2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers

[lixer]

It cannot be denied that football has become a source of profit for a large number of people if not most of them. For instance, if you look at teams like Chelsea or Manchester City, you will see that the method works. As a matter of fact, they are swimming in the pool of Arab money and whatnot. In addition to hosting these matches, Qatar is also using this opportunity to make some money from the event. Nowadays, money and football have become synonymous, and that is quite a sad thing that we have to deal with.

The game of football was once regarded as a symbol of creativity, love, and passion among many people. There is just money nowadays, and it has become a competition of who can generate the most revenue to be the biggest.

It is true that the Arab nations (especially Qatar) is swimming in wads of money. The LNG prices have gone up by 10x-20x in recent times, and Qatar is the no.1 beneficiary. Now they have realized that despite all that money, no one respects them because of their poor human rights record. So events such as world cup provides them with an opportunity to earn "respect". Purchasing premium clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City was also a part of this plan, and according to them it has worked to a certain extent. And in today's world, people are more money minded and doesn't really care about human rights.

Interesting topic, they are doing this all for respect because I don't think they are looking for respect or anything related with this all because most of the Arab leaders are not well-educated, and they have mind that they can buy every thing with money which is surely working for them in England and France most of the premium clubs are already in their control even few months back they were trying to buy Barcelona but thanks to fans and investors this attempt ends in fail.

But, still they are doing things just because of money as we can watch now they are hosting world soccer club event and then Dubai race they are already bringing things with their money and with this all Western or American have no issue Mohammad bin Salman bought Newcastle United even there were many conflicts related to this person but still he has done because they can do things without going out of their country, so it's all money power.

[Sithara007]

Interesting topic, they are doing this all for respect because I don't think they are looking for respect or anything related with this all because most of the Arab leaders are not well-educated, and they have mind that they can buy every thing with money which is surely working for them in England and France most of the premium clubs are already in their control even few months back they were trying to buy Barcelona but thanks to fans and investors this attempt ends in fail.

But, still they are doing things just because of money as we can watch now they are hosting world soccer club event and then Dubai race they are already bringing things with their money and with this all Western or American have no issue Mohammad bin Salman bought Newcastle United even there were many conflicts related to this person but still he has done because they can do things without going out of their country, so it's all money power.

The problem is that they have too much money right now and they don't know what to do with it. The bid to purchase Barcelona was made by the Qatar Sports Investment (which is under the ownership of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani). They own a few other clubs such as the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). After the bid was turned down, the Qataris went crazy and invested a large amount of money on Barca's rivals (Espanyol). The Europeans are enjoying the show, as the Arabs waste their ill-earned wealth on ego-clashes.

[rahmad2nd]

It remains a strange idea that we will not see the reigning European Champion Italy at the world championship. But it will happen anyway. Portugal is not a bad team either. Qatar is brimming with confidence, they are reigning Asian champions, but they are no match for the violence from Europe. Lewandowsky can also show how good he is at the World Cup in Qatar. I don't see Poland winning of course, but maybe they can knock out a favorite with Lewandowsky in the ranks. If I could choose an outsider, I would go for Croatia or the Netherlands.

Nothing strange for Italy, because in a row they did not qualify for the world cup. however, which is unfortunate because they are finalists of the Euro 2020 champions.

yes Portugal is not a bad team, but their star icon is experiencing a very significant decline in performance. and it seems, it becomes a serious problem for Fernando Santos to maximize his troops later in the Qatar world cup.

As for the host of the world cup, Qatar is quite confident, but it is difficult for them to qualify for the next round. because after all, there is a very difficult Senegal for them to overthrow.
as well as the Netherlands which recently they are in a pretty solid performance even without the support of many star players.

Croatia, will still be one of the strong challengers because after all they are runners up for the 2018 world cup.
Lewandowski, Poland is in a pretty tough group. at least, they have to subvert Mexico, then draw against Argentina. however, it seems that scenario is difficult.

only counting the days we will welcome the performance of this most prestigious championship event.

