World Cup 2022 Draw Simulator: simulate and predict groups and teams for Qatar
The World Cup 2022 draw is this afternoon in Doha. Use our simulator to pick your groups and see how the tournament in Qatar could play out.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup draw is being held this afternoon, Friday in Doha, where the groups for the first phase of the tournament will be picked, and you can use our World Cup draw simulator to see how the draw will work and to run your own version to see where the teams could end up. Check out how to use it below. USMNT v Brazil as the the first game for Berhalter's team? It could happen!
The draw format is extremely simple: the qualified countries are divided into four pots, from which they’ll be picked to make up eight groups of four teams each, one from pot.
The pots are seeded, in theory keeping the bigger teams away from each other until the later rounds. The USA is pot 2, meaning it will face one of the pot 1 teams: Spain, Belgium, Brazil, France, Argentina, England and Portugal, but will avoid Mexico, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland and Croatia.
You can follow the draw live with Paul over on our dedicated live blog.
World Cup Draw rules
There are a couple of other rules to bear in mind: there can’t be more than two European (UEFA) sides in any group, or more than one of any other confederation. There are also three places to be decided in the playoffs. In UEFA, Ukraine still need to play Scotland for the right to play Wales for the final place allocated to Europe, while Asia v CONMEBOL sees Peru take on Australia or UAE, while Oceania v CONCACAF pitches New Zealand against Costa Rica.
AS USA's World Cup Draw simulator
But why wait till the actual draw! Use our handy simulator to see how the groups could come out - either picking them one by one, or using the fast draw to sort the teams randomly, just like the real thing, only without glamorous presenters.
In the simulator Qatar flies automatically into Group A, as host nation. Afterwards you’ll see seven buttons at the bottom, each one representing one of the remaining teams in Pot 1, at random. Clicking on the button will send the corresponding team to the next Group, so click the first button and it could be Brazil or England heading into Group B. Go along sending teams into each Group and then once Pot 1 is finished you’ll get another eight buttons, to send the Pot 2 teams off to the Groups.
The simulator automatically applies the rules, so don’t worry about them. Just enjoy carrying out the draw in the comfort of your own home, and good luck to all the teams!