With the first match of the World Cup Qualifiers taking place on 11 June and the full tournament line-up not set to be confirmed until November 2022, The Independent takes a look at how the campaign is unfolding around the globe.
Qualification tournaments are broken down into zones that roughly correspond to the continents, with teams from each zone competing for a fixed number of berths in the final competition. Those spots are awarded to group winners, runners-up and, in some cases, intercontinental play-off winners.
Europe currently has 16 berths on offer, with Lionel Scaloni’s Italy leading the pack after 14 matches, while the Republic of Ireland are a further four points back in Group F. Scotland are in a similar position to the Republic, with their opponents including Greece, Belarus and the loser of the Portugal v Denmark Nations League quarter-final.
The second round of qualifiers started on Thursday, with the 54 FIFA-affiliated teams split into six groups of five. Each team plays a single round-robin with two home and two away games to determine their ranking. The top team from each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the best-ranked two runners-up advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The final qualifying stage began in September 2023 and consists of 18 teams divided into three groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group will qualify, while the best-ranked runners-up will join them in the play-offs.