[dezoel]

The problem is that they have too much money right now and they don't know what to do with it. The bid to purchase Barcelona was made by the Qatar Sports Investment (which is under the ownership of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani). They own a few other clubs such as the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). After the bid was turned down, the Qataris went crazy and invested a large amount of money on Barca's rivals (Espanyol). The Europeans are enjoying the show, as the Arabs waste their ill-earned wealth on ego-clashes.

Even this talk is going into wrong way, but I never understand them how they are managing things because no doubt money is no issue for them, and they can do anything with this all without any issue even after losing billions of USD in gambling or stuff like this they are having no issues most chances they could be done good thing in Gulf region as their personal competition is increasing first for tallest buildings and now having prestigious clubs in Europe they could be able to have their own leagues in good shape because of their own investments and having quality players which can do good development.

Still Qatar is currently the most advance country which is doing good things but their reputation in human rights and other topics are not good as they are the most conservative Arabs in this region after Saudi Arab which are now also trying to turn into Liberal.

[slackovic]

Nothing strange for Italy, because in a row they did not qualify for the world cup. however, which is unfortunate because they are finalists of the Euro 2020 champions.

yes Portugal is not a bad team, but their star icon is experiencing a very significant decline in performance. and it seems, it becomes a serious problem for Fernando Santos to maximize his troops later in the Qatar world cup.

As for the host of the world cup, Qatar is quite confident, but it is difficult for them to qualify for the next round. because after all, there is a very difficult Senegal for them to overthrow.
as well as the Netherlands which recently they are in a pretty solid performance even without the support of many star players.

Croatia, will still be one of the strong challengers because after all they are runners up for the 2018 world cup.
Lewandowski, Poland is in a pretty tough group. at least, they have to subvert Mexico, then draw against Argentina. however, it seems that scenario is difficult.

only counting the days we will welcome the performance of this most prestigious championship event.

It's always strange to see some "big" nation not qualifying for some big competition. But it happens. It happened to England few cycles ago when they didn't qualify for the World Cup or Euro. I'm not sure which one was it, but I remember them not qualifying because Croatia defeated them in London.

Since I'm from Croatia, I can comment about what I think our chances are in Qatar. It will be really hard for Croatia to repeat what happened in Russia. I'm not saying we don't have a chance, but it will be hard. We have some young players that have potential, but we will see how they'll perform under pressure.

[Sithara007]

~~~
Since I'm from Croatia, I can comment about what I think our chances are in Qatar. It will be really hard for Croatia to repeat what happened in Russia. I'm not saying we don't have a chance, but it will be hard. We have some young players that have potential, but we will see how they'll perform under pressure.

What happened back in 2018 world cup with the Croatian national team was a once in a blue moon event. We can't expect them to repeat that performance every time. No one actually expected Croatia to qualify for the quarter-finals back then, and they managed to reach the finals. This time it is going to be some other less fancied team. Chances are that it can be one among these teams - Qatar, Serbia, Ecuador, Wales, Poland and Denmark. Won't be surprised if Croatia repeats their 2018 performance as well.

[LUCKMCFLY]

I hope that most players will be able to play injury-free by now. It might be a bit much to ask of many players in this way.

Unfortunately this can be difficult. We are entering that phase of the season where problems can arise at any time.
And one of them could be Dybala, who has an injury and it's not yet known if he'll be able to recover in time for the World Cup.

Yep. Injuries are a terrible thing for footballers.
Apart from Dybala, Kalvin Phillips, Marco Reus, and Georginio Wijnaldum may be absent in Qatar.
The French team is also not in good shape, considering that N'Golo Kante, Lucas Hernandez, and Paul Pogba are injured.
It will be new homework for Didier Deschamps to find the right substitute.
But the show must go on. The absence of these star players will not reduce the excitement of the World Cup

Yes, in fact it is as you say, but there is a lot at stake here, for some players the World Cup represents everything, in the case of Dybala who is the one who I think has the worst part of the players you have said, it would be a total shame , because he is like Messi's right hand, since Dybala is in his best form, and the fact that he misses this World Cup could in fact mean that Argentina will have a hard time recovering or making a player of his category enter again, The Argentine league is very good, but considering that they always choose the players who have a lot of action in Europe, it is quite a challenge.

It cannot be denied that football has become a source of profit for a large number of people if not most of them. For instance, if you look at teams like Chelsea or Manchester City, you will see that the method works. As a matter of fact, they are swimming in the pool of Arab money and whatnot. In addition to hosting these matches, Qatar is also using this opportunity to make some money from the event. Nowadays, money and football have become synonymous, and that is quite a sad thing that we have to deal with.

The game of football was once regarded as a symbol of creativity, love, and passion among many people. There is just money nowadays, and it has become a competition of who can generate the most revenue to be the biggest.

It is true that the Arab nations (especially Qatar) is swimming in wads of money. The LNG prices have gone up by 10x-20x in recent times, and Qatar is the no.1 beneficiary. Now they have realized that despite all that money, no one respects them because of their poor human rights record. So events such as world cup provides them with an opportunity to earn "respect". Purchasing premium clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City was also a part of this plan, and according to them it has worked to a certain extent. And in today's world, people are more money minded and doesn't really care about human rights.

Interesting topic, they are doing this all for respect because I don't think they are looking for respect or anything related with this all because most of the Arab leaders are not well-educated, and they have mind that they can buy every thing with money which is surely working for them in England and France most of the premium clubs are already in their control even few months back they were trying to buy Barcelona but thanks to fans and investors this attempt ends in fail.

But, still they are doing things just because of money as we can watch now they are hosting world soccer club event and then Dubai race they are already bringing things with their money and with this all Western or American have no issue Mohammad bin Salman bought Newcastle United even there were many conflicts related to this person but still he has done because they can do things without going out of their country, so it's all money power.

Well, this is something like what they say where I live: "The dog dances for money" and this is something that we cannot let pass, it is known that soccer is a sport that conveys many vibes and moves many fibers, we know very Well, when we analyze each team in the world, there are the Arabs, who are great investors, yes, with a lot of money, but who can buy anything they want, now they want to do and stand out much more like they do with PSG, which the sheikh is not doing badly, in the near future we could see more Arab owners of football teams because sooner or later money loosens many things.

[Swordsoffreedom]

