The first phase of the European World Cup Qualifiers has ended. Ten teams guaranteed a place in the World Cup in Qatar. There are only three more places left and several teams considered to be top tier could be left out of what is the most important football tournament in the world.
Among them, Italy, which is always a candidate for title, and Portugal, which in recent world tournaments has always stood out as one of the strongest teams on the planet.
It turns out that neither Italy nor Portugal have yet guaranteed a place in the World 2022. To do so, they will need to participate in a dispute against eight other teams, who will fight for one of the three remaining places.
In the first phase of the European qualifiers, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany managed to qualify. Of these, Spain, France, England and Germany have already been world champions.
How is the European playoff?
The repechage in Europe serves to define the last three places in next year's World Cup. The ten teams that finished second in their groups in the Qualifiers, being Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Wales, Scotland, Turkey, Russia, Poland and North Macedonia, are now part of the list of participants, along with Austria and Czech Republic, who secured a place through overall points in the Nations League in 2020/21.
By draw carried out by UEFA, the six semi-final playoff matches will be defined. The teams with the best campaign during the group stage are in pot 1, deciding the single game at home. In pot 2 are the other six. After the semis, a new draw will define the final repechage duels and also the home teams.
When will the European playoff draw be?
The European playoff draw will be made on November 26, 2021, Friday, at UEFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, in the morning.
The twelve teams will be divided into two pots where they will face each other in a single confrontation in the semi-final playoff. Afterwards, the six winners will again be drawn to define field command in the final phase of the competition.
POT 1: Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden and Wales
POT 2: Poland, North Macedonia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Austria and the Czech Republic
When will the 2022 World Cup playoff be?
Divided into two parts, the playoff semi-final in Europe will be held on March 24, 2022, Thursday, in the afternoon Brasília time. However, it is important to highlight that the schedules will still be defined and confirmed by UEFA itself.
The final, however, will be played on March 29th, Tuesday, also without a scheduled time. With the results, we will know the three classifieds.
Who is qualified for the World Cup?
Qatar teams, Brazil, Argentina, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England and Germany have already booked their tickets for the big dance in November 2022 in the Middle East.
For the Asian, African, Oceanian and Concacaf qualifiers, no team is classified yet as the clashes continue at the beginning of next year.
