How can Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal qualify for Qatar World Cup 2022?

Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal are yet to confirm their ticket for the 2022 World Cup as they finished second behind Serbia in Group B of the World Cup Qualifiers.

In a nail-biting match on Sunday night, the Serbians came out on top courtesy of a late strike from Aleksandar Mitrovic to ensure their participation in next year's World Cup. Portugal needed a draw for direct qualification but their hopes were dashed with the winner in the dying minutes of the game.

"Football has shown us time and again that sometimes the path is more torturous but drive us to more desired results," Cristiano Ronaldo said in a social media post.

"Yesterday's result was very hard, but not enough to sink us. Our objective is to get to the 2022 World Cup is still very alive and we know what we have to do to achieve it. There's no excuses, Portugal are going to Qatar," he added.

Ronaldo & Co. can still make it to the marquee event via playoffs. This will be the third time in the 21st century that the Portuguese will have to qualify for the main tournament after participating in the playoffs. For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, they had to take the same route to qualify.

When is the UEFA World Cup 2022 play-off draw?

The draw for the UEFA World Cup 2022 play-offs will be held on Friday, November 26, 2021. It will start at 9:30 pm IST.

What is the UEFA World Cup 2022 playoff format?

A total of 12 teams can compete from UEFA in the World Cup 2022 play-offs. These 12 teams are divided into three four-team paths, with each path consisting of semi-finals and a final. The winners of the three finals advance to the World Cup.

The top six qualifying group runners-up will be seeded for the draw while the remaining six teams will be unseeded.

The six seeded teams will be regarded as the host team during the semifinals.

When are the playoffs going to take place?

The play-off semi-final games will be contested on March 24 and 25, with the finals taking place on March 28 or 29.