~~~
Since I'm from Croatia, I can comment about what I think our chances are in Qatar. It will be really hard for Croatia to repeat what happened in Russia. I'm not saying we don't have a chance, but it will be hard. We have some young players that have potential, but we will see how they'll perform under pressure.

What happened back in 2018 world cup with the Croatian national team was a once in a blue moon event. We can't expect them to repeat that performance every time. No one actually expected Croatia to qualify for the quarter-finals back then, and they managed to reach the finals. This time it is going to be some other less fancied team. Chances are that it can be one among these teams - Qatar, Serbia, Ecuador, Wales, Poland and Denmark. Won't be surprised if Croatia repeats their 2018 performance as well.

What Croatia did last World Cup wasn't that much of a shock to me as they played really well as a team. The fact that they were able to go that far in the tournament was not due to chance, but due to a magnificent football display on the field.

I am not saying that repeating something like that is impossible, but it certainly is quite a challenge that's for sure. However, even in this tournament, Croatia has a very competent squad that is made up of players with a lot of potentials. What really surprises me is that they have a really talented midfield that can feed the attackers really well.

[Oneandpure]

What Croatia did last World Cup wasn't that much of a shock to me as they played really well as a team. The fact that they were able to go that far in the tournament was not due to chance, but due to a magnificent football display on the field.

I am not saying that repeating something like that is impossible, but it certainly is quite a challenge that's for sure. However, even in this tournament, Croatia has a very competent squad that is made up of players with a lot of potentials. What really surprises me is that they have a really talented midfield that can feed the attackers really well.

Impressive performance from Croatia on World Cup 2018 success lead until final before beating by France, actually unbelievable with Croatia achievement success reach to final stage. Seems their chance repeating what the achievement last World Cup seems not easy because have several player composition changed and other national team have competence squad. Maybe have several Croatia players participants at World Cup 2018 like Modric, Ivan Perisic and Kovacic will get chance to play at World Cup 2022.

Croatia is in Group F along with Belgium, Morocco and Canada in this World Cup and seems favorite can qualify to 16 round as leader group standing or finish as runner up under Belgium, I think between Croatia or Belgium in group F will qualify to next round.

