2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers

[swogerino]

I like how they have set things for the 2022 World Cup.Uefa is always trying to promote more and more new teams to a major event like the World Cup and that is why they have added new elements like winners of the Nations League to give them a better chance if they manage to qualify up enough in these qualifiers group.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I agree with you.
It's very good that FIFA tries to diversify its tournament in order to give a chance to more teams around the world, but we are talking about a tournament among the best in the world.

I believe that there should be a kind of score for each continent (I don't know how it could be calculated) and the higher it is, the more teams should be qualified for the world cup.
Of course, keeping a minimum number according to the size of the continent and/or the number of countries, so that it isn't too unfair and break this diversity that FIFA... because, if select only the best in the world, the world cup will be a tournament between Europeans and Brazil

They have more than doubled the slots from Asia and Africa, which obviously would mean that some of the weaker teams may qualify. On the other hand, there is not much increase regarding the number of slots available for UEFA and CONMEBOL, where we have the strongest teams. There is still a chance that some of the stronger teams from these confederations may fail to qualify.

[adamvp]

and it has almost become a tradition that in the qualifying games for the world cup and european championschip, poland and england find themselves in one group.
up to now there have been 17 matches between the two nations (12 wc-qualifiers, 1 wc game, 4 ec-qualifiers)



a second victory for poland against england is definitely to be considered next year

I don't think it will  be possible, not with Jerzy Brzęczek as a polish coach.
And England has many talented young players and  becoming better and better from year  to year.
I think Poland want get more than  2 points from games with England

[Sithara007]

Of course, keeping a minimum number according to the size of the continent and/or the number of countries, so that it isn't too unfair and break this diversity that FIFA... because, if select only the best in the world, the world cup will be a tournament between Europeans and Brazil

I don't have an issue if the FIFA decides to include weaker teams from Asia and Africa. But what I don't want is good teams from Europe and the Americans to get excluded. The UEFA qualifiers are very tough, and every time at least 2-3 good teams misses out on the qualification. The same can be said about the CONMEBOL qualifiers as well. Teams such as Ecuador and Bolivia have very low chance of qualifying to the world cup, because they are paying against some of the strongest teams in the world.

[TedMosby]

not sure about this 2022 world cup. there's a chance that this event could be postponed.
yesterday I read that FIFA canceled 2021 U-20, U-17 World Cups due to pandemic situation.
both of them would be held in 2023.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/12/24/fifa-cancels-2021-u-20-u-17-world-cups-due-covid-19-pandemic

I feel sad to know about it because the U-20 world cup should be held in my country next year.

[Vishnu.Reang]

not sure about this 2022 world cup. there's a chance that this event could be postponed.
yesterday I read that FIFA canceled 2021 U-20, U-17 World Cups due to pandemic situation.
both of them would be held in 2023.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/12/24/fifa-cancels-2021-u-20-u-17-world-cups-due-covid-19-pandemic

I feel sad to know about it because the U-20 world cup should be held in my country next year.

The tournament is scheduled for 2022, and I hope that it will go ahead as planned. Even if some of the qualifying tournaments get delayed or postponed, the confederations will be able to complete them by 2021. When the other sports events such as Olympics can go ahead as per the plan, then why can't the FIFA World Cup? Also, the financial ramifications will be there. The TV broadcasting rights were sold for billions of USD. If the tournament can't be scheduled, then FIFA needs to reimburse this amount.

[Yudhisthir]

The qualifications quotas for the specific regions would be the same as every previous world cups since 2006. And in my opinion, the current system is nearly perfect. There seems to be a few good teams missing from the Europe and South America, but when they fail to qualify on that number of spots, there's already a lot more better teams participating. It guarantees a representation of almost all the region of the world.

[Vishnu.Reang]

The qualifications quotas for the specific regions would be the same as every previous world cups since 2006. And in my opinion, the current system is nearly perfect. There seems to be a few good teams missing from the Europe and South America, but when they fail to qualify on that number of spots, there's already a lot more better teams participating. It guarantees a representation of almost all the region of the world.

