Roberts Levandovskis Photo: UEFA
Europe
The Polish and Portuguese national football teams entered the 2022 World Cup finals on Tuesday after winning the qualifiers. Poland defeated Sweden 2-0 (0: 0) in their field in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the 49th minute after the violation of Jesper Karlström, Roberts Levandovskis scored the goal in favor of the winners, but in the 73rd minute, Pjotrs Zelinskis doubled the lead – 2: 0. In the first qualifying round, Sweden defeated the Czech Republic overtime in Stockholm 1-0, but Poland reached the decisive match without a fight, as its opponent Russia was disqualified after the invasion of Ukraine.
In Tuesday’s second game on the field, Portugal did not allow a second surprise for Northern Macedonia, beating it with 2: 0 (1: 0). Brunn Fernandes scored the goal for the home team in the 32nd minute after Kristiano Ronaldo’s pass, but in the 65th minute he scored his second goal in the match after the pass of Diogu Zhota – 2: 0. In the first round, the national team of Northern Macedonia defeated the European champion Italy 1-0, while Portugal defeated Turkey 3: 1.
In the first round in Wales, Austria defeated Austria 2: 1 (1: 0). The Welsh are waiting for opponents, because due to the war in Ukraine, the game of their opponents – Scotland and Ukraine – was postponed and is scheduled to take place in June. In the European Qualifications Area, the samples were divided into ten subgroups, five by five and five by six. Ten group winners qualified for the World Cup final, with ten runners-up and two top UEFA Nations teams in the playoffs, which were outside the top two in Austria and the Czech Republic.
Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, as well as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay from South America, Iran, South Korea, have already taken their places in the final tournament without a European team. Japan and Saudi Arabia from Asia, Ghana and Senegal from Africa and Canada from the CONCACAF qualification area.
The final of the World Cup will take place in Qatar, and due to the hot weather, the tournament will be played in the winter from November 21 to December 18. In 2022, Qatar will host the final World Cup final with 32 teams. The 2026 tournament, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, will feature 48 national teams.
Africa
Ghanaian and Senegalese footballers won a ticket to the World Cup finals in the Africa zone on Tuesday. In the African zone, Nigeria played a 1: 1 draw with Ghana. The result was also 1: 1 in the sum of two games, but Ghana was superior in the series at the expense of the away goals. In the tenth minute, Thomas Partijs put Ghana in the lead, but 12 minutes later William Trusts-Ekons scored 1: 1 with an 11-meter shot. In the 34th minute, Viktor Osimhens scored another goal for the home team, but the replay of the video showed that the goal was scored in the rear position and it was not necessary to count.
In the second early game, Egypt defeated Egypt 1-0 (1-0) at home time. as Egypt won 1-0 on the field in the first fight, they had to play extra time. Senegal scored a goal in the third minute in the third minute, but none of the opponents managed to score more goals in overtime, postponing the determination of the winner to a series of post-match shots.
Already in the first series of shots, neither goalkeeper Kalidu Kulibali nor Mohamed Salah was able to beat the goalkeeper. Saliu Siss and Zizo, respectively, failed to send the ball into the goal. Ismail Sarah and Amr El-Solya were punctual, but Egyptian Mostafa Mohammed was unable to respond to the exact broadcast of Bambas Day with the same – 2: 1. Sadio Mane’s broadcast was punctual, with the home team winning the standings 3: 1 and entering the final tournament. The winners of the five final pairs will enter the final tournament from the African zone.
Asia
Saudi Arabia’s second World Cup qualifier in Asia ended in Jeddah on Tuesday. In the third qualifying round of Group B, Saudi Arabia beat Australia 1-0 (0-0). Salem Al-Davsari scored the only goal in the 65th minute from the 11-meter mark.
In this group, Japan played 1: 1 (0: 1) with Vietnam in the last round of games on Tuesday, while Oman beat China 2: 0 (1: 0). In the tournament table, Saudi Arabia scored 23 points, Japan 22, Australia 15, Oman 14, China six and Vietnam four points. In Group A, Iran beat Lebanon 2: 0 (1: 0), Syria 1: 1 (1: 1) with Iraq, and the UAE defeated South Korea 1: 0 (0: 0).
After ten group games, Iran scored 25 points, South Korea 23 points, UAE 12 points, Iraq nine points, Syria and Lebanon six points. The UAE and Australia will find out on June 7 which of the teams will meet the fifth place winner of the South American group a week later in the final.
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