World Cup 2022 Groups

Qatar World Cup 2022 Groups

The World Cup in Qatar in 2022 will be the first time the tournament has been held in the country and the first time for the World Cup to take place in the Middle East.

The dates for World Cup 2022 are 21 November to 18 December 2022. With a minimal time difference with Europe the event promises to be perfect for broadcasters.

The opening match will take place at Al Bayt Stadium with the final at Lusail Stadium.

Stadiums

Altogether there are 8 stadiums for World Cup 2022

These are as follows.

Lusail Stadium; capacity 80,000

Education City Stadium (Al Rayyan Stadium); capacity 45,350

Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium; capacity 44,740

Stadium 974 (Ras Abu Aboud Stadium); capacity 40,000

Al Thumama Stadium; capacity 40,000

Al Bayt Stadium; capacity 60,000

Khalifa International Stadium; capacity 40,000

Al Janoub Stadium; capacity 40,000

WORLD CUP 2022 GROUPS Group A Group B Group C Group D Qatar England Argentina France Ecuador Iran Saudi Arabia Australia** Senegal USA Mexico Denmark Netherlands Wales* Poland Tunisia         Group E Group F Group G Group H Spain Belgium Brazil Portugal Costa Rica*** Canada Serbia Ghana Germany Morocco Switzerland Uruguay Japan Croatia Cameroon South Korea

* To be decided between Wales, Scotland and Ukraine. Wales will meet the winners of the delayed Scotland v Ukraine match. Wales duly qualified for the first time since 1958 overcoming Ukraine 1-0 in Cardiff after Ukraine had earlier defeated Scotland 3-1.

** Australia or United Arab Emirates vs Peru. Australia qualified for their fifth World Cup in a row, beating UAE 2-1 and then Peru 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in normal time.

*** Costa Rica 1 vs New Zealand 0

GROUP A

Group A

Qatar Ecuador Senegal Netherlands

Ranked 51st, Qatar look a weak host, but will be buoyed by home advantage, a recent win over Bulgaria and a draw with Slovenia. Louis Van Gaal's Netherlands are clear favourites for first place, but muscular African champions Senegal will surely tussle for second spot with Ecuador, who at times roared in qualifying, banging four past Uruguay and six past Colombia.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Qatar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ecuador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senegal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

GROUP B

Group B

England Iran USA Wales

England are odds-on to win the group but could face a local derby, have never played Iran and have failed to beat the USA in two World Cup meetings. Second spot is very much up for grabs as the US need to impress having missed out four years ago, while Iran are aiming for the second round for the first time. Scotland or Wales would set up an all-British scrap but Ukraine would have the world rooting for them if they qualify instead.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Iran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 USA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

GROUP C

Group C

Argentina Saudi Arabia Mexico Poland

All eyes will be on Lionel Messi's final quest for the biggest prize and the Albiceleste should make light work of this group after cruising unbeaten to second spot in CONMEBOL qualifying. Mexico are in search of their own Holy Grail - 'the fifth match', after seven consecutive second round exits. Poland surprised in beating Sweden to Qatar and showed they are more than just Robert Lewandowski. The Saudis are tipped to come last but beat Australia and Japan to first place in Asia Group B, losing only once in ten.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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GROUP D

Group D

France Australia Denmark Tunisia

France are clear favourites to top Group D, with Kylian Mbappe arguably the most in-form player in world football, while the mercurial Karim Benzema will be looking to make up for lost time after he was omitted from France's Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup squads for disciplinary reasons.

Les Bleus will face a familiar opponent in Denmark, with the Danes drawn in the same group as France for the second World Cup running. The Red and Whites endured an emotional Euro 2020 when star midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest at the Parken Stadion in Copenhagen, but having been given the all clear, the 30-year-old is back in the squad and could yet play a key role in Qatar.

