JWSport Jacek Waszak – Sport journalist
Competition for the Qatar World Cup will run from 20 November to 18 December. 2022 . Prior to the World Cup draw, only 29 of the 32 teams that will be playing in the 2022 World Cup had been announced. This will be a special football tournament, not only because of the time and venue, as up to now the World Cup took place in the summer, but now we are dealing with November and December, when games in all countries are still being played.
The Qatar World Cup will be the last with 32 teams. At the next tournament in 2026, as many as 48 teams will play for the World Cup. Looking at the interest of the Polish national team, this is good news – as many as 16, and not 13 national teams from Europe as before, will qualify.
Even before the draws, Poland was placed in basket number three. Certainly, the fourth basket will contain the pairs that will determine the advancing three teams in June.
The 2022 World Cup participants were divided into baskets
Africa (5), certain to play: Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon
South America (4 or 5), certain games: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay
Asia (4 or 5), certain games: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan, South Korea
CONCACAF (3 or 4), certain games: Canada, Mexico, USA
Europe (13), certain games: England, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Serbia, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland Oceania (0 or 1) Host: Qatar
COSH A: top seven World Cup participants as ranked by FIFA on 31 March 2021 (Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain) + Qatar
CARTRIDGE B: World Cup participants ranked 8-15 by FIFA (Netherlands, Denmark, Mexico, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Uruguay, Croatia)
CARTRICK C: FIFA World Cup participants ranked 16-23 (Senegal, Iran, Japan, Poland, Serbia, Morocco, South Korea, Tunisia)
CHOSH CART D: FIFA ranked World Cup participants from places 24.-28. (Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Cameroon + winners of the intercontinental and UEFA barracks in June: Wales/Scotland/Ukraine, Peru/Australia/United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica/New Zealand)
Group A: Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador
Group B: England, USA, Iran, UEFA play-offs
Group C: Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia
Group D: France, Denmark, Tunisia, Play-off 1
Group E: Spain, Germany, Japan, Play-off 2
Group F: Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada
Group G: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon
Group H: Portugal, Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana
