Teams |
Flag |
Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Total times qualified |
Last time qualified |
Previous best performance |
Qatar |
 |
Hosts |
2 December 2010 |
1 |
- |
- |
Germany |
 |
UEFA Group J winners |
11 October 2021 |
20 |
2018 |
Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) |
Denmark |
 |
UEFA Group F winners |
12 October 2021 |
6 |
2018 |
Quarter-finals (1998) |
Brazil |
 |
CONMEBOL winners |
11 November 2021 |
22 |
2018 |
Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) |
France |
 |
UEFA Group D winners |
13 November 2021 |
16 |
2018 |
Winners (1998, 2018) |
Belgium |
 |
UEFA Group E winners |
13 November 2021 |
14 |
2018 |
Third place (2018) |
Croatia |
 |
UEFA Group H winners |
14 November 2021 |
6 |
2018 |
Runners-up (2018) |
Spain |
 |
UEFA Group B winners |
14 November 2021 |
16 |
2018 |
Winners (2010) |
Serbia |
 |
UEFA Group A winners |
14 November 2021 |
13 |
2018 |
Fourth place (1930, 1962) |
England |
 |
UEFA Group I winners |
15 November 2021 |
16 |
2018 |
Winners (1966) |
Switzerland |
 |
UEFA Group C winners |
15 November 2021 |
12 |
2018 |
Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954) |
Netherlands |
 |
UEFA Group G winners |
16 November 2021 |
11 |
2014 |
Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010) |
Argentina |
 |
CONMEBOL runners-up |
16 November 2021 |
18 |
2018 |
Winners (1978, 1986) |
IR Iran |
 |
AFC third round Group A winners |
27 January 2022 |
6 |
2018 |
Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018) |
Korea Republic |
 |
AFC third round Group A runners-up |
1 February 2022 |
11 |
2018 |
Fourth place (2002) |
Japan |
 |
AFC third round Group B runners-up |
24 March 2022 |
7 |
2018 |
Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018) |
Saudi Arabia |
 |
AFC third round Group B winners |
24 March 2022 |
6 |
2018 |
Round of 16 (1994) |
Ecuador |
 |
CONMEBOL fourth place |
24 March 2022 |
4 |
2014 |
Round of 16 (2006) |
Uruguay |
 |
CONMEBOL third place |
24 March 2022 |
14 |
2018 |
Winners (1930, 1950) |
Canada |
 |
CONCACAF third round winners |
27 March 2022 |
2 |
1986 |
Group stage (1986) |
Ghana |
 |
CAF third round winners |
29 March 2022 |
4 |
2014 |
Quarter-finals (2010) |
Senegal |
 |
CAF third round winners |
29 March 2022 |
3 |
2018 |
Quarter-finals (2002) |
Portugal |
 |
UEFA play-offs Path C winners |
29 March 2022 |
8 |
2018 |
Third place (1966) |
Poland |
 |
UEFA play-offs Path B winners |
29 March 2022 |
9 |
2018 |
Third place (1974, 1982) |
Tunisia |
 |
CAF third round winners |
29 March 2022 |
6 |
2018 |
Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018) |
Morocco |
 |
CAF third round winners |
29 March 2022 |
6 |
2018 |
Round of 16 (1986) |
Cameroon |
 |
CAF third round winners |
29 March 2022 |
8 |
2014 |
Quarter-finals (1990) |
United States |
 |
CONCACAF third round third place |
30 March 2022 |
11 |
2014 |
Third place (1930) |
Mexico |
 |
CONCACAF third round runners-up |
30 March 2022 |
17 |
2018 |
Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) |
WAL/SCO/UKR |
 |
UEFA play-offs Path A winners |
5 June 2022 |
TDM |
TDM |
TDM |
UAE/AUS/PER |
 |
AFC v CONMEBOL play-off winners |
13 June 2022 |
TDM |
TDM |
TDM |
CRC/NZL |
 |
CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners |
14 June 2022 |
TDM |
TDM |
TDM |
All FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, were eligible to enter qualification. Qatar, as hosts, qualified automatically for the tournament. However, Qatar was obliged by the AFC to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also acted as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Qatar won their group so the fifth-best group runners-up advanced to the AFC third round instead. For the first time after the initial two tournaments of 1930 and 1934, the World Cup will be hosted by a country whose national team has never played a finals match before. The reigning World Cup champions France also participated in qualifying as normal.
Seven teams withdrew. Saint Lucia initially entered CONCACAF qualification, but later retreated. North Korea also withdrew from the AFC second qualifying round for safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. American Samoa and Samoa likewise retracted their participation ahead of the draw for the OFC qualifiers, while Tonga withdrew after the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. After COVID-19 outbreaks in their squads during the OFC qualifiers in Doha, Vanuatu and Cook Islands also withdrew.
On 27 February 2022, after the threat of boycotts by the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA prohibited the Russia national football team from playing home matches in Russia; the team would have to play matches behind closed doors at neutral sites. In addition, the team would have been prohibited from competing under the name, flag, or national anthem of Russia, and had to compete under the name "Football Union of Russia" (RFU). On 28 February, however, in accordance with a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA suspended the participation of Russia. Poland were subsequently given a walkover for their play-off semi-final match scheduled against Russia. The Russian Football Union announced they would appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Their request for a temporary lift of the ban was rejected on 18 March.
The allocation of slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich after the FIFA Congress. The committee decided that the same allocation used in 2006, 2010, and 2014 would be kept for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments: