2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 June 2019 – 14 June 2022 |
| Teams | 206 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 865 |
| Goals scored | 2,424 (2.8 per match) |
| Attendance | 8,974,578 (10,375 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ali Mabkhout (14 goals) |
| Part of a series on the |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup |
|---|
| Media related to 2022 FIFA World Cup at Wikimedia Commons |
Parallel tournaments were organised by FIFA's six confederations. Qualification began on 6 June 2019 with several matches of the AFC zone, the first being between Mongolia and Brunei, and ended on 14 June 2022 with an inter-confederation play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand. Mongolian player Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal netted the first goal, while the last one was scored by Joel Campbell of Costa Rica. In contrast to previous editions, there was no general preliminary draw, with confederations carrying out separate draws due to their differing timelines. The qualification process suffered numerous postponements from March 2020 onwards due to the COVID-19 pandemic.