2022 FIFA World Cup Qualification- UEFA

As a king of football, the UEFA is the top association in the world. Therefore, no wonder why the World Cup Qualification UEFA Predictions grab the attention of plenty of football fanatics all over the world. We have it all here on our website, just refer to it and make an accurate bet on every single match.

Overview

The European portion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification serves as a qualifier for national teams that are part of the Union of European Football Associations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in Qatar (UEFA). There are 13 slots in total for the UEFA teams to compete.

The Doping Incident

Since RUSADA was deemed non-compliant for turning over compromised lab results to authorities on December 9, 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency issued Russia a four-year suspension from all international sporting events. On the other hand, the Russian national team could still compete in qualifying because the suspension only extends to the final tournament that determines the world champions. The WADA decision permitted athletes who had not been complicit in doping or the cover-up to participate, but it prohibited the use of the Russian flag and anthem at major international sporting events. WADA's ruling was upheld and limited to a two-year suspension, after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The CAS decision also permitted the use of the term "Russia" on jerseys if the words "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team" are prominently depicted.  When Russia qualified for the World Cup, its teams would be unable to use their country's name alone, flag, or anthem because of the country's two-year exclusion from both world competitions and Olympic Games.

Formating

The eventual decision was made by the UEFA Executive Committee and later confirmed in Nyon, Switzerland on December 04, 2019. The structure will stay the usual ‘Group/play-off stage” in which:

• The group stage consists of 10 groups of five of six teams (While the 4 teams that make the 2021 UEFA National League Finals are put in the smaller group), each group winner will qualify for the World Cup final
• Play-off stage: The best two Nations League group winners who finished below the top two in their qualification group, based on the Nations League overall ranking, will join the 10 group runners-up. These 12 teams will be divided into three play-off directions, with the three path winners qualifying for the World Cup after two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals and finals, with home teams to be drawn).

Schedule

The group draw

The draw, however, was conducted as a simulated occurrence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with no delegates from member associations participating. It was initially scheduled for November 29, 2020. The UEFA Executive Committee approved the qualifying group stage draw regulations on June 18, 2020. The draw was hosted by FIFA's acting head of tournaments, Jaime Yarza, and introduced by Spanish journalist Cristina Gullón. Following the end of the league process of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, the 55 teams were seeded into six pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of November 2020.

Pots 1 through 5 each had ten teams, while Pot 6 had five. Five groups of five teams (Groups A–E) and five groups of six teams (Groups F–J) were formed from the teams. Starting with Pot 1 and ending with Pot 6, a team was chosen and assigned to the first possible category in alphabetical order. As a result, each six-team group includes one team from each of the six pots, and each five-team group includes one team from each of the first five pots. 

Restrictions:

• Nationalist League Finalist: The four teams competing in the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2021 (Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain) were divided into five groups (Groups A–E). Furthermore, a division may only have one Nations League finalist, but all four teams were in the same pot for the draw.
• Prohibited Clashes: Matches between the following pairs of teams were deemed prohibited collisions and were unlikely to be drawn into the same category for political reasons: Kosovo / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo / Serbia, Kosovo / Russia, Russia / Ukraine. (Prohibited collisions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Gibraltar and Spain were also found, but the teams in the former pair were drawn together in the same pot, while the teams in the latter pair were divided into different-sized groups depending on draw pots and conditions.) 

• Winter Venue: The four teams competing in the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2021 (Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain) were divided into five groups (Groups A–E). Furthermore, a division may only have one Nations League finalist, but all four teams were in the same pot for the draw.

• Excessive Travel: Every community may have a limit of one pair of teams defined as having a disproportionate travel distance in comparison to other countries: 
• Azerbaijan: with Iceland, Gibraltar, Portugal
• Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel
• Kazakhstan: England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales. (Andorra and Faroe Island were also identified with Kazakhstan for excessive travel distance, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)

Groups as of now 

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Sources

• FIFA.com
• BBC
• ESPN
• UEFA.com