2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers

[joker_josue]

Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed an extraordinary player, even though he is 37 years old but still has good physical strength. So maybe Ronaldo is
still playing football in the next World Cup, unless Portugal plays in the 2022 World Cup and becomes a World Cup winner, Ronaldo will most
likely retire from the Portugal national team. The problem is Portugal will not necessarily qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and also even being
able to finally play in the 2022 World Cup wouldn't go too far. Because if we look at the game Portugal does not have a solid cooperation
between players, most Portuguese players rely too much on individual ability. Even though the current Portugal squad has good quality players,
but if there is no good cooperation between players, it will be difficult to win the match. I believe Ronaldo will not retire from the Portugal
national team, if it turns out that Portugal failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. My prediction is that Portugal will lose against Italy in the Euro
zone 2022 World Cup qualifying play-offs.

No more. The problem with the Portugal team is not a lack of quality, but a bad tactical strategy that motivates players to be individualistic or not to play in their usual positions.

By the way, Portugal has players who, if they played well as a team, would be one of the main candidates to win the world cup. But unfortunately I see it as something very difficult.

[1715086570]

1715086570

[1715086570]

1715086570

[1715086570]

1715086570

[muratsink]

~

~

I also think that this will be his last world cup if Portugal qualifies.In theory he could still play at 41 year old in the next world cup after this one as he has an awesome body,does adhere to strict diets and these are things to be taken into consideration.One thing is for sure though and that is he will give 101% in this upcoming World Cup as most probably he will retire from football if he wins this World Cup but that will be very difficult for a team like Portugal who relies heavily on Cristiano to win games.

Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed an extraordinary player, even though he is 37 years old but still has good physical strength. So maybe Ronaldo is
still playing football in the next World Cup, unless Portugal plays in the 2022 World Cup and becomes a World Cup winner, Ronaldo will most
likely retire from the Portugal national team. The problem is Portugal will not necessarily qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and also even being
able to finally play in the 2022 World Cup wouldn't go too far. Because if we look at the game Portugal does not have a solid cooperation
between players, most Portuguese players rely too much on individual ability. Even though the current Portugal squad has good quality players,
but if there is no good cooperation between players, it will be difficult to win the match. I believe Ronaldo will not retire from the Portugal
national team, if it turns out that Portugal failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. My prediction is that Portugal will lose against Italy in the Euro
zone 2022 World Cup qualifying play-offs.

Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed a professional soccer player until he is 37 years old, he is still actively playing and his performance is still so extraordinary for both the club and the Portuguese national team, even though he is 37 years old and can be said to be a retirement period for a football career in the world. Europe he has absolutely no intention of retiring early considering he must be able to bring Portugal to at least qualify for the Qatar world cup finals this year, although the match is not easy considering the opponents they will face are also very tough and there may be a duel, one of them against A strong Italian team who both have to fight in the play-off phase for a ticket to Qatar next season, I am very confident with the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo and also the Portuguese national team.

[Boristhecat]

It looks like Agüero won't be leaving football anytime soon, after he announced he was retiring due to doctors' advice. He is interested in working as a staff member or in any other role, but not as a player. Sergio Agüero, a retired professional soccer player from Argentina, has confirmed that he will be joining the Argentina national team in Qatar for the World Cup in 2022. As a player he won't be there, but he'll play some other role. He may be a member of the coaching staff.

Good news, but I would say that it was expected. His career ended very unexpectedly and it was a shock both for the fans and for himself. I think it is very difficult to be in a situation where you have been doing something all your life and then it ended abruptly. Therefore, it is quite logical that he does not leave the sphere of football (at least abruptly), this will benefit both him and the national team.

[joker_josue]

Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed a professional soccer player until he is 37 years old, he is still actively playing and his performance is still so extraordinary for both the club and the Portuguese national team, even though he is 37 years old and can be said to be a retirement period for a football career in the world. Europe he has absolutely no intention of retiring early considering he must be able to bring Portugal to at least qualify for the Qatar world cup finals this year, although the match is not easy considering the opponents they will face are also very tough and there may be a duel, one of them against A strong Italian team who both have to fight in the play-off phase for a ticket to Qatar next season, I am very confident with the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo and also the Portuguese national team that he will be able to overcome the obstacles of any country to bring Portugal to the Qatar world cup stage this year , although for Portugal and Ronaldo himself it is very difficult to won the world cup title which he had not won so far so that also influenced Ronaldo not to retire early, even though this might be his last event in world competition with the Portugal national team

Nor can we say that it is impossible for Portugal, because if we look at the last 3 games between Portugal-Italio, we had a draw, a victory for Portugal and a victory for Italy.

