Friday's World Cup 2022 draw in Qatar: All You Need To Know

The draw for football's first winter World Cup takes place in Doha, Qatar, at 7pm local time (5pm Irish)

AL RIHLA - which means "the journey" in Arabic - the official match ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. FIFA says the 2022 ball for the finals will travel faster in the air than any ball in the history of the competition. 

Which countries have qualified? 

Twenty-nine of the 32 places have been filled.

Hosts Qatar; Africa: Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia; Asia: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea; North, Central America and Caribbean: Canada, Mexico, USA; Europe: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland; South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay.

What about the remaining three slots?

The final European berth is due to be decided in June with Scotland facing Ukraine in a playoff semi-final and the winners taking on Wales. Scotland’s manager, Steve Clarke, has suggested those games could be subject to further delay. The other two places will go to the winners of inter-continental playoffs, contested on June 13-14 in Qatar, with Costa Rica facing New Zealand and Peru taking on the UAE or Australia, who first play the Asian confederation playoff in Doha on June 7.

How will the draw work?

The teams are divided into four pots based on the Fifa rankings published on Thursday. Pot 1 comprises Qatar as hosts and the seven highest-ranked qualified teams. Pot 2 has the next eight highest-ranked qualified teams, Pot 3 the eight highest-qualified after that, and Pot 4 the five best-ranked teams after that and placeholders representing the two winners of the intercontinental play-offs and the remaining European play-off winner.

Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal.

Pot 2: Mexico, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, USA, Croatia.

Pot 3: Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Tunisia.

Pot 4: Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Peru/UAE/Australia.

Each World Cup group will contain one team from each pot. First each team in Pot 1 will be allocated a group, then each team in Pots 2, 3 and 4 to create eight groups of four. Each pot will be emptied before the next pot is drawn. Qatar will be allocated position A1 but in every other case a ball will be drawn from a team pot, then a ball drawn from a group pot to determine where they will be placed.

Teams from the same confederation will be kept apart in the groups with the exception of European teams, of which there will be 13. Five of the eight groups will have two European teams.

The 28 teams already qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

How many stadiums are involved?

Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor: Hosts the opening game featuring hosts Qatar in Group A (Capacity 60,000).

Lusail Stadium in Lusail: Hosts the final and has a capacity of 80,000.

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah: Capacity 40,000.

Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan: Capacity 40,000.

Khalifa International Stadium, Doha: Capacity 40,000.

Education City Stadium, Doha, Capacity 40,000.

Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, Doha: Capacity 40,000.

The Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Capacity 40,000.

When will the tournament take place?

It runs from November 21 to December 18 at eight venues.

How long will the Premier League shut down for?

42 days: The break begins on Monday November 14 and lasts until St Stephen’s Day, December 26, when matches return.