World Cup

World Cup 2022: When is the draw? How can I watch it? How will it work?

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 28 March 2022

Sports Mole rounds up everything you need to know about the draw for the 2022 World Cup, including when it is, how to watch it, how it works and which teams will be included.

The 2022 World Cup gets underway in less than eight months, with national teams beginning to gear up for the first ever winter edition of the tournament in Qatar.

Twenty-nine teams have booked their place, with three spots still to be decided in the final round of qualifiers this summer.

Here, Sports Mole rounds up everything you need to know about the draw.

When is the 2022 World Cup draw?

The draw for the 2022 World Cup will take place at 5pm BST at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar on Friday, April 1.

Where can I watch the 2022 World Cup draw?

The World Cup draw will be streamed live on FIFA's website, with the link becoming active on the morning of the draw.

There will also be coverage of the draw in the UK on the BBC and Sky Sports.

How will the World Cup draw work?

The 32 nations - only 29 of which will have been confirmed at the time of the draw - will be separated into four pots of eight teams, based on the seeds allotted to each country.

Pot 1 - containing the top seeds and hosts Qatar - will be completed first, before Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4 follow in that order, with the three unconfirmed spots being included in Pot 4 too.

Teams will first be drawn from their pot, and then allocated to a group, although as hosts Qatar are already guaranteed to be the first team in Group A.

Are there any limits on who can be drawn against whom?

Teams from the same qualification zone other than UEFA cannot be drawn together if it is possible to avoid it, meaning that the likes of Brazil and Argentina cannot be drawn against each other or against another South American nation.

As UEFA have 13 places at the World Cup they must live by slightly different rules, with at least one but no more than two European countries being included in every group.

As a result, five out of the eight groups will have two European nations in, although teams from the same pot still cannot be drawn against each other.

How will the seeding system work?

FIFA will use the official world rankings from March 31 - at the end of the current international break - to determine which teams go into which pot for the draw.

Qatar are guaranteed a place in Pot 1, which will then be completed by the seven highest-ranking qualified teams. Pot 2 will contain positions eight to 15 of the highest ranked qualifiers, Pot 3 will be teams 16-23 and Pot 4 will be teams 24-28, plus the three placeholder spots.