So, despite thinking that Italia has more possibilities due to their style of play, they are two very balanced teams and the result is totally open.

[snipie]

It looks like Agüero won't be leaving football anytime soon, after he announced he was retiring due to doctors' advice. He is interested in working as a staff member or in any other role, but not as a player. Sergio Agüero, a retired professional soccer player from Argentina, has confirmed that he will be joining the Argentina national team in Qatar for the World Cup in 2022. As a player he won't be there, but he'll play some other role. He may be a member of the coaching staff.

Euh just like that? From a player to a staff member in a day? It is a little bit exaggerated imo, he can help juniors but I think he can't do the same with seniors..
AFAIK to be a coach he has to get some certifications from FIFA before.

[joker_josue]

Euh just like that? From a player to a staff member in a day? It is a little bit exaggerated imo, he can help juniors but I think he can't do the same with seniors..
AFAIK to be a coach he has to get some certifications from FIFA before.

You certainly cannot be the head coach, but you can be part of the rest of the technical team or staff that accompany the team.
From what the news indicates, it only remains to define in what role he will be in Qatar. In other words, he still doesn't know what he's going to do. Will be there...

[KTChampions]

It looks like Agüero won't be leaving football anytime soon, after he announced he was retiring due to doctors' advice. He is interested in working as a staff member or in any other role, but not as a player. Sergio Agüero, a retired professional soccer player from Argentina, has confirmed that he will be joining the Argentina national team in Qatar for the World Cup in 2022. As a player he won't be there, but he'll play some other role. He may be a member of the coaching staff.

Euh just like that? From a player to a staff member in a day? It is a little bit exaggerated imo, he can help juniors but I think he can't do the same with seniors..
AFAIK to be a coach he has to get some certifications from FIFA before.

Why are you talking about one day? He has worked in this all his life and clearly understands a lot in tactics and strategy, in the nuances of training, preparing for matches psychologically and physically, etc. He is a professional. Any young player will be happy to hear some advice from him. Let's see how talented he is in transferring his knowledge and experience to others, but the fact that he has them is 100%.

[joker_josue]

Why are you talking about one day? He has worked in this all his life and clearly understands a lot in tactics and strategy, in the nuances of training, preparing for matches psychologically and physically, etc. He is a professional. Any young player will be happy to hear some advice from him. Let's see how talented he is in transferring his knowledge and experience to others, but the fact that he has them is 100%.

One thing is for sure, not all great players make good coaches. In fact, most of the great best coaches weren't even great players. Being a coach requires knowing how to lead, guide, motivate, teach, support, among other important aspects. Not all players have this, they can come to have it with practice, sometimes it's not "one day to the next".

Now, I don't know if Aguero is that kind of person or not. He can even be and become a great coach. But at this point, I think he will be considered as a motivator in the locker room, creating the group idea of winning for the colleague. This is sometimes good.

[KTChampions]

Why are you talking about one day? He has worked in this all his life and clearly understands a lot in tactics and strategy, in the nuances of training, preparing for matches psychologically and physically, etc. He is a professional. Any young player will be happy to hear some advice from him. Let's see how talented he is in transferring his knowledge and experience to others, but the fact that he has them is 100%.

One thing is for sure, not all great players make good coaches. In fact, most of the great best coaches weren't even great players. Being a coach requires knowing how to lead, guide, motivate, teach, support, among other important aspects. Not all players have this, they can come to have it with practice, sometimes it's not "one day to the next".

Now, I don't know if Aguero is that kind of person or not. He can even be and become a great coach. But at this point, I think he will be considered as a motivator in the locker room, creating the group idea of winning for the colleague. This is sometimes good.

Yes, you are right, few of the former players can boast of such success in the field of coaching as, for example, Zidane. But I didn’t say that Aguero would be a great or even just a good coach, my thought was that he is not an passerby in this area and you can’t say about him that he has no experience here.

[asus09]

It looks like Agüero won't be leaving football anytime soon, after he announced he was retiring due to doctors' advice. He is interested in working as a staff member or in any other role, but not as a player. Sergio Agüero, a retired professional soccer player from Argentina, has confirmed that he will be joining the Argentina national team in Qatar for the World Cup in 2022. As a player he won't be there, but he'll play some other role. He may be a member of the coaching staff.

