FIFA World Cup draw: How to watch, date, time, teams going to Qatar, stadium venues

Agency: The FIFA World Cup draw takes place later this week even though the full qualification process will not be complete for a few more months.

The two inter-confederation playoff winners will not yet be known by Friday while Path A from UEFA’s playoffs cannot be completed yet due to the Russian war in Ukraine.

Despite that, already qualified teams will discover their collective fate later this week in Qatar’s capital Doha.

How to watch World Cup draw:

When: Friday, April 1, 2022
Location: Doha, Qatar
Time: 12pm ET
TV: Telemundo

Format for World Cup draw:

Friday’s draw will feature 32 teams being split into four pots based on FIFA’s most recent world rankings.

Hosts Qatar will be in Pot One and automatically take the A1 position and the seven best teams will complete that first pot.

Pot Two will feature the eight next best team based on the rankings which will also be repeated for Pot Three.

World Cup draw rules

Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in the same group with an exception for UEFA which will have at least one but no more than two teams in each Group.

The same differentiation process could be required depending on the outcome of the inter-confederation ties.

The draw will start with the teams from Pot One and end with those based in Pot Four.

List of World Cup teams

UEFA: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland.
AFC: Iran, Japan, Qatar (hosts), Saudi Arabia, and South Korea.
CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay.
Concacaf: Canada.
CAF: TBC

OFC: TBC

World Cup venues

Qatar will open their World Cup on November 21 at Al Bayt Stadium with the only two other set venues and fixture combinations — Khalifa International Stadium for the third-place match on December 17 and Lusail Iconic Stadium for the final on December 18.

Due to proximity of venues, group fixture locations and timings will be decided after the draw to ensure stadium and spectator allocations.

However, group stage matches have been allocated the following venues:

Groups A, B, E, and F: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, and Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.

Groups C, D, G, and H: Lusail Iconic Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, and Al Janoub Stadium.