FIFA Men's World Cup

Before expanding to 48 nations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2022 competition in Qatar represents the final tournament with 32 competing teams and the cutthroat qualifying cycle that comes with it. With just under a year until kick off on Nov. 21, 2022, what countries have qualified for the World Cup?

Including the host nation of Qatar, we already know 13 of the competing teams at the 2022 World Cup, and the remaining 19 spots are going to fill up quickly over the coming months. We’ll keep this list updated and current for your reading pleasure.

The U.S. men’s national team will play Bosnia and Herzegovina in Los Angeles for an international friendly on Dec. 19. The December USMNT roster for this game was released Friday morning and fans will need to familiarize themselves with some new names.

This friendly isn’t being played during an international break, meaning big names like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest won’t make the trip to LA. The roster features 21 MLS players, two USL Championship (the league below MLS) and three players who play for club teams outside the U.S.

CAPE TOWN — FIFA dismissed South Africa's protest following the 1-0 loss to Ghana in their decisive World Cup qualifier in Cape Coast last month, with the country's football association (SAFA) saying they will consider further steps once they read the judgement.

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee decided that the protest was inadmissible, without providing any further details.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, spoke to the media on Tuesday reassuring that LGBTQ+ fans will be allowed to attend soccer’s biggest tournament next year. The assurance from Al Khater wasn’t completely transparent as LGBTQ+ supporters will need to be wary during their trip to Qatar.

As FIFA continues to float the idea of a biennial men’s World Cup — bucking nearly a century of norms to hold the tourney twice as often — most everyone with any sort of stake in the beautiful game has come out against the idea. And yet, we continue to see polling data suggesting soccer fans actually want a World Cup every two years. 

The last two European champions, Italy and Portugal, could face each other for a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after they were drawn in the same path for the playoffs in Zurich on Friday.

The 12 teams — 10 of which finished runners-up in their groups — were split into three four-team paths, each with its own semi-finals and final. Seeded teams were guaranteed a home game in the semifinals.

2022 World Cup play-off draw ✅

U.S. Soccer has selected two cold-weather venues for the men's national team's key World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Honduras early next year.

The United States, who are second in Concacaf's eight-nation qualifying competition that will send the top three to the 2022 World Cup, will play El Salvador on Jan. 27 in Columbus, Ohio and Honduras on Feb. 2 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

.

What if I told you Qatar hired an ex-CIA officer to run a spy campaign to ensure the tiny but wealthy Middle Eastern country won and held on to the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup? Yeah, that sounds pretty believable.

FIFA believes that the USMNT is better than Mexico for the first time since July 2015. The latest FIFA rankings were released on Friday, with the Americans (12) sitting two spots above their southern neighbor (14). Some Swiss cheese in the middle created a lovely Concacaf sandwich.