant change to its format. One team each from Asia, Concacaf, Oceania and South America will compete for two final berths at the World Cup. Instead of the previous format, in which the teams in the two pairings would play home-and-away, two-legged ties to determine the winner, they will now play a single-elimination match at a neutral venue in Qatar. Those matches are slated to be played June 13-14, 2022—more than two months after the group draw for the World Cup proper is expected to take place. The draw for the intercontinental playoff on Nov. 26 resulted in the Concacaf fourth-place finisher facing the Oceania winner, while the Asian third-place playoff winner will face the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL.