FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Whether you’re a fan or not, you probably know that the FIFA World Cup qualifiers are taking place. The competition will see teams from Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America compete for a spot in the tournament. These countries are divided into two groups, the Oceania Group and the South American Group.
Poland
Despite being the most populous member of the UEFA, Poland has never qualified for a World Cup tournament. The nation failed to qualify for three consecutive World Cups in 1990, 1994 and 1998. It was also knocked out of the group stage of the last World Cup in Russia.
Poland is now set to play Mexico and Argentina in the Group C round of 16. The Poland-Mexico game will take place on November 22 and the Poland-Argentina game will take place on November 29.
The Poland National Team has had many highs and lows over the past 40 years. It has also had many injuries, including a cruciate ligament injury to goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski.
Earlier this year, the Polish National Team announced that it had whittled its provisional squad to 26 players. In January, Czeslaw Michniewicz replaced Paulo Sousa as Poland manager. Michniewicz is known for his “reactive” style of football. He is the former Poland Under-21 coach.
South America
Several South American countries are still in the qualification race for the 2022 World Cup. The top four teams automatically qualify and five teams are still fighting it out for the final spot. The five best teams will be sent to the tournament and will take part in an intercontinental playoff.
Brazil leads the way on the South American qualification points table. After 15 games, the runaway qualifying leader has 39 points. Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador have also qualified. Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador each have a six point advantage over the rest of the pack.
Peru is South America’s ultimate underdog. They are just one point ahead of Colombia in fifth place. But Peru could leapfrog them in the race to qualify for the World Cup. If they can win the two remaining games, Peru could take their place in the top four and qualify for the tournament.
Asia
During the last few decades, the interest in soccer in Asia has reached an all time high. With increased funding, international clubs gather for pre-season training in Asia. And there are also many international teams that gather in Asia for pre-season tournaments. With increased funding and more international players, the level of competition has become more competitive.
In Asia, the top 12 nations will compete for a total of 60 Final Round matches through March 2022. The winners of this round will go to the Intercontinental Playoff, to decide who will represent Asia in the FIFA World Cup Finals in June 2022.
The teams will be divided into six pots. Each pot will have a team from each of the six Asian regions. The seeding will be determined by the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking.
Africa
Despite a number of African teams winning Africa Cup of Nations titles in the last decade, Africa has not been able to make an impression at the World Cup. However, there are some who argue that the time has come to change Africa’s World Cup story.
In the next few days, five African teams will face each other in two-legged ties that will determine the teams in the playoff series. This will be the last chance for the nations in the playoffs to claim a spot in the 2022 World Cup.
The teams in the playoff series have only a goal difference of one. But this will be a close one.
The teams in the playoffs are set to face each other in the second leg on Tuesday. If they win, Senegal will play Egypt in the playoff.
Oceania
Several countries are participating in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Oceania is one of them, with eight teams drawn into two groups of four. The group stage will end on March 30. The winner will advance to a playoff match against the fourth-placed team from North America in June.
The first match of the group stage was played between Solomon Islands and Cook Islands. The Solomon Islands won 2-0. Papua New Guinea and Fiji were level on three points. The fourth-placed team will play a home-away series against New Zealand. The top two teams from each group advance to a single leg knockout stage. The winner will join the 32-team World Cup field.
The Oceania Football Confederation has announced the dates of their preliminary competition draw. The draw will take place at their headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand on June 26.