[savetheFORUM]

Interesting topic, they are doing this all for respect because I don't think they are looking for respect or anything related with this all because most of the Arab leaders are not well-educated, and they have mind that they can buy every thing with money which is surely working for them in England and France most of the premium clubs are already in their control even few months back they were trying to buy Barcelona but thanks to fans and investors this attempt ends in fail.

But, still they are doing things just because of money as we can watch now they are hosting world soccer club event and then Dubai race they are already bringing things with their money and with this all Western or American have no issue Mohammad bin Salman bought Newcastle United even there were many conflicts related to this person but still he has done because they can do things without going out of their country, so it's all money power.

Well, this is something like what they say where I live: "The dog dances for money" and this is something that we cannot let pass, it is known that soccer is a sport that conveys many vibes and moves many fibers, we know very Well, when we analyze each team in the world, there are the Arabs, who are great investors, yes, with a lot of money, but who can buy anything they want, now they want to do and stand out much more like they do with PSG, which the sheikh is not doing badly, in the near future we could see more Arab owners of football teams because sooner or later money loosens many things.

Even we have many controversies related to these Arab Sheikhs, but one thing is amazing they are doing things in competition and trying their best for having positive results as you are saying at PSG they have done good job same happening in Manchester City and now Newcastle United where they invested, and now they are at the top of English Premier League but here money is surely winning and quality and skills are losing because they are buying players and winning trophies and talent is surely going out of contest.

Another thing which is happening now few Arab leagues are also improving quality which is surely good thing as they are rich, and they can do good things for better results even still behind MLS and China because these are big markets and here in Gulf they are not like them but things surely improving.

[babygun]

Impressive performance from Croatia on World Cup 2018 success lead until final before beating by France, actually unbelievable with Croatia achievement success reach to final stage. Seems their chance repeating what the achievement last World Cup seems not easy because have several player composition changed and other national team have competence squad. Maybe have several Croatia players participants at World Cup 2018 like Modric, Ivan Perisic and Kovacic will get chance to play at World Cup 2022.

Croatia is in Group F along with Belgium, Morocco and Canada in this World Cup and seems favorite can qualify to 16 round as leader group standing or finish as runner up under Belgium, I think between Croatia or Belgium in group F will qualify to next round.

If the logic gets respected, but as always surprises can and will happen, than Belgium will finish first in group F and Croatia should end on the 2nd place. I don't really know how good Morocco and Canada are but Belgium and Croatia have, on paper, a much stronger team than they have.

[savetheFORUM]

Impressive performance from Croatia on World Cup 2018 success lead until final before beating by France, actually unbelievable with Croatia achievement success reach to final stage. Seems their chance repeating what the achievement last World Cup seems not easy because have several player composition changed and other national team have competence squad. Maybe have several Croatia players participants at World Cup 2018 like Modric, Ivan Perisic and Kovacic will get chance to play at World Cup 2022.

Croatia is in Group F along with Belgium, Morocco and Canada in this World Cup and seems favorite can qualify to 16 round as leader group standing or finish as runner up under Belgium, I think between Croatia or Belgium in group F will qualify to next round.

If the logic gets respected, but as always surprises can and will happen, than Belgium will finish first in group F and Croatia should end on the 2nd place. I don't really know how good Morocco and Canada are but Belgium and Croatia have, on paper, a much stronger team than they have.

Even on paper based updates we can go with you all results but in reality it has never been easy for any team with right now FIFA ranking showing Belgium is second and Croatia is 12th and Morocco is 22nd ranked and Canada is 41st ranked with this all surely Belgium and Croatia can qualify easily but still we can expect challenge from Morocco which is having good results in last few weeks, and they can create problems for both top teams even quality difference is widened but still any result is possible recently we have good development in African teams, and they are working on improving quality which is good and UEFA is surely right now having the good number of players from this region which is another good movement for their success.

[Sithara007]

What Croatia did last World Cup wasn't that much of a shock to me as they played really well as a team. The fact that they were able to go that far in the tournament was not due to chance, but due to a magnificent football display on the field.

I am not saying that repeating something like that is impossible, but it certainly is quite a challenge that's for sure. However, even in this tournament, Croatia has a very competent squad that is made up of players with a lot of potentials. What really surprises me is that they have a really talented midfield that can feed the attackers really well.

