How many teams will play at 2022 FIFA World Cup, how many per region and how many in 2026?
The Qatar World Cup will be the last tournament to feature 32 national teams as the competition expands to 48 for the 2026 World Cup.
The 22nd FIFA World Cup gets underway in Qatar next November with the opening ceremony and inaugural match getting underway on 21 November at the impressive Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor approximately some 50km north of capital Doha.
This will be the last time 32 sides will take part in the competition with FIFA increasing the number of participating nations from 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup that will be staged in the US-Mexico and Canada.
Origin of 2022 participants
Of the 32 participating nations, 13 will be from Europe (UEFA), five African (CAF) representatives, Asia (AFC) will put forward 4.5 sides, not including Qatar. There will be 4.5 sides from South America's CONMEBOL, 3.5 from CONCACAF with Oceania having 0.5 sides. The 0.5 nations are those teams who fail to secure an automatic place in the group but finish in the play-off spot. These nations will be forced into an inter-confederation play-off in early 2022 to determine the final composition of the 32 final participants.
At present, hosts Qatar along with Denmark and Germany are the only nations to have secured qualification for the 2022 tournament with the next FIFA window in November set to see other nations confirm their tickets for Qatar.
The 2022 final will be held on 18 December which coincides with Qatar National Day with the game to be staged at the 80,000 capacity Lusial Stadium.