The Group Stage is officially set for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup, but it isn't complete just yet.
The U.S. men's national team, which will play on the tournament's opening day on Nov. 21, has drawn England, Iran and the winner of the European playoff — either Wales, Scotland or Ukraine — in Group B.
Ukraine’s playoff match against Scotland that was initially scheduled for March 24 was postponed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, the final team in Group B will likely not be determined until June.
The winner of the Ukraine-Scotland match will play Wales for UEFA’s final spot in Qatar.
Scotland is looking to clinch its ninth appearance at the World Cup and first since 1998, while Ukraine aims to secure its second all-time appearance and first since 2006, when it made it all the way to the quarterfinals.
Wales advanced to the playoff final after defeating Austria 2-1, and now, the Dragons are just one game away from qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
Upon the conclusion of the European playoffs, those four teams will all play each other round-robin style, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage and continuing on to battle until a World Cup champion is crowned Dec. 18.
"We’re excited about our group and we’re looking forward to getting started on our preparations," said U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter. "I think overall, there are some difficult groups across the board. In our group in particular, we have England, who is a very strong team, and we have two opponents that we need to go deeper on. We don’t really know Iran that well, and then we have the unknown of who wins the UEFA Playoff. We won’t know that until June, but it’s exciting. We’ll be waiting on the edge of our seats to see who advances."
There are also two other spots that have yet to be determined for Qatar 2022, which are reserved for the intercontinental playoff winners from Group D (Peru/Australia/United Arab Emirates) and Group E (Costa Rica/New Zealand).
Australia and the UAE will face off on June 7, with the winner due to play Peru the following week to determine who advances to take on France, Denmark and Tunisia.
Costa Rica and New Zealand will also meet in June in intercontinental playoff two (ICP2) to decide the team that will take on Spain, Germany and Japan.
You can relive every moment of the 2022 World Cup by watching the full broadcast.
