World Cup Football Guide

The 2022 World Cup kicks off next month as hosts Qatar face Ecuador on Sunday 20th November. Widely regarded as the most popular tournament for the world’s most universally loved sport, it’s a pretty big deal for all the players, coaches and fans involved.  

But for those of you who are unfamiliar, the 2022 World Cup could come across as confusing. How do you win it? Why are there so many fixtures? What do only some games go to extra time?

This will be a complete guide about the World Cup for anyone who doesn’t have a clue about what it is and how it works. It will go through the rules around the World Cup, and its qualification fixtures, stage by stage.

What is the World Cup?

The World Cup is a tournament of 32 global nations organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It determines the world champions of men’s football and is commonly regarded as the sport’s most important tournament.

The current format involves a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation, compete for the title at venues within the host nation over the course of about a month.

When is the World Cup Final?

The World Cup final is every four years and usually runs in May, June or July.

Where is the World Cup and why is it in winter?

The World Cup is hosted in a different country every tournament, determined by FIFA’s congress in a ballot system. The decision is made roughly every seven years ahead of the tournament.

This year, Qatar will host the World Cup, the first time the World Cup will be held in the Arab World. There will be eight different stadiums across Qatar that will host the 64 fixtures.

This year’s tournament will be held later in the year due to Qatar’s hot summer temperatures.

How do teams qualify for the World Cup?

The qualifiers for this year’s edition of the men’s World Cup began on 6th June 2019 and concluded on 16th September 2021. The women’s World Cup qualifiers began on 16th September 2021 and will finish in February 2023.

The method of qualification depends on which continent a nation is from. There are six applicable continents, so six different procedures for qualification:

Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF):

Eight nations make it to the qualifying stage out of the 35 members, who play each other home and away in a round-robin format (a tournament in which each competitor plays in turn against every other). After these 14 matches are played, the three teams with the most points qualify for the World Cup. The team that finishes in fourth place qualifies for a one-match playoff against the winner of the Oceanic Football Confederation group, with the winner of that qualifying for the World Cup.

Union of European Football Associations (UEFA):

All 55 teams participate in a final round of qualifying, divided into ten different groups. These groups play a round-robin style format and the team with the most points in each group automatically advances to the World Cup.

From there, the ten teams that finished second in their retrospective groups – alongside the two highest-ranked group winners from the previous year’s Nations League tournament who were not among the top two teams in their groups, are then randomly drawn into three groups of four. These nations then play out a single elimination four-team tournament, with the winner of each progressing to the World Cup.

South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL):

All ten teams play each other home and away in a round-robin tournament. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup. Meanwhile, the fifth-placed nation advances to an intercontinental playoff against a team from Asia. The winner of that match then advances to the World Cup.

Confederation of African Football (CAF)

Of the 54 nations in CAF, 40 advance to the final round of World Cup qualifying and are drawn into ten groups of four. From here, those teams play a six-match round-robin schedule amongst themselves in each group. The ten teams that finish with the most points in each group advance to a two-match playoff against another group winner, meaning there are five playoffs in total. The winning team from each of the playoffs advances to the World Cup.

Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)

Eight teams participate in the final round of qualifying and are split into two groups of four, playing a round-robin tournament in their group. From there, the two group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals, with the eventual final winner playing against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF.

How many teams qualify for the World Cup?

This year, 32 nations have qualified for the World Cup – which includes 31 qualifiers plus host nation Qatar, who qualify automatically.

World Cup Draw 2022

The 29 qualified teams, two intercontinental playoff placeholders and one European playoff slot placeholder are allocated to four pots of eight teams, based on the FIFA World Ranking released on 31 March 2022. Based on the rankings, the top seven teams along with the hosts, Qatar, are allocated to team Pot 1. The teams ranked 8 to 15 are allocated to Pot 2, the teams ranked 16 to 23 into Pot 3, and teams ranked 24 to 28 plus the two placeholders allocated into Pot 4.

The four pots representing the teams are labelled team pots 1 to 4. In each team pot, there are eight balls with the country name for each qualified team. The eight pots representing the groups are labelled group pots A to H. In each group pot, there are four balls with the position numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 for each respective group. A ball is drawn from a team pot, followed by a ball from one of the group pots, thus determining the position to which the respective team is allocated.

The general principle, whenever possible, is to ensure that no group has more than one team from the same qualification zone drawn into it. This is applicable to everywhere except Europe, which is represented by 13 teams.

As such, the 32 teams who qualified for the 2022 World Cup have been drawn into the following groups:

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

What are the World Cup group stage rules?

Each group member plays one 90-minute fixture against each other in a round-robin format. There are three points awarded for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. The top two teams qualify for the round of 16 knockout phase, with the winner of each group playing against a runner-up of a different group. In the event of two or more teams sharing identical points, the place will be decided on goal difference.

