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World Cup Bracket 2022: Printable Draw and Schedule for All Groups
April 1, 2022
We're getting closer.
On Friday, the 2022 men's World Cup draw and schedule were revealed for November's event in Qatar, with most of the qualifying stages around the globe officially complete. A few spots remain up for grabs via playoffs.
Below, we'll break down those dates and group pairings, along with analyzing how this year's field is shaping up.
Groups
Group A
- Qatar
- Ecuador
- Senegal
- Netherlands
Group B
- England
- Iran
- United States
- Wales or Scotland or Ukraine
Group C
- Argentina
- Saudi Arabia
- Mexico
- Poland
Group D
- France
- Peru or Australia or United Arab Emirates
- Denmark
- Tunisia
Group E
- Spain
- Costa Rica or New Zealand
- Germany
- Japan
Group F
- Belgium
- Canada
- Morocco
- Croatia
Group G
- Brazil
- Serbia
- Switzerland
- Cameroon
Group H
- Portugal
- Ghana
- Uruguay
- South Korea
Schedule and Draw
Preview
Everybody is trying to catch France, the defending champs. There's plenty of reason to think that the French should be the favorites in Qatar as well, with an incredibly talented core of players led by superstar Kylian Mbappe.
But joining him will be players like Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, among others. Few teams can offer the depth of talent that France possesses, and very few teams can match the stardom of Mbappe. The French are scary despite the fact they only won one match at Euro 2020 and fell to Switzerland on penalties in the round of 16 last summer.
But Europe will have a number of other contenders. England has its own crop of young talent and reached the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and the Euros final in 2021. Belgium is stacked with talent, led by Kevin De Bruyne. Spain is never to be taken lightly.
In South America, Brazil and Argentina are always a threat. The Brazilians will be led by the effervescent Neymar. Lionel Messi, meanwhile, will be trying to finally secure a World Cup title in what will surely be his last attempt.
Watching him attempt to do what Maradona did before him and lead Argentina to glory will be one of the storylines of the tournament.
Finally, the United States has a golden age of young talent, led by the likes of Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Tyler Adams and Sergino Dest. The Americans aren't considered one of the favorites, not by a long shot, but a strong showing from the U.S. could help the Stars and Stripes take another step forward to finally becoming a soccer power in the men's game.
There will be some serious star power missing in Qatar, however. Erling Haaland's Norway failed to qualify. Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Poland's Robert Lewandowski faced off in a World Cup playoff, with Ibrahimovic being stuck at home.
And in the African playoffs, superstar Liverpool teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah faced off for Senegal and Egypt, respectively. Senegal advanced to Qatar.
So the tournament will be missing some bright stars. But there are more than enough vying for World Cup glory to make up for it.