Aguero has held a meeting with the Argentine football association, he discussed his desire to join the argertina team, although not as a player, but he proposed himself as a staff in the Argentine dressing room, proof of Aguero's love for his country is very high, even though in 2014 he unable to bring the trophy back to his country, because in the 2014 final they were beaten by Germany, but this year he is determined to take part in bringing the prestigious trophy back to their country, the Argentine football association has agreed, and is ready to give the role to Aguero.

[wxa7115]

If Portugal can't qualify, it's your fault! They played poorly in qualifying, against weak teams.
Believe me, there are very few Portuguese who believe that the team will go to the world cup.

It's their fault and there's no doubt about it. But at the same time, we can't overlook the fact that they were just plain unlucky. In the first phase, they were included in a group that had strong teams like Serbia. And now for the playoffs, they need to face a super-strong Italy. I have already posted about this, but just feeling bad that so many good teams from UEFA and CONMEBOL are failing to qualify. It's not their fault that they're being placed along strong teams, unlike the case with AFC or the CAF.

Luck does indeed play a factor, but we need to be honest if a team wants to qualify to the world cup at Europe which is one of the strongest zones then they need to overcome those obstacles regardless of the bad luck they have.

However once the qualifiers for the 2026 world cup begin things should be easier as the number of spots will grow from 32 to 48 giving more chances to all countries to try to reach the world cup as the number of spots given to each confederation will grow as well.

[LUCKMCFLY]

^^ I wasn't saying that Portugal is a weaker team when compared with Serbia. I was just implying that they were placed in a much stronger group, when compared to the other UEFA participants. And even for the playoffs, they got the toughest possible opponents. During the preliminary phase, apart from Serbia they had to deal with Republic of Ireland as well. Now compare this to groups D or E, where the top teams had to deal with much weaker opponents. And my final point was the hypocrisy from the FIFA, which allows weak teams from Asia and Africa but don't allow enough slots for UEFA.

Portugal group was not a tough one aside from serbia who is a medium team not a strong one the others are all weak teams who african and asian teams can beat i think 13 european spots are fair enough considering other continents get around five.

Exactly. It was Serbia that should be playing these play-offs and not Portugal.
But football is just that, not always the theoretically stronger team wins or has better results. This is the beauty of this sport, which attracts millions of fans all over the world.

If Portugal doesn't manage to reach the World Cup, what will be a pity is that we don't see Ronaldo last chance to play in a World Cup. Certainly he will not participate in this competition again.

Really, when the qualifiers are in South America, everyone is played against everyone, because when it was done in the group stage, those that are considered weak teams were in the same group with Brazil, Argentina and this was synonymous with not qualifying, however in Europe They haven't made this game mode that seems much fairer to me, and as they say, the bad thing is that if Portugal can't go, CR7 would be out, and it will be a shame not to see the last effort that this player can make for Portugal.

[Mr.Scott]

Coach Tite has announced that after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar he will leave his position as Brazil coach! My heart goes out to him, Brazil has been quite stable under him. Some Brazilian fans are too demanding about him, like Barcelona fans sometimes are. Brazil performed nicely under Tite, but I am afraid that the team's current state and departure have gotten them in a difficult position.

[joker_josue]

Really, when the qualifiers are in South America, everyone is played against everyone, because when it was done in the group stage, those that are considered weak teams were in the same group with Brazil, Argentina and this was synonymous with not qualifying, however in Europe They haven't made this game mode that seems much fairer to me, and as they say, the bad thing is that if Portugal can't go, CR7 would be out, and it will be a shame not to see the last effort that this player can make for Portugal.

The problem in Europe with the all-against-all model is the number of teams that participate. There are many countries, which in turn would not have time for everyone to be able to play against everyone.

Although it seems less fair, because there may be stronger groups than others. It ends up working, as sometimes countries like Portugal or Italy are forced to go to the play-offs to try to qualify.

Now, could another qualification model be created? I even believe so, but honestly I don't see another fairer model that works in Europe. But maybe there are other ideas.

