The South American qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™ will begin in March 2020, as confirmed by the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol (CONMEBOL) Council after a meeting held on Thursday 24 January in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The decision was made due to the fact that the World Cup will be played between 21 November and 18 December 2022. By beginning qualifying in March next year, that will see the qualifying competition end approximately a year before the start of the competition in Qatar.

The format of qualifying in South America will not change, with ten teams playing against one another home and away, which adds up to 18 matchdays in total, with eight of those being played in 2020 and ten in 2021.

A draw will determine the match schedule, with an international play-off to be held in March 2022.