World Cup 2022: How does qualification from the group stage work and what are the tiebreakers?

Players of Tunisia and Denmark line up on the pitch under a giant World Cup trophy prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D match between Denmark and Tunisia at Education City Stadium on November 22, 2022 in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
(Image credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images)

With the games continuing to come thick and fast, the World Cup 2022 group stage will be over before we know it. In fact, after Senegal's 3-1 victory over Qatar – who became the first hosts to be knocked out of the World Cup after two matches – we are a third of the way through the 48 fixtures which make up the first round of the tournament.

So it's impossible not to pore over the various permutations... Who will go through? What do team X and team Y need to do to go through?

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Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...