Now it’s starting to feel real. With the 2022 World Cup fast approaching, teams and their fans are eager to learn of their potential paths to glory in Qatar. Below, theScore outlines everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s draw, which features some interesting wrinkles compared to previous tournaments.

Details

• When: Friday, April 1
• Where: Doha, Qatar (Doha Exhibition and Convention Center)
• Time: 12 p.m. ET

How to watch

The draw will also be streamed live on FIFA’s website.

Seeding

As always, seeding is based on the latest edition of the FIFA World Ranking, with one notable exception. Host nation Qatar, sitting 51st in the world, is granted a place in Pot 1, per standard protocol. Only 29 of the eventual 32 participants will be known going into the draw – more on that later – meaning the rankings only determine pot allocation for teams that have already secured qualification; the final three teams that qualify via the outstanding playoffs will all go into Pot 4 regardless of their ranking.

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

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

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

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

So, why isn’t the entire field confirmed?

Three World Cup berths are yet to be determined: one from UEFA, and the two intercontinental playoff winners. Those were all initially slated to be decided in March but have been pushed back to June.

Ukraine’s match against Scotland was postponed amid Russia’s invasion of the country. That will now be played this summer, and the winner of that fixture takes on Wales for a spot in Qatar. The exact dates have yet to be finalized.

The intercontinental playoffs were delayed as part of global football’s massive calendar adjustments brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Costa Rica will play New Zealand in one encounter while Peru faces off with either Australia or the United Arab Emirates in the other. Those two games are scheduled for June 13 and 14 in Qatar, at which point we should finally know the entire World Cup field.

FIFA said placeholders will be used in the draw for the three unconfirmed berths.

Draw procedure

Qatar is preassigned to Group A – position A1, to be exact – and will play the opening match of the tournament. The Qataris will be drawn first to kick-start proceedings. The rest of Pot 1 is then drawn, with each team allocated to one of the remaining seven groups.

That process is then repeated for the remaining pots.

The festivities will be led by Carli Lloyd, Jermaine Jenas, and Samantha Johnson. The likes of Cafu, Lothar Matthaus, Ali Daei, and Jay-Jay Okocha will be among the former players assisting with the draw.

Are there any draw restrictions?

Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in the same group, with the exception of UEFA. With 13 European nations going to Qatar in November, it’s mathematically impossible to keep them all apart, so five of the eight groups will feature two sides from Europe.

The same condition of separation will apply to the teams that qualify via the intercontinental playoff paths.

A computer will inform FIFA if there are any matchup restrictions in danger of being violated. Here’s hoping the governing body isn’t relying on the same external software provider that was responsible for the humiliating mishap during December’s Champions League draw.

What about the World Cup schedule?

Typically, the dates and times of all group fixtures are made available while the draw is ongoing as stadiums and kickoff times are preassigned based on group slots. Like so many other things in 2022, though, that too will unfold a little differently this time around.

The unusually compact nature of the tournament venues creates scheduling flexibility; the longest distance between stadiums is 55 kilometers. As a result, FIFA said they can make scheduling adjustments in order to “provide a more beneficial kickoff time for audiences at home, or indeed for fans in Qatar with regard to the stadium allocation.”

Therefore, the complete match schedule is expected to be revealed in the hours after the conclusion of Friday’s draw.

The 2022 World Cup begins on Nov. 21, and closes with the final on Dec. 18.

TAMPA, Fla. — In one of the most shocking moves of arguably the wildest NFL offseason in recent memory, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Wednesday that coach Bruce Arians is transitioning from a head-coaching role into a front-office one, with defensive coordinator Todd Bowles being elevated to head coach.

The timing of the move is unusual — peculiar even. Did Tom Brady push Arians out?

Arians had already committed to returning in 2022 — even doing so in a text to ESPN on Jan. 30, saying he was “totally” returning, even after Brady announced he was retiring. He attended the NFL combine earlier this month and was present at the NFL owners meetings this week before leaving one day early and not speaking to the media because of what were described as “personal reasons.”

But a source told ESPN that Arians informed Brady shortly after his return announcement that he would be stepping aside, which meant Brady was actively recruiting players to join Tampa Bay with full knowledge that Arians wouldn’t be the coach.

What’s also interesting is that Arians informed Bowles of his decision Monday, a source told ESPN, after getting clarity on a hiring rule at the owners meetings. So Brady knew about this before Bowles did.

Most close to Arians believed that at 69 he would continue coaching for just a few more years. Still, members of his staff were shocked when Arians informed them of the news Wednesday before it was made public. Bowles’ promotion ensures continuity on defense, and it gives Brady and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich even more ownership of the offense.

Bowles had long been considered Arians’ successor had he not been hired elsewhere. He interviewed for head-coaching vacancies with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears this offseason but was passed up for both. But Tampa Bay has always been the kind of place where Bowles could thrive.

Unlike when he was the coach of the New York Jets, Bowles doesn’t need to dazzle at the podium to earn favor with fans and the media. He can keep his usual evasiveness, sprinkling in a touch of dry, self-deprecating humor — something most people don’t get to see unless they’re speaking to him one-on-one or in an informal setting.

That, and the fact that players love him, even though they too were caught off guard by the move. Devin White tweeted out, “No better person! My guy!” when news broke.

Bowles just needs to win, and he’s in a position to focus almost solely on defense, a defense with a style that is very similar to that of the team’s ‘No risk it, no biscuit’ identity.

Bowles’ promotion comes at a critical time in the NFL, a league that has struggled to find answers to its diversity hiring struggles, to the point that the league just adopted a new rule this week that all teams must add a minority offensive coach for the 2022 season and expanded the Rooney Rule to include women.