Group draw for the most controversial tournament of all time: In Doha, the opponents of the German national team at the World Cup in Qatar are drawn. Is it going straight to Brazil, England or Argentina? A cracker is almost certain. ntv.de accompanies you through the draw.
6:41 p.m: They are joined by the football legends: Cafu (Brazil), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Lothar Matthäus, Ali Daei (Iran), Adel Ahmed Mallala (Qatar), Tim Cahill (Australia), Bora Milutinovic (coach of many Nations), Rabah Madjer (Algeria).
6.35 p.m.: It’s getting serious, the pots are set up. Among others, Carli Lloyd, the two-time world champion from the USA, will be featured to guide through the draw.
6:31 p.m: Didier Deschamps, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player and 2018 as a coach with France, brings the trophy to the stage.
6:27 p.m.: FIFA is now commemorating some of the greats of football, such as Gerd Müller and Diego Maradona, who have passed away in recent years.
6:22 p.m: Of course, FIFA President Gianni Infantino doesn’t miss the chance to say a few words to the audience. The Swiss speaks of “special emotions” that are now being released. At the lecture, Infantino announced that he wanted to run for a third term – and was criticized because he again did not analyze the human rights situation in Qatar critically enough and because he did not describe Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine as such. Even now on stage he only speaks of “aggressions in the world” without naming names.
6:19 p.m.: The trophy, which the teams are fighting over, has already arrived.
6.15 p.m.: Presenter Reshmin Chowdhury and her colleague, actor Idris Elba, take the stage.
6:11 p.m.: An oversized countdown on stage in Doha counts down three more minutes…
6:05 p.m: World champion Bastian Schweinsteiger praises Hansi Flick on ARD as a so-called man-catcher and demands that a DFB-Elf must be set up. For his top eleven he relies on Nico Schlotterbeck on the left and on the offensive on Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry instead of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. The winner of 2014 probably also had his FC Bayern glasses on.
6:03 p.m.: Back to the draw, here we go. Pot 1 is the easiest draw for hosts Qatar. But because the DFB-Elf would automatically be drawn into Group A, this would pose other problems: The tournament would start on the first day of the World Cup (November 21st) – just eight days after the World Cup break Bundesliga. National coach Flick would certainly be happier with a place in Groups G or H if it only starts on November 24th.
5:59 p.m.: On Wednesday, adidas and the world association FIFA presented the “al-Rihla” (Arabic for travel) as the official match ball for the Winter World Cup. This was the first World Cup ball to be produced “exclusively with water-based paints and adhesives” for reasons of sustainability, represents a significant further development and is the “fastest football in history”.
5:55 p.m.: The abuse will be omnipresent at the World Cup, Hiba Zayadin, senior golf expert at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), told ntv.de in January: “Every fan and every player who goes to the World Cup will at some point with a have to do with a guest worker who was mistreated.” Every stadium, every hotel, every street is tainted. Anyone who goes to the World Cup unintentionally becomes part of the abuse process. “And the abuse will continue throughout the World Cup.” One thing is certain: This will not be a normal World Cup.
5:53 p.m.: Three World Cup places (all for pot 4) will not be awarded until June, so placeholders are used in the draw. 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. Also still in the running:
Intercontinental Playoff 1: Costa Rica vs. New Zealand
Intercontinental Playoff 2: Peru versus winners Australia/ United Arab Emirates
5:48 p.m.: The draw procedure is as follows: The 32 nations, of which only 29 have been determined, were 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 twelfth in the world rankings, Germany is only in pot 2 and will either get a big chunk or Qatar. Nations from the same continent may not be drawn into a group. Europe is the exception, with a maximum of two UEFA nations allowed per group. The raffle pots:
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)
5:36 p.m: A lack of human rights, modern slavery, thousands of dead workers: the World Cup in Qatar has been criticized by human rights organizations since it was awarded in 2010. They keep emphasizing that despite Qatar’s new laws and reassurances, not much has changed in reality. According to Amnesty International, “exploitative practices” and the “worst elements” of the kafala system exist.
This abuse has been going on for eleven years. uninterrupted. While Qatar keeps vowing to implement improvements. While the DFB, FIFA and many other associations rely on the myth of the “power of sport” to initiate changes in the unjust state in the Gulf region.
5:31 p.m: Hello and marhaba, dear readers, welcome to the ntv.de live ticker for the group stage draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
From 6 p.m. in Doha, the opponents of the German national team will be drawn in the controversial Desert Advent Tournament (November 21 to December 18). Who does the team of national coach Hansi Flick meet? Brazil with Neymar, Argentina with Lionel Messi, or world champions France with Kylian Mbappé are already waiting. Since the DFB team is only in pot 2, a footballing superpower as the head of the group is almost certain.