Ranking the 32 teams at the 2022 World Cup

With qualifiers mostly out of the way, the 2022 FIFA World Cup stage is ready to be set. The draw gets underway on Friday, April 1 in Doha, Qatar as each country will find out who their opponents will be in the group stage.

32 teams will compete in Qatar, but three of those teams are still to be determined in confederation playoffs. The three playoffs to determine the final three World Cup qualifiers include the UEFA intra-confederation second round and then inter-confederation playoffs featuring AFC v. CONMEBOL and CONCACAF v. OFC. The UEFA playoff will see Wales face the winner of Scotland-Ukraine. AFC v. CONMEBOL will feature the winner of the UAE v. Australia taking on Peru. CONCACAF v. OFC will see Costa Rica face New Zealand. All three playoff matches will take place in June.

Below is a list of the 29 countries who have qualified and order them by the official FIFA World Rankings. We’ll also list their odds to win the tournament, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

The rankings are of note because they are what determines who goes in each of the four pots. Qatar is automatically placed in Pot 1 as the host, and then the top seven ranked teams in the world join them. Pot 2 features the 8th through 15th highest-ranked teams, and so forth. The United States is ranked 15th in the world and so they are in Pot 2.

UPDATE: The table now includes playoff participants with odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.