WORLD CUP 2022
QUALIFIED TEAMS

Which teams are at the Qatar World Cup?

A grand total of 206 nations across 6 FIFA confederations took part in the World Cup Qualifying process, from Europe, Asia, South America, CONCACAF (The Caribbean and Central and North America), Africa and Oceana.

The qualifying process has now finished and these 206 nations have been whittled down to just 32 that will be travelling to Qatar in November with the aim of bringing unrivalled glory to their country.

Bringing together some of the best players in world soccer on the biggest stage always brings exhilarating action and incredible drama – from Luis Suarez biting Chiellini in 2014 to the ‘phantom’ goal Frank Lampard was not given against Germany in 2010, there’s sure to be more talking points this year.

  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Costa Rica
  • Croatia
  • Denmark
  • Ecuador
  • England
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Iran
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Morocco
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Tunisia
  • United States of America
  • Uruguay
  • Wales

Best World Cup 2022 teams

There are a number of teams in with a shout of lifting the trophy on the 18th of December (just one week before Christmas!). Reigning champions France, led by PSG star Kylian Mbappe, will hope to lift the famous golden trophy for a third time, while any number of other top nations could dethrone them.

Brazil, led by Neymar and with a supporting cast of Gabriel Jesus, Raphinha and Jorginho, can never be fully discounted. Even in goal they have the two best goalkeepers in the English Premier League competing for the number 1 jersey in Ederson and Alisson.

England are another nation to watch, having reached the final of Euro 2020 where they were beaten by Italy on penalties. The England Women’s national team have just triumphed at the Women’s Euros and the men’s team will hope to follow suit by lifting an international trophy.

And who can ever count out Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal – both of whom could be playing in their last ever World Cup, and thus could be their last opportunity to win the elusive trophy missing from both their trophy cabinets.

Who’s missing at the World Cup 2022?

As much as there are some exciting teams representing their country at the World Cup in Qatar, there are some notable absentees, too. Euro 2020 victors Italy being one of the biggest names, having failed to qualify for a second World Cup in a row after failing to qualify in 2018.

Other nations not headed to the World Cup are Erling Haaland’s Norway, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden and well-known South American teams like Colombia and Chile.

UK nations Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the Republic of Ireland, have all failed to qualify once again – while Wales are attending their first finals since 1958 and will be hoping to cause a few upsets.

Who to watch at the World Cup in Qatar

As well as the aforementioned big names – Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe and England’s Harry Kane, there are a number of players and teams that are sure to excite soccer fans in the World Cup Finals.

One such nation is Canada, who have qualified for their first finals since 1986. They have a team of highly skilled and athletic players including Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies and Lille’s Jonathan David, who could well be the surprise package at this year’s tournament.

Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ of stars will also be hoping to finally make good on their host of individual players, with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard amongst their squad.

There’s certain to be more surprise players who announce themselves on the international stage, too, so you won’t want to miss a single minute of the action when it gets underway.

World Cup Statistics

Brazil are the nation with the most World Cup victories, with 5 titles – followed closely by Germany and Italy who each have 4.

The Qatar World Cup will be the last to feature 32 teams – with 48 competing from the 2026 finals.

Germany’s Miroslav Klose is the top scorer at the World Cup Finals with a total of 16 goals, while the most in a single tournament was France’s Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in just 6 games in 1958.

France will have history to contend with if they hope to win back to back World Cups – it has only been done twice before, by Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

FAQs

Only 8 teams have ever won the World Cup in its illustrious history: Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, France, England and Spain.

Uruguay were the first nation to win the World Cup in the first tournament back in 1930, when 93,000 spectators saw them defeat Argentina 4-2.

The World Cup was conceived of by French soccer administrator Jules Rivet, who was the third ever president of FIFA (1919-1954). He was FIFA’s longest serving president, having served for 33 years. The World Cup trophy is named the Jules Rivet trophy in his honour.