Players such as Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić are well past their prime. I am doubtful whether they will be able to repeat their performance from the 2018. But this is world cup, and with each edition we get a different team which surprises everyone. Last time, it was Croatia. This time it can be Serbia, Senegal or some other team that is not even in our radar. One advantage for Croatia is that they are being placed in a relatively easier group, along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco. Finishing among the top2 won't be hard for them.

[slackovic]

Players such as Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić are well past their prime. I am doubtful whether they will be able to repeat their performance from the 2018. But this is world cup, and with each edition we get a different team which surprises everyone. Last time, it was Croatia. This time it can be Serbia, Senegal or some other team that is not even in our radar. One advantage for Croatia is that they are being placed in a relatively easier group, along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco. Finishing among the top2 won't be hard for them.

True. But Luka Modrić still plays really good. Besides he already announced that in Qatar he will say farewell to the national team so I guess he will try to make extra effort. As for Perišić, I agree that he is past his prime. But we also have younger players who are ready to fill the shoes older players. I'm just worried about Livaković as our main goalie. He plays OK but he is known to receive such stupid goals.

Yeah, the group is easy but Croatia is known to have much bigger problems against weaker teams than against strong teams like Belgium. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose against Canada (I really think that we shouldn't have problems with Morocco) and then win against Belgium.

[swogerino]

What Croatia did last World Cup wasn't that much of a shock to me as they played really well as a team. The fact that they were able to go that far in the tournament was not due to chance, but due to a magnificent football display on the field.

I am not saying that repeating something like that is impossible, but it certainly is quite a challenge that's for sure. However, even in this tournament, Croatia has a very competent squad that is made up of players with a lot of potentials. What really surprises me is that they have a really talented midfield that can feed the attackers really well.

Players such as Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić are well past their prime. I am doubtful whether they will be able to repeat their performance from the 2018. But this is world cup, and with each edition we get a different team which surprises everyone. Last time, it was Croatia. This time it can be Serbia, Senegal or some other team that is not even in our radar. One advantage for Croatia is that they are being placed in a relatively easier group, along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco. Finishing among the top2 won't be hard for them.

Even if they were in a stronger group their performance in the Nations League is a strong indicator that they are doing really well in the national team.Sure Modric and Perisic can be well past their prime but they are still considered players of world class caliber and such players can make a difference against any team and not only in an easy group like this one.

In this group I think Croatia will fight to be in the top place to get an "easier" team when they qualify further,for this they need a win or a minimum a draw against Belgium and to win the other two games which most likely they will do.

[Sithara007]

Yeah, the group is easy but Croatia is known to have much bigger problems against weaker teams than against strong teams like Belgium. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose against Canada (I really think that we shouldn't have problems with Morocco) and then win against Belgium.

I am not very familiar with Canada, so can't make any predictions right now. Till now, I haven't watched any of their matches. BTW, there is no need to overestimate Belgium as well. Recently, their FIFA rankings have gone down and they are essentially a one-man army led by Romelu Lukaku. If the Croatian defenders can tackle Lukaku, then I won't rule out Croatia getting some points from their match against Belgium. And the last team in the group is Morocco. They are regarded as one of the weakest teams who managed to qualify from the CAF.

[Daniel91]

Yeah, the group is easy but Croatia is known to have much bigger problems against weaker teams than against strong teams like Belgium. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose against Canada (I really think that we shouldn't have problems with Morocco) and then win against Belgium.

I am not very familiar with Canada, so can't make any predictions right now. Till now, I haven't watched any of their matches. BTW, there is no need to overestimate Belgium as well. Recently, their FIFA rankings have gone down and they are essentially a one-man army led by Romelu Lukaku. If the Croatian defenders can tackle Lukaku, then I won't rule out Croatia getting some points from their match against Belgium. And the last team in the group is Morocco. They are regarded as one of the weakest teams who managed to qualify from the CAF.

