The 2022 World Cup draw is here and the European teams will discover their opponents on the road to Qatar.
With England in pot one, Southgate’s team will face the easiest possible draw, though there could be qualifiers against home nations rivals Wales, who are in pot two, as well as Northern Ireland, Scotland or the Republic of Ireland, who are all in pot three. The tournament itself, the 22nd edition, begins on 21 November 2022 with the final being played on 18 December in Lusail.
Follow live updates, reaction and analysis from the draw in Zurich as Uefa’s road to the World Cup is revealed:
POT 2
Group A – Portugal, Serbia
Group C – Italy, Switzerland
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:28
POT 1
That’s your lot for the top nations. Now we get to start seeing who each of them will face as we move on to Pot 2.
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:26
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:26
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:25
POT 1
(Groups C, D and E are left for Nations League finalists, remember)
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:24
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:23
HERE WE GO!
Draw time finally! We go through Pot 1 remember – the ‘top seeds’ as such.
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:22
RULES TIME
Now FIFA are getting towards the real issues – explaining all the Pots and processes, just as we did for you hours ago. Need a reminder?
- Six Pots, each Pot emptied in turn with nations going straight into next available Group by alphabetical order
- Five Groups of five nations, five of six nations
- There are pairs of nations who cannot face each other, such as Russia and Ukraine
- Some nations can also not be paired due to weather or travel distance conditions
- In each case, any who cannot be paired will just go straight into the next available Group
- Nations League finalists go into the Groups of five nations
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:20
ALLEZ LES BLEUS
A nice little reminder there of what happened last time out in Russia – France lifting the trophy, England’s run to the semis, Croatia’s story, Belgium beating Brazil and more.
Draw time? Nearly, surely.
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:14
ONE TO AVOID?
Both ex-players say they’d most hope to avoid Spain. Interesting selection or a sign of their own era?
Spain have not quite hit the heights of late – they’ve won two of their last six in all competitions. They did top their Nations League group in the end though, thanks to a thumping of Germany in the last game.
Karl Matchett7 December 2020 17:11