The group stage of the European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup concluded on Tuesday evening, with 10 teams qualifying directly for the World Cup in Qatar.
The play-offs to reach Qatar will take place from 24 to 29 March, with 10 group runners up joined by the two best group winners from the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League.
Therefore, 12 teams will compete in the European play-offs to determine the 3 qualified teams for the World Cup.
The 10 European teams that qualified directly for the 2022 World Cup are France, Germany, England, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Serbia, Switzerland, and Spain.
The 10 group runners up are Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Scotland, Russia, Poland, North Macedonia, Ukraine, and Wales, in addition to the Czech and Austrian teams, which occupied the top spot of their groups in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League.
The teams participating in the play-offs will be divided into three groups, each group comprising four teams to be determined by a draw.
The teams compete in a semi-final and final system of one match, where two matches are held in each group, so that the winner qualifies for the final match, and the winner of final qualifies for the World Cup and so on in the rest of the groups.
The European World Cup play-off draw will be held on 26 November 2021. The semi-final matches of the European play-off round will be held on 24 and 25 March 2022, while the final matches will be held on 28 and 29 March 2022. The World Cup runs from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
