FIFA World Cup 2022: How many teams from each continent can make it to Qatar?

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is all set to begin in December next year in Qatar, with the qualification stage currently hotting up, with Qatar and Germany already confirming their seats. Qatar qualified for the World Cup 2022, as they are the host, and Germany qualified for the tournament on October 11, 2021, after topping the Group J. With both teams set to be joined by many high-profile teams over the qualification period, which ends in the summer of 2022, here’s a list of teams from each continent which can make it to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

With 32 teams participating in the tournament, the Asian Football Confederation(AFC) countries are allocated four or five teams that go on to compete in the World Cup finals. The point to be noticed is that Inter-confederation play-offs are contested at the end of the qualification phase to determine how many teams from each confederation compete in the World Cup 2022 finals. The Confederation of African Football(CAF) allocates five teams, whereas The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football(CONCACAF) have three or four allocations on their part. 

Meanwhile, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) is allocated with four to five teams competing in the tournament. The Union of European Football Associations(UEFA), at the same time, has the most number of teams competing in the World Cup 2022, with as many as 13 spots available. On the other hand, the Oceania Football Confederation(OFC) is allocated zero or one spot in the tournament. 

When will the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers end?

With the World Cup 2022, all set to take place from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar, the qualification round is currently in its full flow. The World Cup 2022 qualification for the AFC countries started back in June 2019 and will conclude in June 2022. The CAF World Cup 2022 qualifiers began in September 2019 and will end in March 2022. Meanwhile, the World Cup qualifiers for the CONCACAF and UEFA nations started in March 2021 and will end in June 2022 and March 2022 respectively. At the same time, the qualification matches for the CONMEBOL nations began in October 2020 and will conclude in June 2022. On the other hand, the OFC nations’ World Cup qualifiers will begin on March 2022 and will end three months later in June.

Image: AP