–
–
A top-class quartet will start the hunt for the 13 European tickets for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Wednesday. Defending champion France, vice world champion Croatia, third place in the World Cup Belgium and European champion Portugal will be in action on the first day of the World Cup qualification. The most explosive task is waiting for the Croatians, who are contesting a derby against Slovenia in Ljubljana.
For the favorites France (Group D) and Belgium (E), the duel with the strongest challenger according to the paper is on the program at home. The French host Ukraine at the Stade de France in St. Denis and have fond memories of their last encounter. In a test match in October, Didier Deschamps’ team outclassed Austria’s final round opponents 7-1. Belgium has Wales in Leuven: The British are not only missing Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey, but also team boss Ryan Giggs. The former Manchester United star is on trial on suspicion of assault. His assistant Robert Page therefore looks after the Welsh nationals at the March internationals. Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, on the other hand, is with his club Inter Milan despite a corona outbreak, the star striker has completed two negative Covid-19 tests. However, the Belgians have been warned that they have not had good experiences recently against Gareth Bale and his colleagues. Wales scored four points against the Belgians in qualifying for the Euro 2016 and also threw them 3-1 out of the competition at the Euro finals in France in the quarter-finals.
World Cup qualification, Wednesday:
Group a:
Portugal – Azerbaijan 8.45 p.m.
Serbia – Ireland 8.45 p.m.
Group D:
Finland v Bosnia-Herzegovina 8.45 p.m.
France – Ukraine 8.45 p.m.
Group E:
Belgium v Wales 8.45 p.m.
Estonia – Czech Republic 8.45 p.m.
Group G:
Turkey – Netherlands 6:00 p.m.
Gibraltar – Norway 8.45 p.m.
Latvia – Montenegro 8.45 p.m.
Group H:
Cyprus – Slovakia 8.45 p.m.
Malta – Russia 8.45 p.m.
Slovenia – Croatia 8.45 p.m.
Thursday, group F:
Israel – Denmark 6:00 p.m.
Moldova – Faroe Islands 8.45 p.m.
Scotland – Austria 8.45 p.m.
–
–
–
–
Portugal has the easiest task for the top teams on paper: Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. meet Azerbaijan, but have to forego a home advantage. Portugal’s association decided at the beginning of the month to move because there was a risk of legionnaires being out of action due to possible quarantine measures in the country, which was badly affected by the corona pandemic. Portugal decided to replace Turin, the adopted home of superstar Ronaldo, who is known to storm for Juventus.
The kick-off for the European qualification will take place at 6 p.m. in Istanbul. In the duel between the two top-seeded teams in Group G, the Netherlands will visit Turkey.
The following applies to all nations: In fact, slip-ups cannot be allowed, because Europe only has 13 places to choose from. The 55 participants were drawn into ten groups of five or six, only the ten group winners are directly qualified for the Advent World Cup in Qatar. For the three remaining places, the ten runners-up will play in play-offs in March 2022, together with the two best not yet qualified group winners of the Nations League. In these three groups, four teams each play in the semifinals and finals for the trip to Qatar. The following applies: One defeat – and you’re out.
Lainer: “We want to go to the World Cup”
The ÖFB team would also like to avoid this scenario and would prefer to travel to the desert emirate as group winners: It starts in Group F on Thursday (8.45 p.m.), when the away game against Scotland is in Glasgow. It won’t be easy, even if team boss Franco Foda can now fall back on all healthy players (exception: Marko Arnautovic) because Germany has removed Scotland from the corona risk list. “The Scots have conceded few goals recently, their focus is on defensive work. Nevertheless, they also have good switching moments,” said Gladbach legionnaire Stefan Lainer, who was able to report a “positive spirit” in the ÖFB selection on Tuesday. “We have been together for a long time and we have played well together. We have developed further and have had a lot of positive experience. Everyone is happy to be here,” said the Salzburg native. “We all want to go to the World Cup, so this is an extremely important game for the whole nation, for Austria, but also for each of us personally.”(may / what)
–
