In the end, the German national soccer team confidently buys its ticket for the World Cup in Qatar. Other big nations are different: You and various superstars still have to tremble. And it is very possible that they will still get each other out of the way. Some bitter scenarios threaten in the evening.
Whether it is due to the new national coach Hansi Flick or rather the simple qualification group: In the end, Germany bought the ticket for the soccer World Cup in Qatar in 2022 with no worries. As the winners of their Group J, the DFB team doesn’t have to look to Zurich from 5 p.m. today. There the playoffs will be drawn, in which twelve teams play the last three European places in the controversial tournament in the desert. If someone with a DFB background turns on, he is suspected of being a disaster tourist. Because when the lots are drawn, established soccer nations are afraid.
There are the Italians, the European champions, who thrilled with great class in the summer. Now the Italians will have to tremble until March when it will be clarified in three ways, each with two semi-finals and one final, who is going to Qatar. There are no second legs where the big guys can fix a bad day. It will be tough and it will be a game of nerves. Against Northern Ireland, Italy gambled away the group victory that was believed to be safe. Days before, Jorginho, after all Europe’s footballer of the year, could have made everything clear in a direct duel against Switzerland – but he missed a penalty in the final minute.
In Italy they already remember the months before the 2018 World Cup. The proud “Squadra Azzurra” missed them because they got stuck with Sweden in the playoffs. “What a nightmare” was the headline of the “Gazzetta dello Sport”. Now the World Cup is hanging “by a thread”, wrote the “Corriere dello Sport”. “Tuttosport” summed up the situation dramatically: “From the skies of the EM into purgatory”. Purgatory are the World Cup playoffs.
Ibrahimovic “doesn’t even know if I’ll still be alive”
For example, they are afraid of Portugal. The Portuguese have been at every major tournament since 1998, and in 2016 their “golden generation” became European champions. Now Cristiano Ronaldo has to tremble about his fifth World Cup participation. For the 36-year-old, it would probably be the last world championship. In the last minute of the last preliminary round game, Portugal missed direct qualification against Serbia in front of their own audience. A shock.
“Football has shown us time and time again that sometimes the most difficult ways lead to the best results. Yesterday’s result was tough, but not enough to get us down,” said Ronaldo defiantly via Instagram. “The goal of going to the 2022 World Cup is still there and we know what we have to do to get there. No excuses. Portugal on the way to Qatar.”
But the road can be rocky. In the semi-finals, the six best runners-up are seeded and have home rights, Italy and Portugal are among them. Then, in the decisive finals, the top nations can meet. No seeding list, no paved road to Qatar. In addition to Ronaldo and the Italians, there are numerous other superstars on hold: Zlatan Ibrahimovic ended up with Sweden in pot 1 of the seeded teams, but the superstar has to watch in the playoff semifinals after a hard and unnecessary foul in the last qualifying game against Spain.
Actually, because the Swedes do not want to accept that easily: Team boss Stefan Pettersson announced that Sweden would “present our point of view again”. The Scandinavians had already failed once at the world association FIFA with their request to overturn the rule. “I think most of the countries participating in the playoffs have the same opinion,” said Pettersson. “Maybe we can influence the rules. We haven’t given up on this matter.”
Ibrahimovic himself, who has rarely attracted too much attention in the national team, remains calm. Ibrahimovic said, “It’ll be a long time before the qualifying matches for Qatar. I don’t even know if I’ll be alive then.” National coach Janne Andersson emphasized: “I really enjoy having Zlatan with me and I very much hope that he is still alive in March.”
Trouble with Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski and his Poles are the nightmare from Pot 2. The fact that this happened caused a lot of trouble, especially for world goalscorer Lewandowski. The striker was spared in the last qualifying game due to stress reasons. The game was lost 2-1 to Hungary. It was already clear before the kick-off that Poland would have to qualify for the World Cup via the playoffs, but the defeat led them to pot 2.
“Lewandowski’s behavior is embarrassing,” complained the Polish press. Football legend Zbigniew Boniek, who, as President of the Polish Football Association PZPN, always held a protective hand over Lewandowski, also showed little understanding. “If I were still president and coach Sousa had told me what the situation was like, I would have invited him and Robert for a meeting and said that it was not acceptable.” If one of the hammer lots is drawn early for the Poles, the trouble could get even bigger.
But there are also those who set out on the complicated path to Qatar with great enthusiasm: The Turks, for example, who, under the new national coach Stefan Kuntz, made it to second place in their group with a 2-1 win on the last match day in Montenegro has achieved. And so made sure that Norway had to stay at home and that their striker Erling Haaland missed his first World Cup.
Kuntz has no opponent: “Things that I cannot influence, my grandmother said earlier, I don’t have to worry about them. I’ll wait for November 26th and see what comes out of the drawing.” But he then added one wish: “If I had to commit myself, it doesn’t necessarily have to go to Portugal or Italy.”
Who will be in the draw?
Pot 1: Italy, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Wales
Pot 2: Austria, Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine
This is how the draw works:
First of all, the six best-placed teams, i.e. the teams in Pot 1 as home teams, are assigned to semi-finals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 during the draw. The team drawn first will host semi-final number 1, the team drawn after that will host semi-final number 2, and so on. It’s the same with the teams from pot number 2.
After a UEFA decision, Ukraine and Russia cannot be drawn against each other for political reasons.
When will it be played?
Playoff semi-finals: Thursday, March 24, 2022
Playoff finals: Tuesday, March 29, 2022