Which teams have qualified for the World Cup 2022?

This will be the last traditional 32-team World Cup tournament before controversial expansion plans come into place from 2026. Host nation Qatar automatically qualify, but who will join them?

At the time of writing, 20 teams have booked their place in the tournament, including the majority of European nations. England are the only home nation to progress so far.

Asian qualifying concluded this week with Iran and Saudi Arabia among those to advance to the tournament, while Canada became the first North American representatives.

The African qualifiers have reached the play-offs for qualification. Five two-leg match-ups will go ahead across Africa before the end of March. The five winners will all qualify.

Oceanic and North American qualifiers are still going ahead but all will be decided very soon with just months left until the tournament kicks off.

RadioTimes.com has rounded up all the teams who have qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar so far – and the nations who could still join them.

Which teams have qualified for the World Cup 2022?

Host nation

• Qatar

Europe (UEFA)

The 10 qualifying group winners have officially booked their place at Qatar 2022, with three spots remaining for play-off winners.

• Belgium
• Croatia
• Denmark
• England
• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Serbia
• Spain
• Switzerland

Play-offs:

• Wales or Scotland/Ukraine
• Poland or Sweden
• Portugal or North Macedonia

South America (CONMEBOL)

The South American qualification process is almost complete with four CONMEBOL teams booking their place at Qatar 2022.

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Uruguay

One of these three teams will progress to the inter-confederation play-offs:

• Peru
• Colombia
• Chile

Asia (AFC)

The Asian qualification process is almost complete with four AFC teams set to feature in Qatar, alongside the hosts, Qatar:

• Iran
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea

One team will qualify for the inter-confederation play-offs:

UAE/Iraq or Australia

Africa (CAF)

The 10 teams left in contention will face each other in the second leg of play-offs this week. Five winners will qualify. As things stand:

• Egypt 1-0 Senegal
• Cameroon 0-1 Algeria
• Ghana 0-0 Nigeria
• DR Congo 1-1 Morocco
• Mali 0-1 Tunisia

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Three nations will qualify directly. One team has officially qualified:

• Canada

Two of the remaining three teams in contention will qualify directly and the third will fall into the inter-confederation play-offs:

• USA
• Mexico
• Costa Rica

Oceania (OFC)

One team will qualify for the inter-confederation play-offs from the OFC zone:

New Zealand or Solomon Islands

What are the inter-confederation play-offs?

We've mentioned them enough. The inter-confederation play-offs are a last-chance saloon to qualify for the World Cup designed to ensure strong nations progress to the finals.

Europe's depth of quality means no UEFA teams will enter this stage, while five African nations are guaranteed entry.

The format of this year's inter-confederation play-offs will be as follows:

• AFC Fourth Round winner v CONMEBOL Fifth Place
• CONCACAF Third Round Fourth Place v OFC Final winner

Confused? You should be. Essentially, all you need to know is that the 'next best' team from Asian, North, Central American and Caribbean and South American qualifying tournaments will be joined by the winner of the Oceanic qualifying campaign.

There will be two one-leg matches. The two victors will complete the World Cup qualification process.

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