It is unfair to have low-ranking teams from Asia and Africa, when the higher ranked teams from Europe and Americas are denied the opportunity to quality. Rather than continent-based qualifications, FIFA should consider global-level qualification. This would ensure that the best teams are able to secure their qualification to the main tournament. But then FIFA want to diversify the sport, which I believe is progressive thinking.

[Lucius]

Given that there is only a week left until the start of qualifying I think it would be good to bump this topic (for discussion, but also for someone not to make a new one). I would like to look at the European part of the qualifications, and given the current situation with COVID-19, which is quite bad in some countries - I guess there will be no spectators in the stadiums.

Of course, it would be good for everyone to share information about possible absences due to injuries and infected with the virus, and to be careful with first-round bets - national teams meet after a few months break and this will probably be seen in the games.

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/#282687

[LTU_btc]

Damn, I really missed international breaks during winter. No, I didn't. Haven't looked on groups and fixtures yet. But today I read that Ibra returns to Sweden national team, so probably I will take a look at Sweden game.

I would like to look at the European part of the qualifications, and given the current situation with COVID-19, which is quite bad in some countries - I guess there will be no spectators in the stadiums.

In most stadiums yes, but there will be some games with supporters I think. From what I saw in Europa league games, there was fans in Ukraine and Russia. Also, as I know Belarus and Faroe Islands allow spectators to visit stadiums. Maybe Israel to, they already had vaccinated quite big part of population. UEFA allows to fill up to 30% of stadium capacity. It's good feeling to watch game with real fans and no some artificial sound from FIFA games.

[Sithara007]

First round of matches will be played on 24th this month. There are a few interesting matches, such as Turkey vs Netherlands, Serbia vs Ireland, Belgium vs Wales and France vs Ukraine. And more matches will be played on the next day (25th) including first outings for Germany, Spain, Italy and England. The Germany vs Iceland match will be worth placing a bet, since the latter is famous for upsetting big teams.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Every country is preparing for the world cup the asian region qualifiers for the 2022 world cup in Qatar have been postponed due to corona's outburst note that the messi neymar qualifiers in south america started last october the european qualifiers will start on the field from March 2021. The draw for the European World Cup qualifiers was held in Switzerland Germany will play Romania, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Armenia and Liechtenstein.

Right now UK is the only country in Europe where the cases are going down drastically. All the other countries are reporting very high number of new cases and deaths from COVID 19. There is a good chance that at least some of the matches may get cancelled if either the squad members of the support staff test positive for the virus. And FIFA doesn't have much time as well. Only around 18 months remain for the World Cup in 2022.

[swogerino]

Every country is preparing for the world cup the asian region qualifiers for the 2022 world cup in Qatar have been postponed due to corona's outburst note that the messi neymar qualifiers in south america started last october the european qualifiers will start on the field from March 2021. The draw for the European World Cup qualifiers was held in Switzerland Germany will play Romania, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Armenia and Liechtenstein.

Right now UK is the only country in Europe where the cases are going down drastically. All the other countries are reporting very high number of new cases and deaths from COVID 19. There is a good chance that at least some of the matches may get cancelled if either the squad members of the support staff test positive for the virus. And FIFA doesn't have much time as well. Only around 18 months remain for the World Cup in 2022.

I think 18 months is far more than enough to get a lot of people taking the vaccine,am speaking about developed countries.Even less developed countries are trying hard to find vaccines to fight the pandemic so I think until June 2022 there is enough time to see a normal World Cup.

[CLS63]

... The Germany vs Iceland match will be worth placing a bet, since the latter is famous for upsetting big teams.

It is really true that we have seen many times that Iceland defeated more powerful teams than them. But they have been too bad for a long time as they won only one time in the UEFA Nations League. I really wonder how they will play in the Qualifiers for the World Cup. Germany are still much more powerful and I expect them to be fully focused as it is the World Cup we are talking about. I think they will win this match.

[bryant.coleman]

I think 18 months is far more than enough to get a lot of people taking the vaccine,am speaking about developed countries.Even less developed countries are trying hard to find vaccines to fight the pandemic so I think until June 2022 there is enough time to see a normal World Cup.

