Germany only in lottery pot 2
World Cup draw? Better a cracker than Qatar
By Kevin Schulte
April 1, 2022, 7:30 a.m
The controversial Desert Advent World Cup in Qatar gets a sporty face on Friday evening. The group stage will be drawn in Doha. 87.5 percent of Germany meets a football superpower. Group G or H would be good – due to time constraints.
Will the World Cup start in the Qatari winter for Germany, as it ended in Brazil in 2014 – with a win against Argentina? Or does Germany start the tournament as disastrously as it was eliminated in 2018 – with a defeat against South Korea? These are just two of the countless possible constellations before the draw for the World Cup preliminary round groups on Friday evening from 6 p.m. in Qatar’s capital Doha. Who is in the pot, what does a possible horror group look like and what is the DFB hoping for? ntv.de provides an overview.
Who is already qualified?
Europe: In addition to Germany, which was the first team to book the Qatar ticket despite the qualifying defeat against Italy-Schreck North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, World Cup title holders France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Croatia and England also secured a direct ticket Starting place for the finals in Qatar. This week, Portugal and Poland managed to qualify for the playoffs.
South America: Brazil and Argentina survived the entire qualification without defeat. With four wins from the last four games, Uruguay snatched third place in the “Eliminatorias”. Surprise team Ecuador finished fourth without a win in the last four games.
North and Central America and the Caribbean: For the second time overall and for the first time since 1986, Canada has secured a place at the World Cup. And that even before Mexico and the USA, who had to tremble a bit, but made the qualification clear on the last day of the game.
Asia: Unsurprisingly, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan prevailed and will be represented alongside host Asia in Qatar.
Africa: In dramatic elimination matches this week, African champions Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana qualified. Senegal snatched the spot on penalties against Egypt. Cameroon used the away goals rule that hasn’t been dusted off in FIFA competitions to prevail in Algeria in the fourth minute of extra time. Ghana are beneficiaries of the away goals rule as the Black Stars fought their way to Qatar without a win, drawing 1-1 in Nigeria (after 0-0 in the first leg).
Oceania: Australia have been playing in Asia for over a decade (because Fifa makes it possible), which is why New Zealand have been the logical and so far only winners of Oceanic World Cup qualifiers since then. So also this time. More or less sovereign victories over Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tahiti and the Solomon Islands are enough for New Zealand only a “half” place at the World Cup. Read now how it becomes a whole.
Who else can qualify?
At the time of the draw, only 29 teams have been confirmed as World Cup participants. Three world championship places will not be awarded until June. In Europe, Ukraine’s game in Scotland was postponed because of the war. The winner of the game in Glasgow – also in June – plays in Cardiff against Wales for World Cup qualification.
There are also two so-called “intercontinental playoffs”: Costa Rica, fourth in North and Central America, plays in Qatar in mid-June against New Zealand, which could turn its half a place into a full World Cup. Fifth in the South America qualifiers, Peru still has a chance. In mid-June, there will be a qualifying game in Qatar against the fifth-placed Asian qualifier for the place at the World Cup. The Asia-fifth has yet to be determined in June – Australia meets the United Arab Emirates in Qatar. Sound complicated? It is. And it doesn’t make the draw any easier.
- European playoff: Wales vs winners Scotland/Ukraine (in Cardiff)
- Intercontinental Playoff 1: Costa Rica vs. New Zealand (in Qatar)
- Intercontinental Playoff 2: Peru vs winners Australia/UAE (in Qatar)
How is the draw going?
The 32 nations, of which only 29 have been determined, will be divided into four draw pots according to their world rankings (in brackets). Pot 1 contains the nominal seven strongest teams plus hosts Qatar, who are definitely classified in Group A. As world number 12, Germany is only in pot 2.
- Pot 1: Qatar (51), Brazil (1), Belgium (2), France (3), Argentina (4), England (5), Spain (7), Portugal (8)
- Pot 2: Mexico (9), Netherlands (10), Denmark (11), Germany (12), Uruguay (13), Switzerland (14), USA (15), Croatia (16)
- Pot 3: Senegal (20), Iran (21), Japan (23), Morocco (24), Serbia (25), Poland (26), South Korea (29), Tunisia (35)
- Pot 4: Cameroon (37), Canada (38), Ecuador (46), Saudi Arabia (49), Ghana (60)
The undisclosed winners of June’s playoffs are in Pot 4 regardless of their ranking position. Bad for Wales and Peru, who would otherwise be placed in Pot 3. Wildcards are used in the draw, so a possible opponent of Germany tomorrow could also be: The winner of the game Peru against the winner of the game Australia against the United Arab Emirates.
What else do you have to consider?
Nations from the same continent may not be drawn into a group. Europe is the exception, a maximum of two Uefa nations are allowed per group. So there will be five groups with two European teams each, in three groups there is only one team from Europe.
What could Germany’s group look like?
According to the world rankings, a group with Brazil, Senegal and Canada would be the most difficult in terms of sport. In this case, Brazil can be substituted by any other Pot 1 team. It could also be complicated in a group with France, South Korea (see 2018) and Ecuador. It is clear that in the preliminary round Germany will meet 87.5 percent against a major football power.
Unless the DFB-Elf ends up in Group A alongside Qatar. This is the lucky sporting solution for all teams in pots two to four, because it avoids the favourites. Germany’s World Cup journey could also begin with group matches against Qatar, Tunisia and New Zealand.
But Germany would also agree to a tougher group head than Qatar for scheduling reasons. The argument goes like this: In Group A with the hosts, the Flick team would be the clear favorite, but you would have to start the tournament on the first day of the World Cup (November 21). A scheduling problem, because the Bundesliga season only goes into its World Cup break eight days before (November 13) and the preparation time is then very tight. If Germany were drawn in Group G or H, they would have until November 24 to prepare. Three more days, which in the end might decide about an early exit or a World Cup triumph.