Stars like Ronaldo, or teams like Italy, the reigning European champions, will have to seek their passage to the World Cup in the play-offs.
France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Several big names in world football have already sealed their ticket for the Qatar 2022 World Cup… but not the last European Champions, Portugal and Italy, who will have to overcome the dangerous playoffs in March, and perhaps face each other.
Several stars are far from Qatar: Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese, beaten by Serbia in the last minute (2-1), Roberto Mancini’s European Champions, unrecognizable against Northern Ireland (0-0) and overtaken by Switzerland, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden still have a way to go.
Robert Lewandowski and Poland, second behind Harry Kane’s England, will also have to play it all or nothing in a twelve-team playoff of which only three will be in the Qatari appointment.
Lewy and theirs, not seeded, will be one of the coconuts of the raffle, November 26, and to a lesser extent the Czech Republic of Patrik Schick, quarter-finalist of the last European Championship.
Indeed, by the number of points added (once those achieved against the last of the groups of six have been removed to balance with the groups of five), Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden and Wales will be seeded and they will play their semifinal at home in March.
In addition to the Poles and Czechs, their potential rivals will be Turkey, North Macedonia, Ukraine and Austria.
Cristiano Ronaldo looking for his fifth World Cup
But after there will be no seed in the final three and the host will be determined by lottery. Thus, a Portugal-Italy could take place in Lisbon or in Rome.
And for more excitement, those The last three tickets will be settled between the knockout stages and the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Many internationals will arrive subject to the frenetic pace of high competition.
Italy traumatized by their failure in the 2018 World Cup play-off against Sweden (with whom he could meet again) four years ago (1-0 / 0-0), he cannot conceive of missing a second World Cup in a row.
How and when will the play-off of the European qualifier to the Qatar World Cup 2022 be played?
Only two European champions in history missed the world event two years later: Denmark in 1994 and Greece in 2006. Unthinkable for the Azzurra.
In Portugal, CR7 you must do your best to add a new record to your collection, who would share with the German Lothar Matthäus, the Italian Gianluigi Buffon and the Mexicans Antonio Carbajal and Rafael Márquez, the only ones to have played five World Cups.
Thirteen sealed tickets
Qualified teams will be able to calmly watch those high intensity matches.
One of the surprises of the qualifying phase was carried out by Switzerland. Already a winner against France in the round of 16 of the European Championship on penalties, Nati this time overcame Italy to qualify directly.
Belgium, still in search of his first major international title with his golden generation with Kevin De Bruyne – Eden Hazard – Romelu Lukaku, and Denmark, semifinalist of the Eurocup, walked in their groups, while Spain, Croatia and Serbia they had to wait for the last date to know their fate.
Germany, for his part, he was able to recover from a failed start, with a loss at home to North Macedonia (2-1).
The Holland of Memphis Depay, top scorer in the European qualifier alongside Kane (12 goals), after missing the 2018 edition.
Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Tunisia advance to the final phase of the African World Cup qualifier Qatar 2022
Total, 13 of the 32 tickets to the next World Cup (November 21-December 18, 2022) are already assigned: in addition to the host country, classified ex officio, 10 tickets were awarded in the Europe zone and two more in South America, for him Brazil of Neymar last Thursday and the Argentina of Leo Messi on Tuesday, despite a 0-0 against the Seleçao.
Who should watch the tournament on television is Erling Haaland. Injured, the Norwegian prodigy could not defend the Nordic team’s options against the Netherlands (2-0). But it may not be the only star absent in Qatar. (D)
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