The opening phase sees eight groups of four teams competing against each other, with the top two progressing to the Round of 16.
There will be one or two early meetings with team-mates for City players, though it will be several months before any nation names their squad for Qatar.
The opening games will take place on 21 November 2022 with the tournament concluding a month later.
It means there will be no Premier League football from mid-November until Boxing Day when English football’s top tier resumes.
Below are the eight groups and possible clashes for City players.
Group A
Qatar
Ecuador
Senegal
Netherlands
Nathan Ake’s Netherlands will take on hosts Qatar but will hope to qualify from Group A into the next phase.
Ake has 25 caps for his country so far, and has scored three goals.
Group B
England
Iran
USA
Scotland/Ukraine/Wales
Potentially, this could be the most interesting group for City fans with the possibility of seven of our stars featuring.
Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling are all in with an excellent chance of making Southgate’s squad and if they do, they are likely to face Zack Steffen’s USA and, depening on the play-offs, potentially Oleksandr Zinchenko’s Ukraine.
Wales or Scotland could also claim the final berth in Group B which also includes Iran.
England’s first game will be on 21 November against Iran.
Group C
Argentina
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Poland
As things stand, there are no City players taking part in Group C fixtures.
Group D
France
UAE/Australia/Peru
Denmark
Tunisia
As with Group C, there are currently no City players taking part in Group D matches.
Group E
Spain
Costa Rica/New Zealand
Germany
Japan
Group E is likely to see City’s Rodrigo and Aymeric Laporte facing Ilkay Gundogan with Spain and Germany drawn in the same quartet.
Japan and either Costa Rica or New Zealand will take the final spot.
Gundogan has 56 caps for his country and scored an impressive 14 goals.
Rodrigo has 31 caps and Laporte has already won 15 caps for La Roja.
Group F
Belgium
Canada
Morocco
Croatia
Kevin De Bruyne’s Belgium will start as firm favourites to top Group F.
With Canada, Morocco and Croatia also competing, there are no clashes with City teammates for De Bruyne.
KDB has 88 caps so far for the Red Devils.
Group G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
Ederson and Gabriel Jesus will have to wait for the knockout stages if they are to face their City teammates.
World No.1 ranked Brazil will be strong favourites to progress from Group G, but there are no other City stars in the other three countries competing - namely Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon.
Group H
Portugal
Ghana
Uruguay
South Korea
Three more City players are likely to feature in Group H and all will be in the Portugal squad.
Bernardo, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo will face South Korea, Ghana and Uruguay.
MANCHESTER REMEMBER | BUY YOUR TICKETS
The World Cup final will take place on 18 December at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail.
The 2022/23 Premier League will begin a six-week break after the weekend of 12/13 November and resume on 26 December.
The season will also begin earlier than normal on 6 August and finish a week later on 28 May.
As a result, the Champions League and FA Cup finals will be pushed into June.
