Qatar World Cup 2022: when is the draw and which teams have qualified?
Seven nations secured their ticket to Qatar on Tuesday, with five African nations joining Portugal and Poland in Friday's World Cup draw.
As the penultimate day of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers comes to an end, seven more nations saw their passport stamped on Tuesday night as the African play-offs and two of the three UEFA play-off paths reached a conclusion.
Elsewhere, CONMEBOL's representative in the inter-confederation play-offs was decided, while there remain some final issues to be ironed out in the AFC, CONCACAF and the OFC.
Friday draw
All eyes will be on Doha's Exhibition and Conference Center on Friday as the draw for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place in the Qatari capital with the qualified teams discovering their group rivals.
32 teams will participate in Qatar with (at the time of writing) 27 nations having already confirmed their tickets for the tournament.
UEFA (Europe)
UEFA have 13 places at the competition with: Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands having already advanced.
They were joined by Portugal and Poland, who ousted North Macedonia and Sweden, respectively, in Tuesday's play-offs.
The other play-off path featuring Ukraine has been delayed due to the Russian invasion, with the Scotland-Ukraine semi-final scheduled for June and the winner to face Wales for a place at the finals.
AFC (Asia)
Nations already qualified: Qatar (hosts), Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan
Confirmed World Cup places allocated: Hosts Qatar plus four (one further spot available via inter-confederation play-offs)
Nations that can still qualify: Australia, United Arab Emirates
UAE and Australia meet on 7 June in the Emirates, with the winner progressing to an inter-confederation play-off against the fifth-placed side in CONMEBOL (Peru). That will be a one-off game on 13 or 14 June in Qatar.
CAF (Africa)
Nations already qualified: Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon
Confirmed World Cup places allocated: Five
All five of the CAF World Cup qualifying play-offs were resolved on Tuesday, with the second legs being staged across the continent.
Liverpool team-mates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané faced off again in a repeat of the Africa Cup of Nations final and despite Egypt being 1-0 up against Senegal from the first leg, the AFCON champions won 1-0 on the night and advanced on penalty kicks.
A Thomas Partey goal was enough for Ghana to advance in Abuja on away goals against Nigeria with Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon also advancing to the World Cup after Tuesday's play-offs.
CONCACAF (North & Central America, and the Caribbean)
Nations already qualified: Canada
Confirmed World Cup places allocated: Three (one further spot available via inter-confederation play-offs)
Nations that can still qualify: United States, Mexico, Costa Rica
On the face of it, questions still remain in the CONCACAF region, but it would take quite a turnaround for the top three to change now.
Canada sealed only their second ever World Cup appearance after a 4-0 win against Jamaica, though their prior defeat to Costa Rica has potentially given Los Ticos an opening.
The United States and Mexico are very much in the driving seat, both three points ahead of Costa Rica, who play the US at home in their final encounter, needing a win and hoping Mexico lose at home to El Salvador, with a goal difference swing of at least four.
Should that not happen, Costa Rica can console themselves that they have confirmed at least a spot in the inter-confederation play-offs.
CONMEBOL (South America)
Nations already qualified: Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay
Confirmed World Cup places allocation: Four (one further spot available via inter-confederation play-offs)
Nations that can still qualify: Peru
The four automatic qualifiers were all accounted for heading into the final round of games in South America.
However, three teams were vying for the play-off spot, which finally went to Peru. Ricardo Gareca's team beat Paraguay 2-0 to hold on to their one-point advantage over Colombia, who won 1-0 in Venezuela. Chile had also been in contention, but lost 2-0 to Uruguay.
OFC (Oceania)
Nations already qualified: None
Confirmed World Cup places allocation: None (one spot available via inter-confederation play-offs)
Nations that can still qualify: New Zealand, Solomon Islands
A mini-tournament is being held in Qatar after covid-19 played havoc with the normal qualifying schedule.
The group stage was also heavily impacted by coronavirus, which meant just one game was possible in Group A, and so a relatively fresh Solomon Islands – who beat Papua New Guinea 3-2 in the semis – now await New Zealand in the final.
The All Whites had to play three group games, winning them all before beating Tahiti 1-0 in the semi-final. Whoever comes out on top when they clash on Wednesday will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs, where a game potentially against Costa Rica is on the cards.