Friday October 15, 2021
Possible DFB opponents in the desert
This is what World Cup groups in Qatar could look like
From Kevin Schulte
After host Qatar, Germany and Denmark were the first teams to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in the desert state. 29 tickets are still available. The field of participants can already be guessed at. The DFB-Elf will probably meet a top nation in the preliminary round.
With the twelfth matchday in the South America qualification for the 2022 World Cup last night, the October international match window ended. In Europe, Germany and Denmark were the first teams to qualify for the controversial world tournament in Qatar this week. Some top nations are likely to join in the next month. And even the draw for the World Cup finals is already taking shape. An overview.
Who Qualifies?
Europe: In addition to Germany and Denmark, Serbia, Sweden, European champions Italy, world champions France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia and England would have qualified directly if the qualification was already over. For France, Belgium and England, the Qatar ticket is only a matter of form. It’s more exciting in the other groups. On the last two match days in mid-November, five of the ten groups face direct duels for qualification:
- Portugal versus Serbia
- Spain versus Sweden
- Italy versus Switzerland
- Netherlands versus Norway
- Croatia versus Russia
The group winners can then book their hotels for the final tournament in Qatar at the end of 2022. The runners-up have to go to the playoffs. More on that later. The ntv.de tip: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England, Germany (directly qualified)
South America: With six game days before the end of the “Eliminatorias” – as the World Cup qualification in South America is called – Brazil are undisputedly at the top of the table. Argentina can also book the Qatar ticket without the cancellation option. Behind that, it will be exciting. At the moment, Ecuador and Colombia would qualify directly. In addition to the four direct starting positions, the fifth in the table gets a chance via playoffs – Uruguay would currently be. The ntv.de tip: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia (directly qualified)
North and Central America and the Caribbean: It’s not even half-time here, only 6 of 14 match days have been played so far. World Cup starter Mexico can still look forward to the desert World Cup. In addition, the USA and, for the first time since 1986, Canada would also qualify. Behind the three direct starters, Panama would now have the chance to play-offs. The ntv.de tip: Mexico, USA, Canada (directly qualified)
Asia: In addition to host Qatar, the Asian continental association has four World Cup starting places. If the qualification was over now, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia could travel to the World Cup. Lebanon would fight for a place in the playoffs in the two legs against Oman. Japan would not be at the World Cup for the first time since 1994. The ntv.de tip: Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia (directly qualified)
Africa: In Africa, it is hard to tell which five teams will qualify. In November, the group of aspirants will be reduced to ten teams. So far, only Senegal and Morocco have booked a ticket for the decisive qualifying round. Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria also have very good cards, and Algeria and Mali should also make it into the next round. The Ivory Coast, Cameroon, South Africa and Ghana, among others, must tremble. For two of them, the dream of the World Cup will be over by next month. Tanzania, Benin and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are hoping for a sensation. The ntv.de tip: Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Ivory Coast (directly qualified)
Oceania: Because of the corona effects, no games have taken place, the oceanic continental association wants to be Organize qualifying tournament in Qatar in March. New Zealand are favorites, but would still have to go to the playoffs after that. Oceania will only get a permanent starting place at the 48-team World Cup in 2026.
How are the playoffs going?
The ten runners-up in the qualification in Europe will get another chance at the desert World Cup via the playoffs. In addition, Austria as well as Wales or the Czech Republic will most likely get into the playoffs via the “parachute” Nations League. My colleague Stephan Uersfeld explained this in more detail. It is quite certain that in the end three more teams from Europe will make it to the World Cup via this detour.
In addition, all other continental associations – except Africa – will receive an additional playoff starting place. At the moment, this would be Uruguay, the fifth from South America, and Panama, the fourth from more northern America. In Asia, Lebanon, Oman and Japan currently have the greatest opportunities. New Zealand is the logical candidate for Oceania. Which continental representative will compete against whom will most likely be drawn at the end of November. The ntv.de tip: Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, Ecuador, Japan (via playoffs)
How is the final draw going?
In April 2022, the German team will find out who they will have to face in the preliminary round of the World Cup. “We will announce the exact procedure for the draw either at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year,” said Fifa on request from ntv.de. It is very likely that the FIFA world rankings will be used again as a criterion for the classification of the lottery pots. Germany has to be 14th in the world rankings. therefore set it to lot 2. So a top opponent would be guaranteed, unless you end up in group A with hosts Qatar. The pots will look something like this:
- Pot 1: Qatar (hosts), Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Italy, Argentina, Portugal
- Pot 2: Spain, Mexico, Denmark, Netherlands, Uruguay, USA, Germany, Switzerland
- Pot 3: Colombia, Croatia, Sweden, Senegal, Iran, Japan, Serbia, Algeria
- Pot 4: Australia, Morocco, South Korea, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, Canada *, Ecuador *
Nations from the same continent may not be drawn into a group. Europe is the exception, with a maximum of two UEFA nations per group. Since the international playoffs will not take place until June 2022 and therefore not all qualifiers have been determined at the time of the draw, there will probably be two placeholder lottery balls in April (marked with *).
What could Germany’s group look like?
In a possible hammer group, the team of national coach Hansi Flick could, for example, face superstar Mohamed Salah against European champions and feared opponents Italy, Colombia and Egypt. With a little luck, Germany will face host Qatar, Senegal and Canada. After all: An opening defeat against Mexico, analogous to the 2018 World Cup, is impossible. A new edition of the defeat against South Korea is an option.