[Daniel91]

Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed a professional soccer player until he is 37 years old, he is still actively playing and his performance is still so extraordinary for both the club and the Portuguese national team, even though he is 37 years old and can be said to be a retirement period for a football career in the world. Europe he has absolutely no intention of retiring early considering he must be able to bring Portugal to at least qualify for the Qatar world cup finals this year, although the match is not easy considering the opponents they will face are also very tough and there may be a duel, one of them against A strong Italian team who both have to fight in the play-off phase for a ticket to Qatar next season, I am very confident with the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo and also the Portuguese national team that he will be able to overcome the obstacles of any country to bring Portugal to the Qatar world cup stage this year , although for Portugal and Ronaldo himself it is very difficult to won the world cup title which he had not won so far so that also influenced Ronaldo not to retire early, even though this might be his last event in world competition with the Portugal national team

Nor can we say that it is impossible for Portugal, because if we look at the last 3 games between Portugal-Italio, we had a draw, a victory for Portugal and a victory for Italy.

So, despite thinking that Italia has more possibilities due to their style of play, they are two very balanced teams and the result is totally open.

Italy and Portugal must first beat their opponents in the first round of additional qualifications, in order to decide in a mutual meeting who will qualify for the World Cup.
Remember that Italy and Portugal had big problems in qualifying, and suffered some unexpected defeats and losses of points.
If there is a match between them, they will play in Portugal, which will be a small advantage for the Portuguese team.
I agree that Ronaldo is a great player, but he is no longer at his peak and the question is how much he can help his national team.

[Silver80]

Really, when the qualifiers are in South America, everyone is played against everyone, because when it was done in the group stage, those that are considered weak teams were in the same group with Brazil, Argentina and this was synonymous with not qualifying, however in Europe They haven't made this game mode that seems much fairer to me, and as they say, the bad thing is that if Portugal can't go, CR7 would be out, and it will be a shame not to see the last effort that this player can make for Portugal.

The problem in Europe with the all-against-all model is the number of teams that participate. There are many countries, which in turn would not have time for everyone to be able to play against everyone.

Although it seems less fair, because there may be stronger groups than others. It ends up working, as sometimes countries like Portugal or Italy are forced to go to the play-offs to try to qualify.

Now, could another qualification model be created? I even believe so, but honestly I don't see another fairer model that works in Europe. But maybe there are other ideas.

I follow your line of thinking, if made in 2 groups with European membership, I think it is quite tiring for players and can be fatal, but actually Europe can cluster members from the FIFA rankings instead of taking the dice where they fall this results in a war of nerves at the beginning  which are fun.

[KTChampions]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

[joker_josue]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

It is indeed a scandal. In light of their invasion of Ukraine, Poland's national federation has decided that they will not play a World Cup qualifier against Russia. Football is not supposed to interfere with politics, and vice versa. Therefore, it is good news for Russia that they will qualify for the world cup if they get 3 points.

It is true. I understand their idea, but sport has always been used as a way of promoting peace. This happened even during the Second World War. Now, I also see it as being one of the few professions that can really be done by the international community, without interfering with military force.

We'll see what FIFA's position will be, perhaps trying to motivate the game to take place on neutral ground, as UEFA did.

[uneng]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

Besides Poland, Sweden also has the same stance regards a potential match against Russia:

Sweden said on Saturday that they won't play Russia in a possible playoff "regardless of where the match is played."

Moreover, polish soccer federation is trying to reunite more and more nations under the same agreement they won't play Russia as well. That means an attempt to create pressure to make FIFA not allow Russia participate world cup even if they qualify.

Polish start Lewandowski, endorsed the national federation's views:

"It is the right decision! I can't imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can't pretend that nothing is happening."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4603139/poland-refuse-to-play-russia-in-2022-world-cup-playoff-game

[KennyR]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

It is indeed a scandal. In light of their invasion of Ukraine, Poland's national federation has decided that they will not play a World Cup qualifier against Russia. Football is not supposed to interfere with politics, and vice versa. Therefore, it is good news for Russia that they will qualify for the world cup if they get 3 points.

I find this a good decision from Poland. We think sports shouldn't be interfered by politics. In reality sports is part of the politics. Whether they play or not is secondary. IOC have begun to discuss on immediate plans on the invasion. Firstly Russia breached the Olympic Truce, four days after the closing ceremony of Winter Games.

In the last14 years Russia breached Olympic Truce thrice. Russia invaded Georgia during 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing. End of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and now it's the third time.

National Olympic Committee Urges Sports Bodies