The road to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is heating up as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially revealed the full schedule for the Asian qualifiers. Teams from across Asia will battle it out for the coveted spots at the world’s most prestigious football tournament. Here, we take a detailed look at the full schedule, the structure of the qualifiers, and what to expect from the competition.
The qualification process for the 2022 World Cup is divided into several rounds, with each round bringing its own set of challenges and excitement. The competition started with the preliminary round in June 2019, where lower-ranked teams faced off to progress to the subsequent rounds. A total of 46 teams from the AFC are competing, and the stakes are higher than ever.
The first round saw 12 teams based on their FIFA rankings, battling in home-and-away format. The winners of these matches advanced to the second round, which began in September 2019 and will continue through March 2021. Here, 40 teams are divided into eight groups of five teams each. Group winners and the four best runners-up will advance to the third round, and more importantly, will also secure a spot in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup