South American Football Confederation to Start Qatar World Cup Regional Qualifiers in September

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The South American Football Confederation has decided to start the 2022 Qatar World Cup regional qualifiers, which were delayed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), in September.

According to the confederation on the 17th (local time), the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has set the start date for the World Cup regional qualifiers between September 4 and 8. In the South American World Cup qualifiers, the 10 member countries of the confederation (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia) will face each other once in a home-and-away format.

Each team will play 18 matches, with the top 4 teams advancing to the World Cup finals, and the 5th place team will attempt to qualify through the intercontinental playoffs. Originally, rounds 1 and 2 were scheduled to be held during last month's A-match period, but they could not take place due to the impact of COVID-19. The schedule will now start with rounds 3 and 4 in early September.

Although there was a possibility of format changes due to the delayed start, the confederation explained that the qualifiers will be held in the current format. In South America, the Copa America, the largest national football competition originally scheduled for June-July this year, was also postponed to June-July next year due to the COVID-19 situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.