The Black Stars of Ghana shall know their group stage opponents at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday April 1 when the draw is held in Doha, Qatar.
As it stands, 27 nations including Ghana have qualified for the tournament, including 21 that competed at the previous tournament in 2018.
The remaining qualifying slots will be known in June.
Find below FMIG’s breakdown of how the draw will be held and how things will unfold for Ghana.
When is the draw for the World Cup in Qatar?
The draw for the group stage of the 2022 World Cup will take place on Friday, April 1 at 4:00 pm GMT, at a gala event to be held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar.
The draw will determine how the 8 groups will be composed with 4 teams making each group. This will be the first phase of the World Cup in Qatar.
Once the 32 teams have been divided into the eight groups, it will be time to look ahead to the knockout rounds, as the schedule of matches has already been determined.
Pots for the Qatar World Cup
Qatar, as hosts, will be seeded and is directly assigned to the A1 slot, i.e. they will play in Group A. The other seven seeded teams will be the seven teams with the highest FIFA ranking.
The countries occupying positions 8-15 in the ranking will be assigned to Pot 2, while those ranked 16-23 with the best position will be placed in Pot 3. Finally, Pot 4 will include the teams ranked 24-28, which will also include the two winners of the intercontinental play-offs and the remaining winner of the UEFA play-offs (Wales vs. the winner of the Scotland-Ukraine).
POT 1
Qatar, Belgium, Brazil, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal
POT 2
Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico*, United States*, Switzerland, Croatia, Uruguay
*if they qualify directly.
POT 3
Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Tunisia or Canada
The team ahead in the ranking on March 31, Canada or Tunisia, will be in Pot 3.
POT 4
Asia-Conmebol Playoff, Oceania-Concacaf playoff, Repechage Europe, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia or Canada
Qatar 2022 World Cup format and schedule
The Qatar World Cup, still with 32 teams, will maintain a classic format of eight groups of four teams that will play three round-robin, one-legged matches. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the round of 16 and will face each other in the following format: A vs B, C vs D, E vs F and G vs H.
In the World Cup, unlike what happens in the European Championship, there is an extra match, the third and fourth place match played by the two teams that lose in the semifinals, the day before the final.
– Group stage: From Nov. 21 to Dec. 2
– Round of 16: 3 to 6 Dec.
– Quarterfinals: Dec. 9 and 10
– Semifinals: Dec. 13 and 14
– Third and fourth place: December 17
– Final: December 18
