A golfer’s guide to the 2022 World Cup

The World Cup in Qatar is almost upon us.

Over the next month, 32 nations will battle it out for victory in the 22nd edition of the quadrennial tournament.

Reigning champions France are heavily fancied to retain the title they won in Russia four years ago, with Brazil, Argentina and Spain also in the reckoning.

We thought it would be interesting to take a look at each of the countries taking part in the finals through golf-tinted glasses. How many golf courses do they have? Who’s their highest-ranked golfer? And so on, and so on.

Read on for the ultimate golfer’s guide to the 2022 World Cup…

Argentina

Total golf courses: 348
No. registered golfers: 51,152
Highest ranked golfer: Emiliano Grillo (72)
Major wins: 3

Australia

Total golf courses: 1,584
No. registered golfers: 407,000
Highest ranked golfer: Cam Smith (3)
Major wins: 18

Belgium

Total golf courses: 122
No. registered golfers: 76,000
Highest ranked golfer: Thomas Pieters (39)
Major wins: N/A

Brazil

Total golf courses: 126
No. registered golfers: 9,202
Highest ranked golfer: Alexandre Rocha (992)
Major wins: N/A

Cameroon

Total golf courses: 4
No. registered golfers: N/A
Highest ranked golfer: Issa Nlarreb A Amang (2,821)
Major wins: N/A

Canada

Total golf courses: 2,564
No. registered golfers: 340,000
Highest ranked golfer: Corey Conners (32)
Major wins: 1

Costa Rica

Total golf courses: 14
No. registered golfers: 2,500
Highest ranked golfer: Luis Gagne (1,821)
Major wins: N/A

Croatia

Total golf courses: 6
No. registered golfers: 1,031
Highest ranked golfer: N/A
Major wins: N/A

Denmark 

Total golf courses: 347 
No. registered golfers: 164,130 
Highest ranked golfer: Rasmus Hojgaard (107)
Major wins: N/A 

Ecuador 

Total golf courses: 10 
No. registered golfers: 1,252 
Highest ranked golfer: Hector Bolgay (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

England 

Total golf courses: 2,213 
No. registered golfers: 763,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Matt Fitzpatrick (9) 
Major wins: 36 

France 

Total golf courses: 811 
No. registered golfers: 408,388 
Highest ranked golfer: Victor Perez (102) 
Major wins: 1 

Germany 

Total golf courses: 1,054 
No. registered golfers: 643,158 
Highest ranked golfer: Yannik Paul (141) 
Major wins: 4 

Ghana 

Total golf courses: 16 
No. registered golfers: 3,000 
Highest ranked golfer: N/A 
Major wins: N/A 

Iran 

Total golf courses: 1 
No. registered golfers: 3,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Ali Khazanbeik (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

Japan 

Total golf courses: 3,140 
No. registered golfers: 5,800,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Hideki Matsuyama (19) 
Major wins: 1 

Mexico 

Total golf courses: 256 
No. registered golfers: 27,631 
Highest ranked golfer: Abraham Ancer (28) 
Major wins: N/A 

Morocco 

Total golf courses: 61 
No. registered golfers: 10,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Ayoub Lguirati (1,887) 
Major wins: N/A 

Netherlands 

Total golf courses: 350 
No. registered golfers: 374,274 
Highest ranked golfer: Wil Besseling (301) 
Major wins: N/A 

Poland 

Total golf courses: 54 
No. registered golfers: 6,320  
Highest ranked golfer: Adrian Meronk (59) 
Major wins: N/A 

Portugal 

Total golf courses: 109 
No. registered golfers: 15,292 
Highest ranked golfer: Ricardo Gouveia (283) 
Major wins: N/A 

Qatar 

Total golf courses: 6 
No. registered golfers: 2,300 
Highest ranked golfer: Ali Abdullah Bidhia Al Shahrani (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

Saudi Arabia 

Total golf courses: 13 
No. registered golfers: 5,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Othman Al Mulla (2,446) 
Major wins: N/A 

Senegal 

Total golf courses: 3 
No. registered golfers: 300 
Highest ranked golfer: Samba Niang (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

Serbia 

Total golf courses: 2 
No. registered golfers: 747 
Highest ranked golfer: Igor Milicic (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

South Korea 

Total golf courses: 810 
No. registered golfers: 11,300 
Highest ranked golfer: Tom Kim (14) 
Major wins: 1 

Spain 

Total golf courses: 493 
No. registered golfers: 283,256 
Highest ranked golfer: Jon Rahm (5) 
Major wins: 9 

Switzerland 

Total golf courses: 117 
No. registered golfers: 95,717 
Highest ranked golfer: Jeremy Freiburghaus (300) 
Major wins: N/A 

Tunisia 

Total golf courses: 16 
No. registered golfers: 807 
Highest ranked golfer: Sami Hajri (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

United States of America 

Total golf courses: 16,156 
No. registered golfers: 25,100,000 
Highest ranked golfer: Scottie Scheffler (2) 
Major wins: 280 

Uruguay 

Total golf courses: 11 
No. registered golfers: 4,007 
Highest ranked golfer: Cledy Cordoba (2,821) 
Major wins: N/A 

Wales 

Total golf courses: 181 
No. registered golfers: 5,682 
Highest ranked golfer: Jamie Donaldson (194) 
Major wins: 1