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A once-in-a-century international well being disaster and the warfare in Ukraine made certain of that.
It means 37 nations will probably be concerned on Friday, together with 5 which can finally not play in November when the primary “winter” World Cup kicks off.
The complete lineup is not going to be identified till at the least June 14, when the intercontinental playoff spherical ends in Qatar. That’s 74 days after the draw and the identical date the 2018 match began in Russia.
Possibly FIFA bought fortunate seven years in the past by transferring the 2022 match to November and December to keep away from the searing desert warmth of Qatar’s summer season.
The later begin created wriggle room to clear the match backlog after the COVID-19 pandemic worn out nearly each national-team recreation outdoors Europe in 2020.
It has additionally put uncertainty on stage on the Doha Exhibition & Conference Middle, the place the present Friday begins at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT) and lasts one hour.
One of many balls being drawn from pot 4 of low-ranked groups will signify “Peru or Australia or the United Arab Emirates.” One other is “Ukraine or Wales or Scotland.”
So it goes at this main World Cup milestone, in maybe its very unlikely host nation, on April 1.
Right here’s a take a look at this uncommon World Cup draw.
One certain factor is Qatar would be the top-seeded group in Group A, taking place A1 within the schedule of 64 matches in simply 28 days.
The privilege is given to all host nations even when ranked No. 65 on the earth, as Russia was. Qatar is at the moment No. 52.
Nonetheless, the 2019 Asian Cup winner is the exception amongst trendy World Cup hosts, having by no means earlier than certified for the finals. Qatar’s debut opens the match on Monday, Nov. 21 at Al Bayt Stadium.
It means within the group stage Qatar avoids the world’s top-ranked groups, from Nos. 1 to 7 — Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain and Portugal.
These nations would be the subsequent seven drawn out of top-seeded pot 1 and allotted in flip to Teams B by H.
Seeding pots are stuffed in line with FIFA rankings which weigh outcomes over a number of years and are formally up to date Thursday.
The following eight highest-ranked qualifiers go into pot 2, which is the second to be drawn. It consists of Germany and sure the USA and Mexico after Wednesday’s qualifying video games.
Subsequent is pot 3 with groups ranked within the 20s by FIFA and at last pot 4 together with Canada, again within the World Cup after a 36-year hole. Canada is in pot 4 regardless of main the North American qualifying group.
The easy format is now sophisticated by the three playoff entries delayed to June: The European bracket containing Ukraine, which can’t at the moment put together a group, and the 2 intercontinental playoffs.
FIFA weighted these entries downward into pot 4 in line with the lowest-ranked potential qualifiers, comparable to Scotland, New Zealand and the UAE.
Increased-ranked playoff groups Peru and Wales face being seeded under their true stage.
Geography additionally limits potential match-ups. Groups from the identical continent usually can’t go in the identical group, apart from some Europeans. Europe has 13 of the 31 qualifying slots and so they can’t all keep away from one another.
5 teams get two European groups, and the opposite three teams every get one. It means 2014 winner Germany from pot 2 can land with defending champion France.
Every four-team group is a round-robin of six video games in whole. The order every group performs the opposite is determined by one other draw inside the ceremony.
After every group is drawn, a subsequent ball — numbered 1, 2, 3 or 4 — is picked to put that nation within the fixture grid.
This unpredictability means the 2 highest-ranked groups in a bunch might meet in any of the three rounds.
The 32-team lineup is the right quantity for a knockout bracket. The highest two groups in every group — the place objective distinction is the primary tiebreaker — advance to the spherical of 16.
A group’s path by to the quarterfinals, semifinals and last is ready within the bracket. If Qatar advances because the Group A winner, it should then play the Group B runner-up.
Groups which advance from the identical group can’t meet once more till the ultimate.
Is there a “good” or “unhealthy” part of the draw to land in?
Possibly sure at this congested match, which will probably be 4 days shorter than the 2018 version in Russia.
Touchdown in Group B means beginning on Nov. 21 as an alternative of Nov. 24 in Group G or H. Meaning three further relaxation days.
The Group G winner must play seven video games in simply 25 days to win the title. That group additionally will get simply two full days off earlier than a spherical of 16 recreation on Dec. 5.
Why is the schedule so tight? This World Cup is jammed into an enforced break in home league seasons in Europe.
Reluctant to lose profitable weekend broadcast slots, Europe’s prime leagues ensured they are going to play by Nov. 13 — simply eight days earlier than kickoff in Qatar.
Extra AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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