World Cup draw 2022: USMNT draw England, Iran; Spain get Germany in group of death; Messi to face Lewandowski

USMNT will get England, Iran, and to be determined European side (Ukraine, Wales or Scotland)

By James Benge

, Jonathan Johnson

& Roger Gonzalez

Apr 1, 2022 • 1 min read

The 2022 FIFA World Cup draw was held on Friday in Doha and this year's event in Qatar promises early drama after a number of intriguing group draws. For the complete schedule, click here.

The USMNT will meet England, Iran and possibly Scotland, Wales or Ukraine too in Group B while the hosts have drawn the Netherlands, Ecuador and Senegal in Group A.

Defending champions France will face Denmark again after their 2018 meeting and could also be reunited with Peru or Australia as well as Tunisia in Group D while Mexico are up against Argentina, Poland and Saudi Arabia in a spicy Group C.

Group E is where the heavyweights are at with Spain and Germany together as well as Japan and the winner of Costa Rica against New Zealand while Canada are in Group F with Croatia and Morocco.

In Group G, Brazil got Switzerland, Serbia and Cameroon while Portugal are joined by Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.

Qatar will open the World Cup against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

World Cup groups

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Ukraine or Wales
Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
Group D: France, Australia/UAE or Peru, Denmark, Tunisia
Group E: Spain, Costa Rica or New Zealand, Germany, Japan
Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

Winners and losers

Now that the World Cup groups have been drawn, we can look at the makeup of the eight pools and assess who has received the best and worst scenarios. Group B with the USMNT and England, Argentina and Mexico in Group C, Spain and Germany in Group E as well as Canada in Group F with Belgium, Croatia and Morocco are all fascinating.

Some winners and losers.

Winner: Netherlands

The Dutch will feel very happy with their draw, but hosts Qatar will feel equally grateful that Oranje are perhaps their strongest opponents on paper. Anything could happen with Senegal and Ecuador, but Louis Van Gaal's men certainly feel like favorites here.

Loser: Iran

Although the outcome of Scotland, Wales and Ukraine's playoff is not yet known, this already feels like a tough one for the Iranians. This group will not be short of talking points around any of Iran's games, but they will really need to hit the ground running to stand a chance of making it out.

Winner: England

USMNT rivalry aside, the Three Lions will feel pleased with their group as Iran and the winner of Scotland, Wales or Ukraine's eventual UEFA playoff should not cause too much fear. The Scottish and Welsh will have that added motivation given the rivalry which could make the Americans their key adversaries.

Loser: Tunisia

France, Denmark and then potentially a Peru, Australia or a UAE is a tough task for the Tunisians. Les Bleus is a bit of a rivalry while Denmark have emerged as an extremely difficult team to beat. Depending on who joins this group, third place could be considered an achievement.

Winner: France

The defending champions will be undaunted by drawing strong qualifiers Denmark who they know well from 2018. However, they also drew the Danes in 2002 when they crashed out as titleholders from 1998, so there is that to consider. Tunisia is an intriguing pairing given the significant links between the two countries while the playoff winners could see Les Bleus up against two of the three teams they faced in their Russia group in 2018. Will it be enough for them to become the first title holders to escape their group since Brazil won in 2002 and then advanced in 2006.

Loser: Japan

Getting Spain and Germany is pretty brutal with a playoff team to be added to the mix as well. On paper, the Germans and Spanish will be expected to advance, but Samurai Blue have shown in the past that they are capable of springing a surprise -- they need another here.

Winner: Brazil

Despite Serbia's improvement and Switzerland's solid nature, the South Americans will fancy themselves against all of their opponents. On paper, at least, this risks getting brutal for Cameroon unless they can build quickly under Rigobert Song's leadership.

Loser: Cameroon

Arguably favorites to finish bottom of their group given Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia's strength, the Africans need to use these next few months wisely. Changing coach in a World Cup year is never easy, but that has now happened and the Indomitable Lions will at least be motivated to play for such a legendary figure.

Winner: USMNT

That's a good draw for the U.S. They won't be close to a lock for the round of 16 by any means, but they should feel good about their chances. They are going to want Scotland, but it will likely be Wales or Ukraine, and that really could go either way. England should beat the U.S., but the Americans have a knack for pulling off some big group stage results. They did get far and away the best draw out of all the Concacaf teams. Mexico have to play big boys Argentina and a formidable Poland side. Canada have two semifinalists from 2018 in Belgium and Croatia in their group, and if Costa Rica make it, they just have to worry about Spain and Germany -- Roger Gonzalez

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The groups in full

Here you are, this is what World Cup 2022 is going to look like:

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Ukraine or Wales

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, Australia/UAE or Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica or New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

15 minutes to go

Get yourself settled down, we're fast approaching the start time. Then it'll only be an absolutely age until someone actually starts picking out the balls and we find out who is playing who. We're estimating that that will actually be some time around 12:25 p.m..

