At 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on April 2, the 2022 World Cup group draw ceremony will be held soon, and 29 teams and 3 play-off seats will be placed in 8 groups. So what will be the outcome of this last round of 32 draw? We'll see tonight!
The 2022 Qatar World Cup draw enters the countdown
Draw binning
According to the latest world rankings released on March 31, host Qatar and the top 7 teams in the other 28 spending line teams became the first gear, that is, the seeded teams.
The other 28 teams ranked 8-15 are in the second bracket, the 16-23rd team is in the third bracket, the team ranked 24-28, plus the European Zone Play-off Group A champion and the 2 intercontinental play-off teams advance, starting from the fourth bracket.
The specific classification is as follows:
First gear: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal
Second gear: Mexico, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, USA, Croatia
Third gear: Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Tunisia
Fourth gear: Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine, Australia/UAE/Peru, Costa Rica/New Zealand
Lottery rules
According to the principle of UEFA avoidance, teams other than UEFA will not be drawn to the same group, for example, each group can only have one South American team.
UEFA's 13 teams will be divided into 8 groups, of which 5 groups have 2 European teams and 3 groups have 1 European team, that is, it is impossible to have 3 European teams in the same group.
The 32 teams are divided into 8 groups, each group of 4 teams, each of the four grades of 1 team, after 6 rounds of competition, the top two with the best results to enter the round of 16. The order of the draw is from the first team to the end of the last bracket.
Forward-looking interpretation
In the first pot, in addition to the host Qatar, they are all traditional giants in Europe and South America, and they are also the main champions. In the second gear, there are two giants from the Netherlands and Germany, as well as Uruguay, Croatia and other strong teams.
In the third gear, mainly Asian and African teams, there are also Poland and Serbia from Europe. The three seats that have not yet been decided in the play-offs are the main focus of the fourth gear.
Given that the second and third gears have a large number of teams with good strength, it is likely that this draw will produce more than one "death group".
Any combination of Brazil/France/Argentina/England/Spain/Portugal, and Germany/Netherlands, will bring huge "surprises" to fans around the world.
The last round of 32 draws will be expanded in four years
It should be pointed out in particular that this World Cup is the last Round of 32 World Cup, and the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be expanded to the top 48, when the group draw will have a huge change.
Simply put, the 48 teams are divided into three gears, a total of 16 groups, each group of 3 teams instead of 4 teams, the top two in the group to enter the round of 32, followed by the knockout round.
World Cup fixtures
The Euro Zone Group A play-off final will be played in June, with no specific timing to be determined, with Wales taking on Scotland vs Ukraine as the winner. The intercontinental play-offs will be held on June 13 and 14, with the winner of Australia vs. THE UAE against Peru and Costa Rica against New Zealand.
The Group Stage of the World Cup will take place on 21 November, with the final on 18 December.
(Nianzhou)