Canada played surprisingly well in the World Cup qualifiers and is playing in the World Cup again after a long time.
However, it would be a real surprise if, in a group with two very strong European teams, Croatia and Belgium, Canada wins first or second place and advances to the knockout phase of the competition.
It seems to me that Belgium had their peak at the last World Cup in Russia when they were third in the world.
It's an old and very experienced team, but I think it will be very difficult for Belgium to repeat the result from Russia.
In this qualification cycle, Croatia discovered some new, young players who already have a major role in the team, such as Pasalic, Vlasic, Majer, Guardiol... and there is no need to worry about their future.
After all, this was already shown in the League of Nations, where Croatia defeated France and Denmark away from home and won first place in the group and qualified for the final tournament of the competition.

[rahmad2nd]

Nothing strange for Italy, because in a row they did not qualify for the world cup. however, which is unfortunate because they are finalists of the Euro 2020 champions.

yes Portugal is not a bad team, but their star icon is experiencing a very significant decline in performance. and it seems, it becomes a serious problem for Fernando Santos to maximize his troops later in the Qatar world cup.

As for the host of the world cup, Qatar is quite confident, but it is difficult for them to qualify for the next round. because after all, there is a very difficult Senegal for them to overthrow.
as well as the Netherlands which recently they are in a pretty solid performance even without the support of many star players.

Croatia, will still be one of the strong challengers because after all they are runners up for the 2018 world cup.
Lewandowski, Poland is in a pretty tough group. at least, they have to subvert Mexico, then draw against Argentina. however, it seems that scenario is difficult.

only counting the days we will welcome the performance of this most prestigious championship event.

It's always strange to see some "big" nation not qualifying for some big competition. But it happens. It happened to England few cycles ago when they didn't qualify for the World Cup or Euro. I'm not sure which one was it, but I remember them not qualifying because Croatia defeated them in London.

Since I'm from Croatia, I can comment about what I think our chances are in Qatar. It will be really hard for Croatia to repeat what happened in Russia. I'm not saying we don't have a chance, but it will be hard. We have some young players that have potential, but we will see how they'll perform under pressure.

We have reviewed it for the Gli Azzurri squad, as for their absence on the world championship stage this time in qatar.

I'm not saying Italy are playing badly, but I've made some points in previous posts.
in short, they were just unlucky with a few core players injured. in the end, they failed to return for the second time to the world cup.

Speaking of the Croatia squad, we know what we are talking about. because after all, we have the statistics of the Croatia squad.  but, after all for me Croatia is one of the underdog teams that is always taken into account in this world cup.
although currently without the reinforcement of Ivan Rakitic, and several other players. however, they are still able to have a pretty good result with the current squad.

I'm not saying Croatia will repeat the 2018 world cup again, but at least they are a team that always counts.

[bitgolden]

I don't care how bad Ronaldo may look right now, I do not care how bad Portugal team as a whole looks bad, it is just a personal desire and I am sure that it is a personal desire for many people in the world.

I can see plenty of different possibilities for the final, but I am 100% guarantee certain that Portugal versus Argentina final would be the most watched world cup final ever in the world, no other world cup final, nor any other sports game ever would be watched as much as that one. It would be watched by hundreds of millions of people, maybe even more than a billion people which would be insane. It is just something we all want to see even though it is unrealistic.

[fullhdpixel]

Yeah, the group is easy but Croatia is known to have much bigger problems against weaker teams than against strong teams like Belgium. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose against Canada (I really think that we shouldn't have problems with Morocco) and then win against Belgium.

I am not very familiar with Canada, so can't make any predictions right now. Till now, I haven't watched any of their matches. BTW, there is no need to overestimate Belgium as well. Recently, their FIFA rankings have gone down and they are essentially a one-man army led by Romelu Lukaku. If the Croatian defenders can tackle Lukaku, then I won't rule out Croatia getting some points from their match against Belgium. And the last team in the group is Morocco. They are regarded as one of the weakest teams who managed to qualify from the CAF.

I am also surprised with the performance of Canada because in presence of Mexico, USA and Costa Rica they were at the top of North and Central America group which is surely amazing performance from them, and now they are in this world cup which is another test case for them after very long time even things are not good for them as they are going to face few toughest teams from UEFA and there is no room for them in this group as Morocco is also increasing their quality and performance with this all most chances they could be at the bottom of this group but good thing happening now they can play against next world cup as they are also co-host with the USA and Mexico, so this could be good for them and for the popularity of this game in this region.