The World Cup sees one of the best nationwide groups across the globe compete to win soccer’s most prestigious prize.
The qualification roads are sometimes lengthy and exhausting and one of the best groups can battle to make it to the large time – simply ask Italy.
This is the historical past behind the quantity of groups that play at World Cups.
At current, 32 groups qualify for the World Cup. Hosts qualify robotically, however winners are not afforded that luxurious – France, the winners in Russia in 2018, had been required to undergo regular qualifying.
The quantity of groups current on the World Cup has steadily grown since its inaugural version in 1930, the place 13 groups competed as Uruguay beat Argentina within the ultimate. Bar the 1934 and 1978 competitions, the finals all had 16 groups till an enlargement to 24 in 1982.
FIFA ultimately stretched to 32 groups for the primary time in 1998 and the quantity has remained the identical ever since. That enlargement has allowed minnows from Africa, Asia and North America to get pleasure from success they in any other case would not have within the smaller editions.
The 2022 World Cup would be the final to characteristic 32 groups, with a deliberate enlargement to 48 set to happen in 2026. That was confirmed in 2017 after FIFA president Gianni Infantino had expressed his help for such a rise.
The qualification course of for the 2022 World Cup started in 2019 and resulted in 2022, with 206 nationwide groups from six confederations making an attempt to reached the match in Qatar.
The host nation Qatar certified first and had been later joined by Germany and Denmark, who each sealed their spots in October 2021. Brazil, France, Belgium Serbia, Spain, Croatia, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands and Argentina all adopted the following month.
Play-offs determined the ultimate spots within the match, with Wales, Australia and Costa Rica the final three groups to qualify.
