изменил свой код, вписал родительскую категорию:
<?php
$args = array(
'parent' => 22,
'hide_empty' => 0,
'exclude' => '', // ID рубрики, которую нужно исключить
'number' => '0',
'orderby' => 'id',
'order' => 'ASC',
'pad_counts' => true
);
$catlist = get_terms('category',$args);
?>
<?php foreach ($catlist as $cat) : ?>
<div class="col-lg-4 p-1">
<a href="<?php echo get_term_link($cat->slug, 'category'); ?>">
<div class="card border-white" style="background-image: url('<?php echo z_taxonomy_image_url($cat->term_id, 'medium_large'); ?>');
background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; background-position: center center;
border-radius:10px; border-width:2px; margin-bottom:0;" alt="'<?php echo $cat->name; ?>'">
<div class="card-body p-2" style="margin:200px 5px 5px 5px; height:71px; border-radius:10px; background: rgba(61, 61, 61, 0.6);">
<h5 class="card-title text-left text-white"><small><?php echo category_description( $cat ); ?></small></h5>
</div>
</div>
</a>
</div>
<?php endforeach; ?>
