Newer fans of the beautiful game may not be aware of the intricacies of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. Many will be surprised to learn that there are different stages to qualify for the biggest football tournament in the world and that it involves a lot of different countries, rather than just one or two as most would expect.
This article is intended to serve as an introductory guide for new Malaysian fans who are interested to know more about FIFA World Cup club qualifiers and their implications on national team performances.
Basics Of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup is the biggest football tournament in the world. It is contested by the senior men’s national teams and has been held every 4 years since 1930. Billed as a “World Championship”, the tournament serves as the most significant competition in men’s international football and is recognized as the world championship for international men’s football.
The competition is held in a host nation and is disputed by 32 teams, which are elected by the members of the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The team’s contest for the World Cup is a month-long event, where games are played in a group stage format, with 16 teams advancing to the knockout stage.
These are the matches that are played between the conclusion of the World Cup and the start of the next one. For a team to qualify for the World Cup, they must finish in the top 2 in their group in the group stage of the WC qualifiers.
What Are FIFA World Cup Qualifiers For?
FIFA World Cup qualifiers are the regional competitions that take place every 2 years, to determine which individual countries qualify for the FIFA World Cup. As there are many different football confederations, there are many different FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with each confederation having its qualification process.
10 different confederations organised football matches and have teams that participate in the FIFA World Cup. AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA, and the AFC, OFC, and UEFA are the only confederations that have been represented at every FIFA World Cup.
There Are 3 Stages Of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Based on the different stages of FIFA World Cup qualifiers, there are 3 different stages that the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and OFC national teams will have to go through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
The Preliminary Stage
The preliminary stage is for teams that did not qualify for the World Cup finals. It is played over 2 legs, where each team plays the other once. The top 40 teams based on the FIFA Rankings are seeded, and are drawn against the 40 unseeded teams.
The Qualifying Group Stage
The qualifying group stage is played over 10 matches and sees the 32 seeded teams and the 32 unseeded teams drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams each.
The Final Stage
The final stage sees the top 2 teams from each group in the qualifying group stage qualify for the World Cup.
Determine The Draw For FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
The draw for the FIFA World Cup club qualifiers is held after the conclusion of the previous World Cup qualifiers. For the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the draw took place in December 2018. For the AFC and the CAF, the top 2 teams in the previous World Cup qualifiers are seeded in the draw along with the host team.
The CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are seeded according to their world rankings with the OFC seeded last. The World Cup draw process is very complicated with different pots of teams, seeded and unseeded, as well as geography is taken into account, but the most important factor in determining all of the possible match-ups between teams is the FIFA ranking of each country.
How To Qualify For The FIFA World Cup?
For a team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, they must finish as one of the top 2 teams in their group. If a team finishes as one of the top 2 in their group, they advance to the next round of the qualifiers and play against the other group winner for a spot in the World Cup.
If a team does not finish as one of the top 2 teams in their group, they are eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers and do not advance to the next round of the qualifiers.
If a team advances to the next round of the qualifiers, they must finish as one of the top 2 teams in their group to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. If a team does not finish as one of the top 2 teams in their group, they are eliminated from the qualifiers and do not advance to the World Cup.
4 Other Facts That New Fans Should Know
- The FIFA World Cup club Qualifiers are scheduled to begin in September 2019 and end in June 2020. With the FIFA World Cup taking place in June 2022, this gives the hosts an additional 2 years to prepare for the tournament.
- The FIFA World Cup club Qualifiers are held every 2 years, with the tournaments alternating between the Asian and African confederations.
- The top 3 teams in the FIFA World Cup club qualifiers will play in the FIFA World Cup, while the 4th-ranked team will go to the World Cup qualifiers for the 2nd-round playoff.
- For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA has announced that the tournament will be expanded from 32 teams to 48 teams, with the qualification process being modified to accommodate this change.
Conclusion
The FIFA World Cup club qualifiers are an essential part of the qualification process for the world’s biggest football tournament. During the FIFA World Cup club qualifiers, 32 teams who did not qualify for the World Cup finals are given another chance to make it to the tournament.
FIFA World Cup club qualifiers are played once every 4 years, 2 years after the previous World Cup final. The FIFA World Cup club qualifiers are played on FIFA International Match Days, and the preliminary stage, qualifying group stage, and final stage of the FIFA World Cup club qualifiers are referred to as the stages of the qualifying process.