The race to qualify for the much-awaited World Cup 2022 is finally over, with the qualification stages having ended ahead of the winter tournament. In preparation for the event, teams from across the world battled it out on the field and 32 of these have secured their spot in Qatar. Here is everything you need to know about the teams that have qualified for the 2022 World Cup. If you are a sports bettor, you can start placing your FIFA bets or play virtual sports and games on Joe Fortune Online Casino.
World Cup Qualified Teams
According to the official FIFA website, the following 32 teams have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar this year:
Team | Date Qualified |
1. Qatar | December 2, 2020 |
2. Germany | October 11, 2021 |
3. Denmark | October 12, 2021 |
4. Brazil | November 11, 2021 |
5. Belgium | November 11, 2021 |
6. France | November 13, 2021 |
7. Croatia | November 14, 2021 |
8. Spain | November 14, 2021 |
9. Serbia | November 14, 2021 |
10. England | November 15, 2021 |
11. Switzerland | November 15, 2021 |
12. Netherlands | November 16, 2021 |
13. Argentina | November 16, 2021 |
14. Iran | January 27, 2022 |
15. South Korea | February 1, 2022 |
16. Japan | March 24, 2022 |
17. Saudi Arabia | March 24, 2022 |
18. Ecuador | March 24, 2022 |
19. Uruguay | March 24, 2022 |
20. Canada | March 29, 2022 |
21. Ghana | March 29, 2022 |
22. Senegal | March 29, 2022 |
23. Portugal | March 29, 2022 |
24. Poland | March 29, 2022 |
25. Tunisia | March 29, 2022 |
26. Cameroon | March 29, 2022 |
27. Morocco | March 29, 2022 |
28. Mexico | March 30, 2022 |
29. United States | March 30, 2022 |
30. Wales | June 5, 2022 |
31. Australia | June 13, 2022 |
32. Costa Rica | June 14, 2022 |
First Teams to Qualify (October to November)
Qatar was the first nation to qualify thanks to the automatic qualifier afforded to tournament hosts. Qatar has never qualified for the finals and this will be their first appearance. After Qatar, Germany qualified next after beating Macedonia, pushing them to the top of Group J. Denmark followed in October.
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Brazil, which has participated in every World Cup final, secured its legacy by beating Colombia in November 2021. Belgium joined the roster as Group E members and France as Group D, also in November. Croatia beat Russia to win Group H and Spain led Group B. On 14th, Serbia beat Portugal in the final qualifier to enter the finals as Group A winners.
England beat San Marino and qualified on November 15 as Switzerland secured their place as group C winners. After beating Norway 2-0, Netherlands booked their spot on November 16 followed by Argentina that evening. Ecuador closed this phase by beating Chile.
2022 Qualifiers
In early 2022, South Korea and Iran finished top in the third round of AFC Group A qualifiers. Saudi Arabia and Japan quickly followed in March, leading Group B, as did Uruguay and Ecuador. Canada secured a spot on March 29 – the first time it did so since 1986. Ghana beat Nigeria and Senegal defeated Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
In a redeeming match, Portugal qualified for the finals by beating North Macedonia. Poland took down Sweden in a play-off and were quickly followed by Tunisia and Morocco, who beat Mali and DRC, respectively. The last of this phase saw Cameroon win their spot through a last-minute defeat over Algeria.
World Cup Group Draw
World Cup 2022 will kick off with a group draw featuring all 32 qualifying teams. The teams will be grouped into eight groups of four as follows:
- Group A: Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador
- Group B: Wales, USA, Iran, England
- Group C: Poland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Argentina
- Group D: Tunisia, Denmark, Australia, France
- Group E: Japan, Germany, Costa Rica, Spain
- Group F: Croatia, Morocco, Belgium, Canada
- Group G: Cameroon, Switzerland, Brazil, Serbia
- Group H: South Korea, Uruguay, Portugal, Ghana
Final Rounds
Among the last teams to qualify for World Cup 2022 were rivals US and Mexico and Wales, who have not qualified for the finals in 64 years. June saw Australia defeat Peru on penalties and Costa Rica clinch the final spot by beating New Zealand 1-0.