Play-off for the 2022 World Cup: how it works, which teams participate and when does it start

The teams that did not get a direct pass to Qatar World Cup through the first square of their respective groups they will have to go through the extra processing of the repechage, where they will play it all or nothing. The two big surprises are Portugal and Italy. The last two champions of the European Championship will have to play their way to the World Cup in the diabolical play-off and with very complicated clashes.

The format of this play-off is simple. The Group Stage of the World Cup qualifiers is made up of ten groups, five from six countries and another five from five countries.

All the teams that came in first place get the direct pass to Qatar 2022, while the teams that finished second will have to dispute the World Cup play-offs between them. In addition to these ten classified teams, two other teams will be included, making a 10 + 2, selected from the 2020-2022 UEFA Nations League rankings. Among those twelve total selections the World Cup play-off phase will be played.

The 12 teams that will have to play the play-offs for the World Cup will have to play six semi-finals and three single-match finals. The hosts of the semi-finals will be those teams that performed better in the group stage, while the hosts of the finals will be decided by draw. The three winning countries of the finals will be the ones that complete the European qualification quota for Qatar.

Below is the 2022 World Cup play-off schedule in Qatar.

Who would contest the 2022 Qatar Play-off phase?