World Cup 2026 Format Change

In 2026, with the USA, Canada and Mexico hosting the World Cup, the competition will be extended to 48 teams. This was done to increase the total number of matches in the World Cup, whilst ensuring the workloads on teams and players were not affected.

How does the World Cup knockout stage work?

The knockout stage of the World Cup is the second and final stage of the competition, following the conclusion of the group stage. The top two teams from each group (16 in total, hence referred to as the ‘round of 16’) will advance to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. A third-place play-off will also ensue between the two losing teams of the semi-finals.

If a match is level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time will be played, consisting of two periods of 15 minutes each. If the scoreline is still tied after extra time, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout, with the winner proceeding to the next round.

When does the World Cup Knockout Stage Start?

Here are the scheduled dates for when the World Cup knockout stages will begin.

Round of 16

With the 2022 World Cup the matchups for the round of 16 knockout stage, which begins on Saturday 3rd December, will work as follows:

Saturday 3rd December:

Group A Winners vs Group B Runners-up

Group C Winners vs Group D Runners-up

Sunday 4th December:

Group B Winners vs Group A Runners-up

Group D Winners vs Group C Runners-up

Monday 5th December

Group E Winners vs Group F Runners-up

Group G Winners vs Group H Runners-up

Tuesday 6th December:

Group F Winners vs Group E Runners-up

Group H Winners vs Group G Runners-up

Quarter-finals

Competing teams are then cut in half to eight as the winners from the round of 16 compete for the semi-finals. The quarter-finals will run from Friday 9th December to Saturday 10th December.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals happen within a matter of weeks from the beginning of the knockout stage. The total competing teams have been cut in half again to four, with the winners reaching the final and the losers advancing to the third-place playoff. The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday 13th December and Wednesday 14th December.

Third-place playoff

The two defeated teams from the semi-finals will play off for Third Place. This will occur on Saturday 17th December.

The World Cup Final

The main event of the whole tournament. The two winners of the semi-finals will then compete for the trophy in a 90-minute fixture. The World Cup final will be played on Sunday 18th December.

The previous winners of the World Cup can be found here.

Player awards

After the tournament, there is a series of individual player awards, such as the Golden Boot. The previous winners for which can be found here.

The all-time top scorers for the World Cup can be found here.

World Cup betting odds at William Hill

World Cup FAQs

Who hosts the World Cup?

Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup. The World Cup is hosted in a different country every tournament, determined by FIFA’s congress in a ballot system.

How often is the World Cup?

The World Cup is played every four years in a month-long tournament. These four years provides time for the qualification process.

Why is the 2022 World Cup in Winter?

The 2022 World Cup tournament will be held in Winter due to Qatar’s hot summer temperatures.

What country has won the most World Cup titles?

Brazil has won the most World Cup tournaments with five titles. They are furthermore the only side to have competed in every single World Cup tournament. Meanwhile, Italy and German both have four titles.

England’s sole success in the World Cup came in 1966, when captain Bobby Moore lifted the trophy in original Wembley Stadium.

Who won the first World Cup?

The Uruguay National Football Team won the first World Cup title 1930 in their capital of Montevideo. There were 93,333 spectators who watched their iconic 4-2 win over Argentina.

How many teams are there in the World Cup?

There are 32 teams competing in the 2022 World Cup. In 2026 this is set to increase to 48 teams, with three nations hosting that year’s edition of the tournament.

How many players per team?

Each team in the World Cup are allowed a maximum of 11 players on the pitch at one time, although they are permitted a maximum of 12 additional players on the bench, with five of these players allowed to be substituted on.

How does extra time work in the World Cup?

If the scoreline is equal after the 90-minute match, an additional 30 minutes will ensue after a small break for the players. These are split into two 15-minute halves. If the scoreline is still level after extra-time, the match will go to a penalty shootout.

Will the World Cup have VAR?

FIFA has approved the use of its new Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) for VAR at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system will replace the VARs manually linking lines across the pitch to players and selecting when the ball has been kicked.

How do teams automatically qualify?

The host nation always automatically qualifies for the World Cup and goes into Pot 1 of Group A for the group stage draw. This year, Qatar are the host nation and thus qualified automatically.

What is the Group of Death?

This is a slag term used for the group considered to have the strongest teams using FIFA World Rankings as a measure. This means teams in this group will have a harder time making it to the finals, potentially with one of the big teams being knocked out early on in the tournament.

Who will win the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Five-time winners Brazil (4/1) are the current favourites to win the World Cup, having assembled a formidable squad over the past few years. In their quest to win a first World Cup since 2002, they will likely have to overcome the likes of current champions France (6/1), South American rivals Argentina (7/1) and Euro 2020 finalists England (7/1).