The 22nd FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar in 2022. Below you can read everything about Orange’s road to the World Cup, the possible opponents, the draw and the schedule.
The World Cup will only start in the winter of 2022, so that the Orange will play several international matches until then. That is important, because due to the clumsy timing, Louis van Gaal will probably only have his 23 players for the World Cup together a week before the start.
The next international match is between 21 and 29 March. Van Gaal’s team will then play two exhibition games, while other European countries compete in the play-offs for the last three World Cup tickets. The Nations League will then start again on May 30. Until June 14, the Netherlands will play four times in the Nations League. Next, Van Gaal’s squad will reunite in September for two Nations League-games.
draw
The draw will take place in Doha on April 1, 2022, although qualifying is not yet over everywhere.
The 32 participating teams are first divided into four pots, based on the FIFA world ranking. The host country, Qatar, is automatically in Pot 1 and will be group head of group A, along with at least Belgium, Brazil and France. The Netherlands is eleventh in the ranking and will end up in pot 2.
In the draw, a maximum of one country per continent may be placed in a pool, with the exception of Europe (two per pool).
When?
The opening match will take place on November 21st at the Al Bayt Stadium, and the final will be Dec 18 played at Lusail Stadium. It is the first time that the World Cup takes place in the winter. It was only after the allocation of the World Cup to Qatar that it was considered that the summer afternoon temperature of 40 degrees in the shade was too hot. After much consultation between FIFA and the football associations, it was decided in December 2015 to move the World Cup to the winter.
Who?
We’re back! The Netherlands has already qualified, but who else? Each continent has a certain number of World Cup spots to be allocated. Some countries qualify directly, others via play-offs. This is the situation:
Europe (13 spots)
World Cup qualifiers in Europe are almost over. All numbers one placed themselves immediately. The second-placed teams will have another chance through the play-offs. These countries are already placed in Europe:
• Germany
• Denmark
• France
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Spain
• Serbia
• England
• Switzerland
• The Netherlands
• playoffs 1
• playoffs 2
• playoffs 3
The play-offs will be played on March 24-25 (semi-finals) and March 28-29 (final). The following countries will compete for the tickets there: Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Wales, Turkey, Poland, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Austria and the Czech Republic. In addition, two countries from the Nations League participate in the play-offs.
South America (4 places)
The South American countries compete in one group for four World Cup tickets in World Cup qualifiers. Place five of the group goes to the intercontinental play-offs (see below). These countries are already qualified:
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Spot 3
• Spot 4
(Text continues below the video)
North America (3 spots)
Qualifying in North America has reached the third and final round. Here Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, Canada Panama and El Salvador compete in a group for three World Cup tickets. The number four of the group advances to the intercontinental play-offs (see below). No country is yet certain of qualification.
Africa (5 spots)
Qualifying in Africa moves to the third round. There, ten group winners compete for five tickets. The countries play a home and away match against each other. The country that is the winner of those two matches qualifies for the world championship.
Countries placed in the draw are: Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria and Algeria. They can draw lots on December 18 against: Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali or DR Congo. Ghana’s placement is still subject to a match fixing investigation in the decisive game against South Africa.
Asia (5 spots)
Qualifying in Asia is in the third and final round. The first two countries will go to the World Cup in two groups of six. The numbers three compete with each other for a spot in the intercontinental play-offs. Bert van Marwijk (United Arab Emirates national coach) and Dick Advocaat (Iraq) still have to hope for that. The fifth ticket goes to host country Qatar. Now are already qualified:
• Qatar
• Group A, place 1
• Group A, place 2
• Group B, place 1
• Group B, place 2
Oceania
The 11 countries from Oceania will compete for a ticket to the intercontinental play-offs in March 2022. They cannot directly qualify for the World Cup.
Intercontinental play-offs (2 places)
Four confederations provide one country for the intercontinental playoffs: Africa, South America, North America and Oceania. These countries are drawn by a direct opponent, against which they play a home and away match. The winners of two matches are the last to qualify for the World Cup. The matches are scheduled for June 2022.
Schedule & Stadiums
In total there are 64 matches, 5 host cities and 8 stadiums. All major facilities and host cities are located within a radius of only 60 kilometres.
Game schedule:
• November 21 – December 2: group stage
• December 3 – December 6: eighth finals
• December 9 – December 10: Quarter Finals
• December 13 – December 14: semi-finals
• December 17: consolation final
• December 18: final
Host cities and stadiums:
• Doha (Al Thumama, Education City, Khalifa International, Ras Abo Aboud)
• Lusail (Lusail Iconic Stadium, final)
• Al-Khor (Al Bayt Stadium, opening match)
• Al-Rayyan (Al Rayyan Stadium)
• Al-Wakrah (Al Janoub Stadium)
Time difference
In Qatar it is two hours later than in the Netherlands. The games are played in the afternoon and evening, so we won’t have to stay up all night for the games. The exact times of the games are not yet known.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
#Netherlands #World #Cup #Qatar