The Norwegians and Erling Haaland will once again be absent from an appointment they have not attended since France-1998.
After his absence in Russia-2018, the three-time world runner-up Holland will return to a World Cup, that of Qatar-2022, thanks to his victory this Tuesday against Norway (2-0), in Rotterdam behind closed doors.
Louis Van Gaal’s ‘Oranje’ closes the G key as leader with 23 points, two more than Turkey, who won in Montenegro (2-1) and will play the play-off, while the Norwegians and Erling Haaland will be absent from a date again to which they have not attended since France-1998.
The locals, the only ones who depended on themselves before the tenth and last date of the group, however suffered more than expected to seal their direct ticket, until striker Steven Bergwijn gave his team peace of mind with a right hand from within the area in minute 84, before the FC Barcelona player Memphis Depay culminated a dizzying counter to put the final 2-0 (90 + 1).
The author of the pass on the first goal was Villarreal player Arnaut Danjuma.
In a stadium with no public presence due to the increase in covid-19 cases, and with coach Van Gaal witnessing the crash from a box sitting in a wheelchair -after injuring his hip in a bicycle accident- and with constant communication via mobile with the bench, Holland lived for a few minutes the tension of being able to see each other out if Norway scored a goal when Turkey took the lead against Montenegro.
But without the injured Haaland, Norway lacked mordant and ‘The Tulips’ will be able to flourish in Qatar within a year.
“Of course there are many things that could have been done better, but the result was the most important, we are going to Qatar,” claimed captain Virgil van Dijk for the NOS station.
In Podgorica, Montenegro striker Fatos Beqiraj opened the scoring in the 4th minute, but Muhammed Aktürkoglu (22) and Orkun Kökçü (60) gave the Turks hope of the playoff.
Play-off
Thus, there are already ten European nations already classified for the 2022 World Cup (November 21-December 18, 2022), which will be played by a total of 32 teams: Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, England, Serbia, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Three other European nations will get their ticket at the end of March next year, at the end of the repechage, whose draw will take place in Zurich (Switzerland) on November 26.
The ten seconds in the group and two repechage teams based on the final classification of the League of Nations – Austria and the Czech Republic – will be divided into three tables. In each of them the semifinals (March 24 and 25) and a final (March 28 and 29) will be played in a single game, with extra time and penalties if necessary.
The winner of each final will get the ticket to the World Cup-2022.
The top six teams in qualifying, seeded in the draw, will have the advantage of receiving at home in the semi-final.
Another draw will determine which nation will host their rival at home in the playoff final:
Qualified selections:
- Germany
- England
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Denmark
- Spain
- France
- Holland
- Serbia
- Switzerland
They go to the repechage:
- Austria
- Scotland
- Italy
- North macedonia
- Gales
- Poland
- Portugal
- Czech Republic
- Russia
- Turkey
- Sweden
Ukraine
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