Tunisia went out in the group stage in Russia in 2018, but a run to the final of the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup has given fans of the Eagles of Carthage renewed hope. Either Peru, the United Arab Emirates or Australia will round out Group D, with the trio involved in single leg inter-confederation playoffs in Doha in June. Australia duly qualified.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tunisia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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GROUP E

Group E

Spain Costa Rica Germany Japan

Two former winners Spain and Germany are likely to run away in Group E. Though they have lacked a proven goalscorer for years now, Spain's solid form has taken them far in both Euro 2020 and in the latest edition of the Nations League, narrowly losing out to France. As Jogi Löw's tenure came to a disappointing end, Hansi Flick's Germany made light work of Group J winning all of their matches after his appointment. Japan can count themselves unlucky to be drawn here but are quietly confident they can spring a surprise or two after the euphoria of their 2-0 win vs Australia. Costa Rica are likely to triumph against New Zealand in their play-off both knowing they will be in Qatar solely to make up the numbers. And in fact that is exactly what happened with Costa Rica winning the play-off 1-0.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Costa Rica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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GROUP F

Group F

Belgium Canada Morocco Croatia

With all four teams containing superb attacking talent, Group F looks exciting on paper. Seeded Belgium are not the force they once were and the reliance on ageing centre-backs cannot be masked by the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne. Runners-up four years ago, Croatia are another team going by the wayside but their relatively easy qualification from Group H may indicate that there is still life in the old dog orchestrated by the mercurial Luka Modrić. Canada's return to the top table for the first time since 1986 was the biggest story out of Concacaf qualifying and it will be a surprise to see their energetic attack not causing havoc. DR Congo had no answers to Morocco's firepower and qualifying for the Second Round for the second time in their history is not entirely out of the question.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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GROUP G

Group G

Brazil Serbia Switzerland Cameroon

Brazil crashed out to Belgium in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and they've been remarkably tough to beat under the defensively-minded Tite. Their only 2021 defeat was the Copa America final to arch-rivals Argentina, with the Selecao stacked with an interesting mixture of talented youngsters and battle-hardened veterans. As always, much will depend on the form of talisman Neymar in attack.

Serbia have qualified for a second successive World Cup for the first time in their history as an independent nation. They did it the hard way, coming from behind in Lisbon to win 2-1 at the Estadio da Luz and book an automatic qualification spot at Portugal's expense. Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was in prolific form in The Championship, while skipper Dusan Tadic remains an influential figure in midfield.

Switzerland were slow and steady under former coach Vladimir Petkovic, but new coach Murat Yakin knows Swiss football inside and out from his playing days. Yakin has continued the good form of his predecessor, with the Swiss finishing top of qualifying in Group C over a highly-fancied Italy. They were knocked out on penalties by Spain in Euro 2020 and much will rely on the reliable handiwork of goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Cameroon went out on penalties to Egypt in the semi-finals of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, but that won't faze new coach Rigobert Song. The Indomitable Lions will fancy their chances of springing an upset or two in Qatar, not least because Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are no slouches in front of goal. Goalkeeper Andre Onana has also returned after a recent nine-month ban for doping.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cameroon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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GROUP H

Group H

Portugal Ghana Uruguay South Korea

This is arguably the most difficult group to predict the outcome of, so expect twists and turns. After the surprising home defeat to Serbia on the final day, Portugal were condemned to the play-offs, with fans anticipating a tasty show-down against Italy in the final. In the end, they breezed past Turkey and North Macedonia in Porto and comfortably qualified. Uruguay ended 2021 with a whimper which led to the sacking of Óscar Tabárez who had coached La Celeste for 15 years. Diego Alonso has steadied the ship superbly however and Uruguay finished the campaign in 3rd place. Speaking of steady, South Korea's Paulo Bento repeated the feat of qualifying with ease behind Iran just as they did in 2014 and 2018. Ghana are currently the lowest-ranked out of the qualified teams and a terrible AFCON tournament along with the chaotic road to the play-offs suggested Nigeria were big favourites but Thomas Partey's deflected shot was enough to take them to the Middle East by the narrowest of margins.

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ghana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Uruguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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