World Cup 2022 draw LIVE: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland learn qualifying fate
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as the other European teams discovered who stands between them and a place in Qatar
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The 2022 World Cup draw is complete with European teams now knowing their opponents on the road to Qatar.
Gareth Southgate’s England were pulled out in Group I alongside Poland, who have faced the Three Lions in qualifying for the 1974, 1990, 1994, 2006 and 2014 World Cups, as well as taking on England in the finals in Mexico in 1986. England and Poland also met in qualifying for the 1992 and 2000 European Championships. They also face Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino in matches which will be played between March and November next year.
Scotland are up against Denmark, Austria, Israel, the Faroe Islands and Moldova in Group F as they seek a first World Cup qualification since 1998. The Scots lost to Israel in a Nations League match last month.
The Republic of Ireland face reigning European champions Portugal, as well as Serbia, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan in Group A, while Northern Ireland face a tough group against Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
Follow live reaction and analysis from the draw in Zurich:
POT 1
Denmark - Group F
Netherlands - Group G
(Groups C, D and E are left for Nations League finalists, remember)
HERE WE GO!
Draw time finally! We go through Pot 1 remember - the ‘top seeds’ as such.
RULES TIME
Now FIFA are getting towards the real issues - explaining all the Pots and processes, just as we did for you hours ago. Need a reminder?
- Six Pots, each Pot emptied in turn with nations going straight into next available Group by alphabetical order
- Five Groups of five nations, five of six nations
- There are pairs of nations who cannot face each other, such as Russia and Ukraine
- Some nations can also not be paired due to weather or travel distance conditions
- In each case, any who cannot be paired will just go straight into the next available Group
- Nations League finalists go into the Groups of five nations
ALLEZ LES BLEUS
A nice little reminder there of what happened last time out in Russia - France lifting the trophy, England’s run to the semis, Croatia’s story, Belgium beating Brazil and more.
Draw time? Nearly, surely.
ONE TO AVOID?
Both ex-players say they’d most hope to avoid Spain. Interesting selection or a sign of their own era?
Spain have not quite hit the heights of late - they’ve won two of their last six in all competitions. They did top their Nations League group in the end though, thanks to a thumping of Germany in the last game.
ICONS
Predictably, we’ve got a video montage first. Just in case anybody forgot what a World Cup is.
Daniele De Rossi is the first guest and he is speaking first on Maradona’s impact in Italy.
Also arriving on the scene is Rafael van der Vaart, who walks onto the set accompanied by recorded screams and cheers as if he’s just bent one into the top corner from 30 yards.
WE ARE LIVE FROM ZURICH
A World Cup draw behind closed doors. Zurich must not even be Tier 2, eh? Only joking, of course…
Anyway, worth remembering this is just the UEFA draw coming up - the likes of CONMEBOL are already up and running with their qualifiers, for example. Brazil lead the way there after four games played already!
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments