Croatia secured a spot in the third-place match, while both Croatia and Morocco remained to participate. Unfortunately, all the other countries had to gather their belongings and return home from Qatar after failing to achieve their ultimate goal throughout the four-week tournament.
The competition started with a group stage, where teams competed to make it to the knockout rounds. Only 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage, cutting the field in half. Now, it’s time to check out the complete schedule for the World Cup.
In a single-elimination series of matches, the winner needed to be determined through knockout rounds. If the teams were tied at the end of 90 minutes on the day, an additional 30 minutes of extra time were played, and if the deadlock persisted, the winner would be determined through a penalty shootout.
With numerous countries participating, The Sporting News followed the squads as they were eliminated throughout the competition in Qatar.
MORE: Which teams made it to participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
The most recently eliminated team is positioned at the top. Throughout the 2022 tournament, teams were eliminated one by one as the table underneath was regularly updated.
The Round of 16 eliminated an additional eight teams, resulting in a total of 16 teams being eliminated after the group stage. Neither Canada nor host nation Qatar managed to earn a single point in their initial two matches of the group stage, and they were subsequently followed by Qatar as the initial team eliminated.
The championship game took place before the match for third place on Dec. 18, and the semi-finals were also played over two days on Dec. 13-14. The quarterfinals concluded in two days on Dec. 9-10, and the Round of 16 was finished on Dec. 6. The group stage ended on Friday, Dec. 2.
France was eliminated in the final match against Argentina on December 18, with a FIFA ranking of 4. Morocco was eliminated in the semifinals against France on December 14, with a FIFA ranking of 22. Croatia was eliminated in the semifinals against Argentina on December 13, with a FIFA ranking of 12. England was eliminated in the quarterfinals against France on December 10, with a FIFA ranking of 5. Portugal was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Morocco on December 10, with a FIFA ranking of 9. Netherlands was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Argentina on December 9, with a FIFA ranking of 8. Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Croatia on December 9, with a FIFA ranking of 1. Switzerland was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Portugal on December 6, with a FIFA ranking of 15. Spain was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Morocco on December 6, with a FIFA ranking of 7. South Korea was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Brazil on December 5, with a FIFA ranking of 28. Japan was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Croatia on December 5, with a FIFA ranking of 24. Senegal was eliminated in the Round of 16 against England on December 4, with a FIFA ranking of 18. Poland was eliminated in the Round of 16 against France on December 4, with a FIFA ranking of 26. Australia was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Argentina on December 3, with a FIFA ranking of 38. USA was eliminated in the Round of 16 against Netherlands on December 3, with a FIFA ranking of 16. Serbia was eliminated in the group stage against Switzerland on December 2, with a FIFA ranking of 21. Cameroon was eliminated in the group stage, with a win for Switzerland against Serbia on December 2, with a FIFA ranking of 43. Uruguay was eliminated in the group stage, based on the goals scored tiebreaker on December 2, with a FIFA ranking of 14. Ghana was eliminated in the group stage against Uruguay on December 2, with a FIFA ranking of 61. Germany was eliminated in the group stage, based on the goal difference tiebreaker on December 1, with a FIFA ranking of 11. Costa Rica was eliminated in the group stage against Germany on December 1, with a FIFA ranking of 31. Belgium was eliminated in the group stage, with a draw against Croatia on December 1, with a FIFA ranking of 2. Mexico was eliminated in the group stage, based on the goal difference tiebreaker on November 30, with a FIFA ranking of 13. Saudi Arabia was eliminated in the group stage against Mexico on November 30, with a FIFA ranking of 51. Tunisia was eliminated in the group stage, due to Australia’s win against Denmark on November 30, with a FIFA ranking of 30. Denmark was eliminated in the group stage against Australia on November 30, with a FIFA ranking of 10. Iran was eliminated in the group stage against USA on November 29, with a FIFA ranking of 20. Wales was eliminated in the group stage against England on November 29, with a FIFA ranking of 19. Ecuador was eliminated in the group stage against Senegal on November 29, with a FIFA ranking of 44. Canada was eliminated in the group stage, with losses against Croatia and a win for Morocco against Belgium on November 27, with a FIFA ranking of 41. Qatar was eliminated in the group stage, with losses against Senegal and a draw between Netherlands and Ecuador on November 25, with a FIFA ranking of 50.
MORE: Which team has emerged as the victor in the most World Cups throughout history?
What is the total number of teams that participate in the World Cup?
Held every four years, the men’s FIFA championship has had 32 nations qualify to every since the 1998 edition of the tournament.
That is expected to undergo a transformation.
In the 2026 World Cup in North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico), there will be 32 teams progressing to the knockout stage. Each group will comprise of 16 sets of three teams, resulting in a total of 48 teams in the expanded field.
MORE: All the specifics encompassing the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
The overall count of games in the tournament will rise from 64 to 80, yet there will be no increase in the number of matches for each individual team, taking care to avoid adding to the workload of the players.
The winning team at the 2026 World Cup will play a maximum of seven matches, which is the same number as in 2022.
The eventual winner of the 2026 tournament will play seven matches: five in the knockout stage and two in the group stage, with the trophy being hoisted along the way. In the 2022 tournament, teams that make it to the third-place match or the final will compete in a maximum of four knockout stage matches, after playing three group stage matches.