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The draw for the distribution of the groups competing for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been drawn, and resulted in dates for interesting matches.
Although not all venues and kick-off times have been set, with eight teams battling it out for three places (including Wales and Scotland), there is a lot we know about the competition.
What are the most important results produced by the lottery?
The opening match may chart the course for what is to come. There were also surprises in 1990, when Cameroon defeated Argentina, the defending champion. So did Senegal when it beat defending champion France in 2002, in unforgettable moments.
After 20 years, Senegal will have the chance to knock out one of Europe’s leading teams once again, in their first match against the Netherlands on November 21.
Qatar and Ecuador were expected to meet in the opening match, but FIFA announced the confirmed schedule. The African champions will meet the Dutch national team, led by Louis van Gaal, at Al Thumama Stadium, which will be the opening stadium of the tournament.
Unusually, the opening day will witness four matches on the opening day of the World Cup, and England will face Iran in the second match of the competition.
It will be the first time England have played on the opening day of a World Cup since 1966. Would that be a bad omen?
Any manager will tell you there is no such thing as an easy draw, but England will feel they have an excellent chance of qualifying from Group B.
The Three Lions are close to ending their long wait for their first major tournament win since 1966 when they lost to Italy in the Euro 2020 final last summer, and they are hoping for an even better win this time around.
Garth Southgate’s side are among the favorites to win, and they will embark on their group stage journey against an Iranian team they have not previously faced in a major international competition.
England will also face the United States, and possibly a British derby against Scotland or Wales if either team beat Ukraine in a play-off.
“The USA game is important,” Southgate said. “They have some good players and we know what they can do, so this particular (match) is going to be interesting.”
Ghana and Uruguay will meet in Group H, in a match bearing the biggest grudge of the tournament.
The African team was a few millimeters and seconds away from reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 championship, but Luis Suarez pushed the ball away from The goal line at the end of overtime. He was red carded and sent off, but Asamoa Gyan missed the penalty and Uruguay eventually won on penalties.
“We believe this will be a time for revenge,” Ghana Football Association president Kurt Okrako told the BBC.
“We thought we clearly won that match, but Suarez saved the ball. It’s very exciting to play against them again.”
“It’s important to put things in perspective,” he said.
Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez is likely to be in the Uruguay squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
This time, it will face Germany again in the second round of Group E matches on November 27. It will be the only match between giants in the group stage.
The 2010 and 2014 title winners are looking to do better than the last World Cup. After Spain were eliminated in the round of 16, Germany did not succeed in qualifying from their group.
Spain won 6-0 the last time the two teams met, in November 2020 in the UEFA Nations League. But the German team has been revived under coach Hansi Flick.
France beat Croatia in the final of the previous tournament, adding a new title after winning the cup in 1998. There is a remarkable coincidence between these two tournaments and the tournament that will take place this year in Qatar.
The draw created France in Group D alongside Denmark again. France had played against Denmark in the group stage as well, during the two tournaments they won.
If France qualifies, they may face the winners of the England, Scotland and Denmark group, in the quarter-finals.
French journalist Julien Lorenz said that “France against England in the quarter-finals will be fantastic.” “There are a lot of connections between the two countries, and people will be excited to see it,” he added.
He continued, “They are big competitors along with Brazil and Argentina, and one or two other teams. France will be worried about facing England, just as England will be worried about facing France.”
Canada have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, under England manager John Herdman.
But they found themselves in a difficult group, with teams finishing third and fourth at the World Cup in Russia – Croatia and Belgium – along with Morocco, which are ranked second in Africa.
Canada was eliminated from the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, and finished last in its group without scoring goals. A more realistic challenge may be to achieve better results than these.
“We were really happy with the lottery,” Herdman told the BBC. “We wanted some of the big teams to make sure we had this opportunity to be the underdog and test ourselves and also a team like Morocco, a good team and we wouldn’t underestimate it.”
“There is no real pressure on this team. We come without fear, with only a chance in our hearts to see if we can become the underdog story in this World Cup.”
Brazil, which replaced Belgium at the top of the FIFA rankings, a day before the draw, knows a lot about its opponents in the group.
She played against Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in the group stage, during the previous two editions of the World Cup.
She had defeated Cameroon in 2014 with a score of 1-4, tied with Soira 1-1 and defeated Serbia 0-2.
Brazil has not tested itself against a European team in nearly three years due to the Covid pandemic and the European Nations League. European teams had fewer dates for friendlies.
This shortage in the face of European teams, worries Brazil coach “Tite”.
This may be the last World Cup participation for Argentina’s Lionel Messi (34 years) and Poland’s Robert Levadonsky (33 years).
The two winners of the FIFA Player of the Year award for the past three years will face each other on November 30, at the conclusion of the group matches.
Messi scored six goals in 19 matches in his participation in the World Cup matches, while Levadonsky has not yet scored, and he started his career with the World Cup matches in 2018.
Usually some headlines make after a big tournament draw with the phrase “group of death” – the nickname used to describe a group at the World Cup that seems more challenging than others.
The fourth group may be the most likely to win the “Group of Death” title, because it includes former winners of the title, Germany and Spain. Despite the aforementioned good omen for France, you will know that Denmark will not be easy after reaching the Euro 2020 semi-finals.
But according to the average rankings, the second group is actually the hardest. It includes England, Iran, the USA and one of the teams from Wales, Scotland or Ukraine, who participated in the European qualifiers.
good lottery for the African Champions
It has been a good year for Senegal after winning the Africa Cup of Nations and they are likely to be happy in their group for the World Cup.
They will face the Netherlands, Ecuador and hosts Qatar in Group A – to avoid the higher-ranked teams – and they hope to at least repeat their performances at the 2002 World Cup.
At the time, she had defeated France in the opening match, and finished second in the group, reaching the quarter-finals, before being eliminated by Turkey in the extra time of the match.