2022 World Cup: How qualifying works around the world

Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup began on June 6, 2019, when minor nations from the Asian confederation played their first round of matches. Mongolia's Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal scored the very first goal in a 2-0 win over Brunei Darussalam.

We are now into the final stretch, with all regular qualifying paths to be completed by the end of March. By then, we will know 29 of the 32 qualifiers, and the finals draw will be held on April 1. The last three places will be settled in the intercontinental playoffs, and the postponed UEFA path, in June.

QUALIFIED (15/32): Qatar (as hosts), Germany, Denmark, Brazil, Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Argentina, IR Iran, South Korea

• European qualifying home page

Qualified teams: Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands

There are 55 European nations and qualifying ran from March to November 2021.

The 10 group winners, in bold, went direct to the finals.

Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, AzerbaijanGroup B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, KosovoGroup C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, LithuaniaGroup D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, KazakhstanGroup E: Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, EstoniaGroup F: Denmark, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, MoldovaGroup G: Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, GibraltarGroup H: Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, MaltaGroup I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San MarinoGroup J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein

— Final tables

Three more places are allocated via playoffs. This involves the 10 runners-up plus the two