The world cup is the biggest stage in futbol and only comes every four years. Since 1930, only 8 countries have ever won the tournament. With 32 teams full of stars like Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo.
2022 World Cup Teams by groups
- Group A: Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador
- Group B: England, USA, Wales, Iran
- Group C: Argentina, Poland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia
- Group D: France, Denmark, Tunisia, Australia
- Group E: Germany, Spain, Japan, Costa Rica
- Group F: Belgium, Croatia, Canada, Morocco
- Group G: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana, Korea Republic
How the teams qualify
A certain Number of teams from each Federation qualify. Ex: The CONCACAF is guaranteed 3 teams, with a 4th who has a playoff with other Federation teams. CONMEBOL is guaranteed 4, but sometimes has a 5th through playoffs. In 2018 there were 5 South American nations, while in 2022 there are only 4.
Federations – regions
Amount of teams in each for 2022:
- 13 UEFA – Europe: Netherlands, England, Wales, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Portugal, Serbia, Poland, Denmark, Croatia, Switzerland
- 4 CONMEBOL – South America: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador
- 4 CONCACAF – North, Central America, Caribbean: USA, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica
- 5 CAF – Africa: Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia
- 6 AFC – Asia: Japan, Qatar, Korea Republic, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia
- 0 OFC – Oceania:
Not all the top ranked teams are necessarily in because it only allows so many countries from each continent to qualify. If it were by rankings 90% of the teams would be from Europe and South America. So to make it a “world cup” they make it fair for a certain number of countries from each continent to get in.
There’s usually at least 1 really good European country that doesn’t make it in, who’s ranked higher than countries like Australia who have an easier time getting in. Italy and the Netherlands have been those countries in the most recent past.
Top 20 ranked countries
If Italy and Columbia are ranked top 20, why aren’t they one of the 32 teams in the world cup? Because they didn’t do well enough in qualifiers.
There are 3 main ways nations play matches: 1) Friendly’s 2) Tournaments [like Euros and Gold Cup] 3) WC Qualifiers
So for Italy, they won the Euro last year and did well in Friendly’s but didn’t do good enough in the qualifiers.
Prior to the 2022 WC in Qatar:
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Argentina
- France
- England
- Italy [Didn’t qualify]
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Denmark
- Germany
- Croatia
- Mexico
- Uruguay
- Switzerland
- USA
- Columbia [Didn’t qualify]
- Senegal
- Wales
- Iran
FIFA world rankings
Futbol brings the world together
How to reach the final
Group Stages [32 teams] has 8 groups, each with 4 teams. Of the 4 teams you play each team one time, so every team plays 3 games. During the group stage you get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 for a loss [total of 9 points to earn]. 6 points will get you through, sometimes 5.
From the Round of 16 on – Lose and you’re out. If a Tie – 30 mins extra-time and a shoot-out if games are still tied.
Round of 16 are the 2 best teams in each group.
Quarter Final [top 8 teams] Argentina v Netherlands – Croatia v Brazil – France v England – Morocco v Portugal
Semi Final [Final 4] Argentina v Croatia – France v Morocco
3rd place match: Croatia defeated Morocco
Final [1 match with the top 2 teams] Argentina defeated France
History of the world cup
The first world cup was in 1930, won by Uruguay vs Argentina.
Only 8 total Champions:
- Brazil (5)
- Italy (4)
- Germany (4)
- Argentina (3)
- France (2)
- Uruguay (2)
- England (1)
- Spain (1)
17 countries have hosted the World Cup
Hosted twice: Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, and Mexico
Hosted once: Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Chile, England, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Japan and South Korea (jointly), South Africa, and Russia
Qatar hosted the 2022 tournament
2026 will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, therefore give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups.
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