18 months is enough to vaccinate a lot of people, but I am afraid that FIFA don't have that sort of time. They need to complete the qualifying tournament at least 6-7 months before the main tournament. Else, it will create a lot of confusion for the participating teams and the host nation (in terms of logistics and other issues). So effectively they have less than 12 months to complete all the qualifying tournaments and the Inter-confederation play-offs.

[Lucius]

In most stadiums yes, but there will be some games with supporters I think. From what I saw in Europa league games, there was fans in Ukraine and Russia. Also, as I know Belarus and Faroe Islands allow spectators to visit stadiums. Maybe Israel to, they already had vaccinated quite big part of population. UEFA allows to fill up to 30% of stadium capacity. It's good feeling to watch game with real fans and no some artificial sound from FIFA games.

I’ve noticed this before at Euroleague basketball games in Russia, and at one point I thought it was some old videos - a bit of a weird situation, because from what I hear the vaccination rate in Russia is very low. I think we should let spectators into stadiums in those countries that have a good epidemiological condition, of course with the obligation to wear masks and a safe distance.

In my country, thousands of young people gather outdoors every weekend and the government does nothing about it - but at the same time, people are not allowed in football stadiums, which really doesn't make sense.

[ILuckyGuyI]

The World Cup Qualifiers are going to start with a great game between Turkey and Netherlands in Turk Telekom Stadium. I really love Turkey's squad that consists of very good and talented young players who are playing at really big Europe clubs right now. I believe they can really do nice things in the qualifiers. Netherlands on the other hand also have a really strong squad too and they are one of the powerful countries here. When we look at the head-to-head games, we see that Netherlands have a predominance over Turkey. But I'd also like to indicate that their last head-to-head was in 2015.    Both sides have totally different squads now so this game is really open for any result.

In my opinion, we will see a very tough game. Turkey could manage to beat Netherlands here by only 1 goal and make a good start.

[LTU_btc]

I’ve noticed this before at Euroleague basketball games in Russia, and at one point I thought it was some old videos - a bit of a weird situation, because from what I hear the vaccination rate in Russia is very low. I think we should let spectators into stadiums in those countries that have a good epidemiological condition, of course with the obligation to wear masks and a safe distance.

In my country, thousands of young people gather outdoors every weekend and the government does nothing about it - but at the same time, people are not allowed in football stadiums, which really doesn't make sense.

Yeah, vaccination rate in Russia is low, but according to official data, situation isn't bad there, they have just 46 cases per 100k people, while there is just few countries in Europe with below 100 cases per 100k peoppe.
Well, IMO some lockdown restrictions doesn't makes much sense or it's overkill. But these things goes out of this topic.

[RealMalatesta]

The thing is, I do not even believe that 2022 world cup would happen that easily, we still need to make sure that nobody gets infected there as well, we are talking about bringing everyone together and putting them in one common place, and by the way these people do not even come from same nation, they are coming from all over the world, so we will literally need to be careful about this more than anyone has ever been careful about anything.

And in return of that we maaaay watch some games but there could be some covid spread and postpone games and considering how fast this is, postponing usually is not in the books so it will be a new thing. I also do not believe in Qatar neither, we all know how they are using slave labour to build stuff and how they bribed UEFA to get it as well, they may just ignore it as well now that they are not going to make much money from it.

[Sithara007]

Yeah, vaccination rate in Russia is low, but according to official data, situation isn't bad there, they have just 46 cases per 100k people, while there is just few countries in Europe with below 100 cases per 100k peoppe.
Well, IMO some lockdown restrictions doesn't makes much sense or it's overkill. But these things goes out of this topic.

That is wrong. Russia is having one of the worst COVID 19 pandemics in all of Europe. Check this:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/03/05/russias-excess-death-toll-approaches-400k-a73168

There are unofficial reports claiming that up to 400,000 may have died from the virus in Russia. On top of that, the vaccination program is progressing at snail's pace. So far less than 8 million doses have been administered, because the Russians are not very enthusiastic to get themselves vaccinated. Russia is perhaps the only country right now with an oversupply of the vaccine.