Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the event:
WHEN IS THE WORLD CUP DRAW?
The draw for the 2022 World Cup group stage will take place on April 1, 2022 in Doha.
The event is scheduled to begin at 7pm local time (5pm BST).
WHO HAS QUALIFIED SO FAR?
As hosts, Qatar have received automatic qualification while the majority of sides from the various qualifying associations around the globe have also now been confirmed.
Europe (UEFA) - Qualified teams: Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal
UEFA has 13 participants at the World Cup with 10 qualifiers confirmed at the back end of 2021.
Germany and Denmark were the first to qualify before being joined by France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland and the Netherlands in November.
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Portugal and Poland secured their place in Qatar with victories in their World Cup play-offs on Tuesday, Portugal overcoming North Macedonia 2-0 with Poland beating Sweden by the same scoreline.
UEFA’s final qualifier is yet to be determined.
The semi-final between Scotland and Ukraine will be contested in June and the winner will meet Wales in the final, who saw off Austria 2-1 in their semi-final.
South America (CONMEBOL) - Qualified teams: Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay
CONMEBOL has four guaranteed participants at the World Cup.
Brazil and Argentina were the first nations to seal their qualification and they were joined earlier this month by Ecuador and Uruguay.
Peru finished in fifth-place, at the expense of Colombia and Chile, which means they advance to the inter-confederation play-offs in June where they will face an AFC competitor - either Australia or the United Arab Emirates, who face each other on June 7.
Africa (CAF) - Qualified teams: Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia
CAF is guaranteed five nations at the 2022 World Cup and those places were decided earlier this week, when 10 teams went head-to-head in two-legged play-offs.
Senegal overcame Egypt in a repeat of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final, while Cameroon beat Algeria, Ghana overcame Nigeria, Morocco saw off the DR Congo and Tunisia overcame Mali.
Asia (AFC) - Qualified teams: Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia
AFC is guaranteed four nations at the 2022 World Cup with Iran and South Korea first to qualify, before Japan and Saudi Arabia followed suit earlier this month.
The two third-placed sides from each group, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia, will go head-to-head in a fourth-round play-off to decide who advances through to the inter-confederation play-offs in June.
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The winner of that tie will then face the fifth-placed team from South American qualifying, Peru, for one of the final two spots at the World Cup. This match will also take place in Qatar.
North America (CONCACAF) - Qualified teams: Canada, Mexico United States
CONCACAF has three guaranteed spots at the World Cup. Canada were the first side to seal their ticket earlier this month.
Zack Steffen and his United States colleagues followed suit in the early hours of Thursday despite a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica while Mexico also made it through via a 2-0 win over El Salvador.
Costa Rica, who finished in fourth place, will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs, where they will face Oceania side New Zealand to compete for one of the final two spots in Qatar.
Oceania (OFC) - Qualified teams: None
Oceania is the only continent to have no guaranteed spot at the FIFA World Cup.
However, New Zealand have the chance to reach the showpiece having confirmed their place in the inter-confederation play-offs with a 5-0 win over the Solomon Islands earlier this week.
They will tackle Costa Rica for one of the final two spots in Qatar in June.
Which City players could take part?
A host of Pep Guardiola’s squad will be hopeful of figuring in international football’s most prestigious tournament.
Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden have all become key members of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Meanwhile Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias proved instrumental in Portugal’s successful passage.
Kevin De Bruyne remains one of the pivotal figures in Belgium’s set-up while Aymeric Laporte and Rodrigo have been important members of a talented Spain squad.
Ilkay Gundogan has been a key cog in a resilient Germany side for several years now, while central defender Nathan Ake has played his part in the Netherlands’ route to Qatar.
Brazilian duo Ederson and Gabriel Jesus will be hoping to play their part in the South American giants’ bid to win a sixth World Cup.
Zack Steffen has also taken his place between the sticks for the USA in their successful campaign and Oleks Zinchenko will be a major figure in Ukraine’s bid to qualify.
HOW DOES THE DRAW WORK?
The 32 teams that qualify for the World Cup will be divided into four pots, each of which is comprised of eight sides.
Teams will then be picked out from each pot and placed into eight groups.
Pot 1 features hosts Qatar and the seven highest-ranked qualified teams.
Pot 2 is made up of the next eight highest-ranked qualifiers, while Pot 3 includes the next eight best-ranked qualified teams.
Pot 4 comprises the next five highest-ranked qualified teams, as well as placeholders for the two intercontinental play-off winners and last UEFA play-off winner.
Who will be the seeded nations?
Scotland will be in with the lowest-ranked seeds, along with Wales.
FIFA has revealed that the three teams still in with a chance of progressing through the play-off path by the time of the draw will be treated as one entrant, and placed in pot four with the lowest-ranked nations.
The seeding of other nations who have definitely qualified by the time of the draw will be determined by the FIFA rankings due to be published on March 31.
The top pot of seeds will feature the seven highest-ranked sides involved, plus hosts Qatar. England are currently ranked fifth in the world, with only Belgium, Brazil, France and Argentina above them.
WHEN DOES THE WORLD CUP START?
The first group stage fixture later this year will be held on November 21.
That game will feature hosts Qatar and another side from Group A, and will kick-off at 1pm local time (10am BST).
The tournament will run over one month, with the final scheduled for December 18 and with a 6pm local time kick-off (3pm BST).
When will the matches kick off?
FIFA has confirmed the first two rounds of matches will kick off at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm local time (10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm in the United Kingdom).
Kick-off times in the final round of group games and knock-out round matches will be at 6pm and 10pm local time (3pm and 7pm UK time).
The final is scheduled to kick off at 6pm local time (3pm UK time)
TOURNAMENT KEY DATES
Group stage draw: April 1
Group stage: November 21 - December 2
Last-16: December 3-6
Quarter-finals: December 9-10
Semi-finals: December 13-14
Final: December 18
