As one of the biggest sporting tournaments in the world, the FIFA World Cup brings billions of eyes to the tournament every four years. And while talk abounds that the World Cup might move from a four-year calendar to two years, for now, we can focus on the current style of FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
To get to Qatar, teams from all across the world are competing to land their sport at the flagship event. In what will be among the most unique World Cup events ever held due to its location and its time, being held in winter as opposed to summer, there is a real race on to land the final spots.
The World Cup 2022 qualifiers are exciting, engaging, and filled with immense drama. However, if you look at the World Cup qualifiers outright it can all seem a little weird. To help you further understand what is going on, we highly recommend you take a look at the following World Cup qualification guide.
Being able to understand what is going on across the 2022 World Cup qualifiers can be important for putting together proper football bets and making the most of odds. There is much to understand, with each continental body using its own World Cup qualifiers fixtures style. There is no set-in-stone situation that exists; every World Cup qualifier is dealt with on its own merits and offers its own betting opportunities.
As mentioned above, each federation has its own way of doing things. These are dealt with differently from continent to continent. For example, South America has the fewest competing nations and thus they use the same format where each nation plays each other home and away across the qualification period. By contrast, though, the African qualification system involves various knockout, group, and then further knockout stages due to the sheer enormity of the continent.
If you take a look at the various World Cup qualifiers fixtures you can see a lot of different happenings going on. For example, at the moment the World Cup qualifiers tables are all close to completion, with some regions already seeing teams qualify alongside host nation Qatar. The confusion around the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers table stems from who comes from where.
Typically, all continents have play-off rounds to determine who makes the final tournament. For example, the team who finishes fifth in the North American qualification round will likely play a team from Oceania, most likely New Zealand, in a qualifier to reach the final tournament in Qatar. In Europe, the runners-up in each group will face off against one another to determine the remaining European qualifiers.
The UEFA qualification process is arguably the simplest – 13 teams qualify from the UEFA section. 55 teams are involved in qualification. The European World Cup qualifiers are quite easy to follow because it is simply split up into various groups - with ten groups of fix to six teams put together into sections. Four of the major European favourites – France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain – were put into smaller groups as they reached the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals.
Those looking to follow England World Cup qualifiers and Scotland World Cup qualifiers will want to pay attention to groups I and F respectively. The format is simple – teams play off against each other home and away, and the winners of each group qualify outright. The runners-up will then be joined by the best two Nations League non-qualifiers, with all twelve teams playing off in two rounds of single-match play-offs, with the three path winners making it to the tournament in Qatar.
The Germany World Cup qualifiers and the Poland World Cup qualifiers are worth keeping an eye on, as they could be highly contested groups.
As mentioned above, each federation has its own way of doing things. These are dealt with differently from continent to continent. For example, South America has the fewest competing nations and thus they use the same format where each nation plays each other home and away across the qualification period. By contrast, though, the African qualification system involves various knockout, group, and then further knockout stages due to the sheer enormity of the continent.
If you take a look at the various World Cup qualifiers fixtures you can see a lot of different happenings going on. For example, at the moment the World Cup qualifiers tables are all close to completion, with some regions already seeing teams qualify alongside host nation Qatar. The confusion around the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers table stems from who comes from where.
Typically, all continents have play-off rounds to determine who makes the final tournament. For example, the team who finishes fifth in the North American qualification round will likely play a team from Oceania, most likely New Zealand, in a qualifier to reach the final tournament in Qatar. In Europe, the runners-up in each group will face off against one another to determine the remaining European qualifiers.
The Asian World Cup qualifiers are extremely interesting, and comes across in a four-round series. The first round involves the lowest-ranked AFC teams playing each other in two-leged playoffs. The second round involves 40 teams, split up into eight groups of five. These play each other home and away, with the seven group winners and the five runners-up moving to the third round.
The current World Cup qualifiers Asian table is very tight, with many favourites – including Japan – struggling to get out of the group. The third round will see 12 teams that came through the second round split up into two groups of six, playing each other home and away. The top two from each group will then qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
The fourth round involves two third-placed teams playing off against each other; whoever wins this will then play the winner of an inter-confederation play-off. The Australia World Cup qualifiers are currently going well, and the Socceroo’s look likely to make it to Qatar.
The South America World Cup qualifiers, organised by the CONMEBOL, are the simplest – each team plays each other home and away. The top four teams qualify, while the fifth team will face an inter-continental play-off.
The current South America World Cup qualifiers table has the usual suspects of Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia all likely to make it, while Chile and Uruguay look set to fight it out for the play-off spot. Brazil and Argentina both remain unbeaten so far in qualification, while Ecuador are the surprise package at this current junction.
The African system is deeply competitive, as is the Asian system. The Africa World Cup qualifiers are extremely tight, with the first round seeing the 28 lowest-ranked teams face off in two-leg play-offs. The winners advance to the 40-team second round, where ten groups of four playoff against each other home and away. The ten group winners all move to the third round, which will see the top ten teams face off in home and away match-ups. The five winners then go to Qatar.
At the moment, a few surprises look set to happen in the African World Cup qualifiers. Cameroon look set to miss out despite having a relatively impressive generation of players, while Ghana are facing elimination as they sit behind South Africa. The DR Congo look set to finish behind Tanzania, too, which is a major shock. Egypt look set to qualify, as do Nigeria, leaving some of the strongest teams in the African sector coming through to Qatar.
The North American qualification system is among the most interesting due to the close level of all teams apart from Mexico and the United States. The USA World Cup qualifiers have been fraught with tension, with the USMNT flirting with failing to qualify before a good run of results has propelled them back into the process.
Like other regions, CONCACAF uses a three-stage system. The first round sees the teams ranked 6th to 35th in the region play off against each other in a stage that sees six groups of five drawn. They play against each other home and away, with the six group winners advancing to the next round. The second round will see the six group winners play against each other in a home and away two-legged tie. The three winners go through.
The three winners then join the top five CONCACAF teams – Mexico, America, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras – and play each other home and away in an octagonal group. The three top teams qualify, and the fourth team has to play off against another federation in a play-off.
If you wish to bet on these tournament events, then we highly recommend that you do so using proven platforms such as Ladbrokes and Boylesports. Both are highly reputed names in World Cup qualifying betting, and can make the experience much easier for the average bettor.
Choose a bookmaker who you are happy to use, such as Ladbrokes, BetBull or Boylesports.
Find their tab for FIFA World Cup qualifiers, often found in the football section.
Check during international breaks to see the upcoming World Cup qualifier
Look through the World Cup qualifiers fixtures and pick out the game(s) you like.
Look at each team and view their prospective odds for wins/loses/draws, scorers etc.
Place your bet using the platform you trust, and place your wager amount.
Place the bet, watch or follow the match, and hope your chosen result comes through.
It really is this simple to bet on the World Cup 2022 qualifiers today with our list of the best football betting sites! With qualification matches happening all the way to March 2022, you have ample time to get logged in and see for yourself what is happening. There will be many twists and turns, so be sure to be ready for a challenging World Cup campaign filled with excitement and shock results!
