The World Cup playoffs were introduced back in 1998, when the tournament that was scheduled to take place in France became the first 32-team World Cup.
Its format hasn’t changed, as the teams who finished second-top in the World Cup qualifying groups play against each to secure a spot in the tournament.
The 2022 World Cup playoffs
This year’s edition, however, saw some changes in format that won’t affect Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany, all of whom have already qualified after clinching top spot in their groups.
The Czech Republic, who finished third in Group E, and Austria, who finished fourth in Group F, will also participate in the World Cup playoffs because of their Nations League performance.
The rest of the participants are the runners-up from each of the 10 2022 World Cup groups, so these are: Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Wales, Scotland, Turkey, Russia, Poland and North Macedonia.
Bale, durante un partido con la selección de GalesAP
Qatar 2022 playoff format
UEFA introduced three mini tournaments and the winners of the single-leg semi-finals will face each other in the final, which will dictate which team qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
Ukraine‘s World Cup playoff match against Scotland has been postponed until June due to the ongoing conflict with Russia, who have been expelled by UEFA.
These are the three mini-tournaments:
Mini tournament A
* Semi-final 1: Wales vs Austria (March 24)
* Semi-final 2: Scotland vs Ukraine (will be played in June)
* Final: Will be played in June in Wales (Cardiff) or Austria (Vienna)
Mini tournament B
* Semi-final 1: Russia vs Poland (Poland qualified after Russia’s expulsion)
* Semi-final 2: Switzerland vs Czech Republic (March 24)
* Final: March 29 in Poland (Chorzow)
Mini tournament C
* Semi-final 1: Portugal vs Turkey (March 24)
* Semi-final 2: Italy vs North Macedonia (March 24)
* Final: March 29 in Portugal (Porto) or Turkey (Konya)
How many teams qualify from the World Cup playoffs?
Three national teams will manage to clinch qualification to the 2022 World Cup. It will be the three winners of the mini tournaments.
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