The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off on Sunday, December 18 with 32 teams competing to reach the finals. Only two will get there, and one will get to hoist the trophy.
In these next few weeks, all the other nations will pack up and go home from Qatar after failing to fulfill the ultimate dream.
The tournament began with a group stage and at the end of it the field will be cut in half, with only 16 teams advancing to the knockout rounds (see the full World Cup schedule here).
The knockout rounds are a series of single-elimination matches, with one day required to determine the winner. If the teams are tied at the end of 90 minutes, then 30 minutes of extra time will be played, and if the deadlock still continues, a penalty shootout will determine the winner.
Group Stage: Nov 20 – Fri, Dec 2, Sun
Round of 16: Dec 3 – Tue, Dec 6, Sat
Quarterfinals: Dec 9 – Sat, Dec 10, Fri
Semi-Finals: December 13, Tue – December 14, Wed
Final: December 18, Sun
With so many nations involved, The Sporting News will track the teams as they square off throughout the tournament in Qatar.
Teams Eliminated from the World Cup: List of Every Nation Eliminated
The table below will be updated throughout the tournament as teams fall along the way. The most recently eliminated team will be at the top.
Host nation Qatar was eliminated from the first team and then Canada failed to pick up a point in their first two group-stage games.
The groups begin to wrap up play on Tuesday, November 29, and with the group stage closing on Friday, December 2, the table below will fill up quickly over the next few days.
| Nation | How Eliminated | Date Eliminated | Stage Eliminated | FIFA Ranking |
| Croatia | Loss Vs Argentina | Dec. 13 | Semifinals | 12 |
| England | Loss Vs France | Dec. 10 | Quarterfinals | 5 |
| Portugal | Loss Vs Morocco | Dec. 10 | Quarterfinals | 9 |
| Netherlands | Loss Vs Argentina | Dec. 9 | Quarterfinals | 8 |
| Brazil | Loss Vs Croatia | Dec. 9 | Quarterfinals | 1 |
| Switzerland | Loss Vs Portugal | Dec. 6 | Round of 16 | 15 |
| Spain | Loss Vs Morocco | Dec. 6 | Round of 16 | 7 |
| South Korea | Loss Vs Brazil | Dec. 5 | Round of 16 | 28 |
| Japan | Loss Vs Croatia | Dec. 5 | Round of 16 | 24 |
| Senegal | Loss Vs England | Dec. 4 | Round of 16 | 18 |
| Poland | Loss Vs France | Dec. 4 | Round of 16 | 26 |
| Australia | Loss vs. Argentina | Dec. 3 | Round of 16 | 38 |
| USA | Loss vs. Netherlands | Dec. 3 | Round of 16 | 16 |
| Serbia | Loss vs. Switzerland | Dec. 2 | Groups | 21 |
| Cameroon | Switzerland win vs. Serbia | Dec. 2 | Groups | 43 |
| Uruguay | Goals scored tiebreaker | Dec. 2 | Groups | 14 |
| Ghana | Loss to Uruguay | Dec. 2 | Groups | 61 |
| Germany | Goal difference tiebreaker | Dec. 1 | Groups | 11 |
| Costa Rica | Loss vs. Germany | Dec. 1 | Groups | 31 |
| Belgium | Draw vs. Croatia | Dec. 1 | Groups | 2 |
| Mexico | Goal difference tiebreaker | Nov. 30 | Groups | 13 |
| Saudi Arabia | Loss to Mexico | Nov. 30 | Groups | 51 |
| Tunisia | Win by Australia vs. Denmark | Nov. 30 | Groups | 30 |
| Denmark | Loss to Australia | Nov. 30 | Groups | 10 |
| Iran | Loss to USA | Nov. 29 | Groups | 20 |
| Wales | Loss to England | Nov. 29 | Groups | 19 |
| Ecuador | Loss to Senegal | Nov. 29 | Groups | 44 |
| Canada | Loss to Croatia AND Morocco win vs. Belgium | Nov. 27 | Groups | 41 |
| Qatar | Loss to Senegal AND NED-ECU draw | Nov. 25 | Groups | 50 |
How many teams are there in the World Cup?
Since the 1998 edition of the tournament, there have been 32 nations that have qualified for the Men’s FIFA Championship held every four years.
That is set to change.
Starting with the 2026 World Cup in North America (the United States, Canada and Mexico), the field will be expanded to 48 teams. In the group stage, there will be 16 groups of three teams each with 32 teams reaching the knockout stages.
Be careful not to overburden the players, the total number of games in the tournament will increase from 64 to 80, but the number of games for any one team will not increase.
A maximum number of matches that the winning team in the 2026 World Cup will play in 2022: a total of seven matches.
In 2022, teams will play three group matches followed by a maximum of four knockout stage competitions for the teams that make the finals or the third-place match. In 2026, the eventual winner will play seven more matches: two group matches and five knockouts en route to lifting the trophy.