How Does the World Cup Group Stage Work?

The group stage of the FIFA World Cup is probably the most important part of the event. It is because whatever happens in this round will set the tone for the rest of the tournament. 

The group stage will be played from November 20 to December 2 and as early as now, it is better for you to understand as a bettor the process of this crucial round.

How many games are in a World Cup group stage?

In the FIFA World Cup, the 32 qualified teams are divided into eight groups of four teams. All of the 32 teams will play against the other three teams in their bracket in a round-robin format.

In total, there are 48 matches that will be played across the stadiums in Qatar. Each of the matches has its own assigned stadium that the game will occur in.

The first match is scheduled from November 20 to December 2. The first game will be between Ecuador and the host country Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium. Meanwhile, the final game for the group stages will be between Brazil and Cameroon at the Lusail Stadium with its own World Cup betting odds 2022.

After the group stage is completed, the next stage that will occur is the Round of 16 or Knockout stage. The top two winners from each respective group will go to the next round.

What are the groups in the 2022 World Cup?

There are eight groups in the initial round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Each group has four teams in it with each team perfectly placed in each respective group. The groups in the World Cup are the following:

Group A: Senegal, Qatar, Ecuador, and the Netherlands

Group B: Iran, England, United States, and Wales

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Poland

Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, and Cameroon

Group H: Ghana, Uruguay, Portugal, and South Korea

You can place a wager on world cup betting odds 2022 of one of these qualified teams to win.

How are World Cup 2022 groups formed?

Are World Cup groups random? Like we mentioned above, the 32 qualified teams in the World Cup are perfectly divided into eight groups of four. However, it is curious to know how these groups were created.

Before the eight groups were finalized as a basis for the official fixtures and world cup betting odds 2022 in the tournament, the 32 qualified teams were first divided in four groups called Pots. The four pots are filled with teams based on their position in the FIFA rankings. The host nation, Qatar, was automatically placed in the first pot along with the seven top-ranking teams.

After the posts are formed, one country from each respective pot will be taken to include in a group. One of the rules in the placement of teams in a group is that each group shouldn’t have two teams from the same continent with the only exception of Europe in which the federation were given automatic 13 spots.

The FIFA ranking pots are as follows:

Pot 1: Qatar, Belgium, argentina, Spain, Brazil, France, England, and Portugal

Pot 2: The Netherlands, Mexico, Switzerland, Croatia, Germany, the United States, Denmark, and Uruguay

Pot 3: Senegal, Japan, Serbia, South Korea, Iran, Morocco, Poland, and Tunisia

Pot 4: Cameroon, Croatia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Ghana, Wales, Australia, and Costa Rica. 

Conclusion

The group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to be filled with footballing action and drama. While the tournament is not occuring yet, we can easily tell which team will prevail from each respective group. 

Place your wager now on the national team that you think will be the overall winner of the World Cup and get a chance to win multiple perks.