WORLD CUP 2022. After their defeat at home against North Macedonia (0-1) in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs, Italy will not go to Qatar. Find the latest news from the next World Cup.
[Mis à jour le 25 mars 2022 à 10h26] New disappointment for Italy. After 2018, the Squadra Azzurra will not be at the 2022 World Cup. Beaten at home by North Macedonia on Thursday March 24 (0-1), the Italians will not go to Qatar unlike the Macedonians who still have a chance to win a ticket for the next World Cup. They will face Portugal on Tuesday, March 29, winner at the same time of Turkey (3-1) in Porto. The long-awaited final between the last two European champion nations will not take place. Among the other posters of the play-offs in the Europe zone, Sweden won at home against the Czech Republic (1-0) at the end of the suspense, in extra time. In difficulty at Real Madrid, Gareth Bale lives again in the national team where the Welshman scored twice against Austria (2-1).
The finals of the European play-offs will take place on Tuesday March 29 between the winners of the semi-finals: Portugal – North Macedonia, Poland – Sweden. Wales will have to wait for the postponement of the meeting between Scotland and Ukraine to know their opponent.
The draw for the group stage of the 2022 World Cup will take place on Friday April 1, seven months before the official start of the World Cup in Qatar (November 21). For this draw, all the qualified teams will not yet be known since due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, the play-off between the Ukrainians and the Scots has been postponed to a later date. In addition, tickets for the South America and Oceania zone will be allocated in June after the play-offs.
At the time of writing, 17 countries have qualified in this way: the host country, Qatar, but also Brazil, France, Germany, England and Iran. The World Cup will begin on November 21, an unusual date due to the climatic conditions in Qatar which forced Fifa to organize the competition in the middle of winter. Consequently, the calendars of the various championships will also be turned upside down and the preparation phase will be delicate for all the nations. In its press release to present the modalities of the draw, Fifa tried to reassure the nations by explaining that “the group stage of the 2022 World Cup will be spread over 12 days, with four matches per day. The teams will benefit optimal rest time”.
In addition, since Wednesday March 23, football supporters can obtain a ticket for the future World Cup via the “first come, first served.“
A total of 32 teams, including 13 European, will participate in the 2022 World Cup. With Qatar already assured of its participation as host country, 31 other countries must therefore obtain their qualification in the coming weeks, through the qualifiers organized on each continent. Here are the countries guaranteed to participate in the competition:
- Qatar (host country)
- Germany
- Denmark
- Brazil
- France
- Belgium
- Serbia
- Spain
- Croatia
- Swiss
- England
- Netherlands
- Argentina
- Iran
- South Korea
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
The qualifying phase for the World Cup is over in the Europe zone. The play-off phase started on Thursday March 24 with the semi-finals and the surprise elimination of Italy, despite having won the last Euro. The Squadra Azzura lost against North Macedonia. The winners of the semi-finals will meet in the final on Tuesday March 29 (also in a dry match) on March 29, 2022. The Scotland – Ukraine meeting has been postponed due to the current context. The list of teams for Europe still in contention: Scotland, North Macedonia, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Wales.
Play-offs (or more precisely a 3rd round) are also scheduled in Africa on March 25 and 29 with the following teams: Mali, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, DR Congo, Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Tunisia.
To discover all the details of the play-offs for this 2022 World Cup, with the complete calendar and the results, go to our dedicated article:
• Europe:
Europe offers 13 qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. Prior to the play-offs, qualifying was organized by UEFA in a single round, with a series of home and away matches in ten groups. Here is the final ranking of these qualifiers.
• Africa:
Africa will have 5 qualifiers at the end of qualifying. The playoffs were held in three rounds. The second is finished (see the ranking below) and the first of each group are qualified for the third round of final play-offs. A final round with round-trip elimination encounters.
• Asia:
Asia will have 5 or 6 qualifiers. Qatar, the host country, is already qualified but participates in the meetings which also count as a qualifying round for the Asian Cup 2023 in China. The playoffs are organized in 4 rounds. For the current third round, the first two of each group will be directly qualified for the World Cup. The two third-place finishers face each other in the fourth round for a place in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Australia is competing in the World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Oceania for its part will have 1 or 0 qualified. Qualifications are underway to secure a place for the inter-confederation play-offs.
North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) will have 3 or 4 qualifiers. After several phases, a final round is underway in a single group. The first three will qualify for the World Cup and the fourth can participate in the inter-confederation play-offs.
South America (CONMEBOL) will have 4 or 5 qualifiers. The qualifications are organized in a single qualifying group with home and away matches. The first four are directly qualified for the World Cup, the fifth for the inter-confederation play-offs.
It was in December 2010 that Qatar was named host country of this World Cup, being preferred to the four other candidates: Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. A controversial choice which has continued, over the years, to give rise to controversy against a backdrop of accusations of corruption at the time of appointment, of slavery on the construction sites of the stadiums, and on the climate of the country. Given the high heat recorded in summer (the period when the competition is usually played), sometimes with peaks of 50°C, this 2022 World Cup has also had to be postponed to new dates.
To cope with these climatic constraints, FIFA has indeed decided to organize this World Cup in winter, for the first time in its history. The date of the opening match has thus been set for November 21, 2022, while the grand final will take place on December 18, 2022, Qatar’s national day.
Latest news around the 2022 World Cup
The group stage of the 2022 World Cup will take place from November 21 to December 2. The first two of each group will qualify for the round of 16, scheduled for December 3, 4, 5 and 6. It will then be time for the quarter-finals, scheduled for December 9 and 10, then the semi-finals, on December 13 and 14. The match for third place will take place on December 17 and the final on Sunday December 18, one week before Christmas.
On its website, Fifa explains that “payments for tickets allocated during the first sales period with random selection procedure (draw), which ended on February 8, 2022, are no longer accepted. Fans can re-apply for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ tickets during the “first-come, first-served” sales phase of the sales phase (1) which begins on 23 March 2022 at 11:00 a.m. CET / 1:00 p.m. Doha time and ends on March 29, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. CET / 12:00 p.m. (noon) Doha time. During this sales period, tickets will be allocated on a “first come, first served” basis and ticket purchases are treated as a real-time transaction (subject to availability). Ticket applicants will immediately receive confirmation that their order has been fulfilled.”