World Cup qualifiers 2022: Road to Qatar, first week

The European World Cup qualifiers 2022 for the World Cup in Qatar started on 24 March. England defeated San Marino on 25 March (5:0), as well as Albania on 28 March (2:0), and will face Poland on 31 March.

Follow our TV guide and watch all matches of the first qualifying week.

© TVsportguide.com – Football on TV

England’s road to Qatar

For the first time in FIFA history, the draw for the European qualifying groups for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was held virtually in Zurich on 7 December 2020. As 4th in the FIFA world rankings, England was one of the top ten teams in Europe at the time of the draw. Accordingly, Gareth Southgate’s team was seeded in pot 1 with the strongest teams in Europe. They were drawn into Group I together with Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino.

© TVsportguide.com – Football on TV

Southgate has nominated the following squad for the first three matches against San Marino on 25 March, Albania on 28 March and Poland on 31 March:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion), Nick Pope (Burnley).

Defenders: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jesse Lingard (West Ham United, loan from Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

World Cup qualifiers 2022: All teams and groups

The qualifiers will be played between March and November 2021. Only the winners of the 10 groups will qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

All runners-up in the qualifying phase and the top two nations in the UEFA Nations League that have not then qualified will play for the remaining three European places in a further tournament phase in March 2022.

Consequently, the 12 teams will be divided into 3 paths of 4 teams each. The three winners of the tournaments, which will be determined via two semi-finals and a final (one deciding match each), will also travel to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.