Our hosts for this evening

Playing the role of compere tonight will be Reshmin Chowdhury and the great Idris Elba. A passionate Gooner, how is he going to rig it so his beloved Arsenal play in the World Cup final?

There will be eight former players doing the draw, including World Cup winners Cafu and Lothar Matthaus. Joining them will be Tim Cahill, Adel Ahmed MalAllah, Ali Daei and Bora Milutinovic. You suspect FIFA might have been imaging that Nigeria and Algeria would be at the tournament. Why else would they ask Jay-Jay Okocha and Rabah Madjer to join the ceremony?

The dream scenario for USMNT

Qatar: Take on the hosts, by far the worst team in Pot 1, and potentially play in the opener? Heck yes. Look, they have some real quality, but they aren't France or Brazil. The U.S. would love to get a team they have recently played in the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Tunisia: A decent African team but probably the one you want to face if you had to pick one. They have some players in attack but the U.S. would be the strong favorite to win a game like this.

Wales/Scotland/Ukraine: Ideally, it would be nice to avoid a team from Europe, and getting a team like New Zealand would be stellar, but there's a decent chance they aren't making it through the playoff. So getting a European side that has still yet to qualify would be a solid draw. The preference would be Scotland, while Wales and Ukraine would be tricky opposition.

Projection: Second place in the group and through to the round of 16.

Other Concacaf Outlooks

Canada and Mexico have already qualified for the World Cup while Costa Rica will be in a playoff with New Zealand to hopefully punch their ticket. For Canada, they'll feel hard done by entering the draw as a pot four team, despite their performance that saw them top qualifying. However they'll be happy to be here in their first World Cup appearance since 1986. Like the US, Canada and Mexico will want to be drawn with Qatar, with whom they have familiarity from the Gold Cup, but looking at potential groups, it's hard to see how Canada will make it to the knockout stage otherwise.

Mexico is a little trickier as we don't know who will be leading them into the World Cup. Miguel Herrera has openly expressed interest in the job if they were to move on from Tata Martino. They haven't made it past the round of 16 since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico so switching things up could make sense even with their impressive defense leading the way through qualifying.

The seeds

It'll be one team from each of these pots. Remember that only Europe can have multiple representatives from each group so Qatar, for instance, cannot be drawn against the three Asian teams in pot three and Saudi Arabia in pot four. They also cannot be placed against the winner of the AFC vs. CONMEBOL qualifier in case that is Australia or the UAE.

Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal

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

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

Pot 4: Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Wales or Scotland/Ukraine, Costa Rica or New Zealand, Peru or Australia/United Arab Emirates

What is the most likely draw?

And on the subject of nightmare draws, Julien Guyon is among those who has taken a statistical look at the probabilities of this draw. For the USA he has calculated that Berhalter's side are most likely to be set against one of Brazil or Argentina, Serbia or Poland and the winner of the remaining UEFA play off.

That might not be too far off the worst imaginable in my view. USA would have a chance for second place but both Serbia and Poland have attacking firepower that they can't muster. Meanwhile none of Wales, Scotland and Ukraine are slouches at all. You'd have to say it would be impressive if the USMNT escaped that particular group.

The nightmare scenario for USMNT

France: The reigning World Cup champs, the favorites to win it again, the team with Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and so much talent your head will explode. It would likely be a nightmare for the American back line, and they will be hoping they don't get the French on Friday. It would be over by halftime.

Senegal: Don't scoff at Senegal. They have three superstars, all of which would easily start for this U.S. team and most national teams around the world. Winger Sadio Mane (Liverpool), center back Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) are top-tier talents. They are the reigning champions of Africa and are the last team from that region you would want to face.

Ecuador: Gustavo Alfaro has done an amazing job with Ecuador, taking them from outsiders to qualification. They didn't win any of their last four games in qualifying yet still got in pretty comfortably. They aren't loaded, but they have a physicality about them, a boom-or-bust determination in them that is inspiring, and they are by far the team from Pot 4 you want to avoid.

Projection: Likely out in the group stage. Best-case scenario is four points max, likely three, and sweating out their tournament lives.

How to watch the draw

Date: Friday, April 1 | Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
Location: Doha, Qatar
TV: FS1/Telemundo | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)

Big day for the USMNT

The day USMNT fans have been waiting for is here. Who will Gregg Berhalter's team get? In Pot 2, they are likely to get a giant out of Pot 1, but they'll be wanting host Qatar. Fans will have their eyes on Ghana as well, as it almost feels like a rule at this point for the two to be matched against one another. Not long to go now until we find out!

Hello and welcome to CBS' live coverage of the World Cup draw -- the most wonderful time of the World Cup cycle, I'm sure you'll agree. Well at least it is if your team has made it this far. From now on it's seven months of hope and anticipation before the realities of tournament football crush your spirit. But that's for then. Now let's get this going!

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