October 23 – The draw for the European section of 2022 World Cup qualifying will take place in Zurich on December 7.
A gala ceremony with coaches of the 55 national teams had been set to be held in November until the coronavirus pandemic ruled that out.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, the ceremony will be held as a virtual event without the presence of member associations’ representatives,” said FIFA, which will broadcast and live-stream the draw from 6 pm local time.
Seedings for the draw will be based on the FIFA world rankings published on November 26. The 55 teams will be split into five groups of six, and five groups of five. Only the 10 group winners will advance directly to Qatar.
The 10 group runners-up and the two best 2020-21 Nations League group winners will then be involved in play-off matches to determine the continent’s final three representatives at the finals.
The qualifiers will be played between March and November 2021. The finals kick off on November 21, 2022 and will finish on December 18 that year in what will be the first ever winter World Cup.
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