Qatar World Cup organizers dispute Denmark kit manufacturer's claims of human rights violations

In the 2015 FIFA corruption case, Swiss officials, operating under information from the United States Department of Justice, arrested many senior FIFA officials in Zurich, Switzerland. The arrests continued in the United States, where several FIFA officers were arrested, and FIFA buildings were raided. The arrests were made on the information of at least a $150 million corruption and bribery scandal. The European Union's Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2021 noted Qatar's labour law reforms that had incorporated non-discriminatory minimum wage systems and removal of the Kafala system in 2021.

All FIFA member associations, of which there are currently 211, were eligible to enter qualification. However, the AFC obliged Qatar to participate in the Asian qualifying stage as the first two rounds also act as qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Since Qatar reached the final stage as winners in their group, Lebanon, the fifth-best second place team, advanced instead. The reigning World Cup champions France also went through qualifying stages as normal. Saint Lucia initially entered qualification but withdrew from it before their first match. North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn into the same group except for UEFA teams, for which there was at least one and no more than two per group. This principle also applied to the placeholder teams, with constraints applying based on the confederation of both potential winners of each play-off tie. The draw started with pot 1 and ended with pot 4, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.

FIFA confirmed the group stage venue and kick-off times on 1 April 2022, following the draw. On 11 August, it was confirmed that Qatar vs Ecuador had been brought forward one day, now becoming the tournament's opening match, while Senegal vs Netherlands, which would have opened the tournament under the original schedule, had been reallocated to the freed-up timeslot. Stadium 974, formerly known as Ras Abu Aboud, is the seventh FIFA World Cup 2022 venue to be completed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy .

Enrique oversaw a late Spain win against Portugal on Tuesday night that saw his side win League A Group 2 and qualify for next year’s Nations League finals. In November 2021, Australian footballer Josh Cavallo, who came out as gay in October 2021, said he would be afraid to travel to แข่งขันบอลโลก Qatar to play. Nasser Al Khater, head of the tournament's organising committee, replied that Cavallo would be "welcome" in the country. In April 2020, the government of Qatar provided $824 million to pay the wages of migrant workers in quarantine or undergoing treatment for COVID-19.