The draw for the World Cup play-offs took place in Zurich on Friday, and three tickets to Qatar are available. Path C turns out to be particularly difficult – at least two “big ones” will miss the World Cup.
The draw for the World Cup play-offs took place in Zurich on Friday, and three tickets to Qatar are available. Path C turns out to be particularly difficult – at least two “big ones” will miss the World Cup.
Who is at the World Cup? Ciro Immobile, Cristiano Ronaldo or Burak Yilmaz.imago images / Insidefoto
The draw for the World Cup play-offs revealed some interesting constellations. The pairings at a glance:about:blank
Way A:
Semi-final 1: Scotland v Ukraine
Semi-final 2: Wales v Austria (home right in final)
Way B:
Semi-final 1: Russia v Poland (home right in the final)
Semi-final 2: Sweden – Czech Republic
Way C
Semi-final 1: Italy v North Macedonia
Semi-final 2: Portugal v Turkey (home right in the final)
For Mancini “tricky”, for Kuntz “difficult”
“It’s very difficult for us. North Macedonia is a good team and then we have to play the final away, in Portugal or in Turkey. It’s very tricky,” said Italy coach Roberto Mancini during the draw. The Squadra Azzurra could miss the final tournament for the second time in a row, after it already happened at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
It will also be particularly tricky for the former German U-21 coach Kuntz. His Turkey would have to defeat Portugal and Italy, which is clearly favored against North Macedonia, one after the other in order to qualify for the final tournament in winter 2022 (November 21 to December 18). “This is definitely the most difficult path. The biggest wish is to bring the grand final to Turkey so we can see what is possible for us,” said Kuntz.
The ten runners-up as well as the two best group winners of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League , who did not finish in one of the top two places in their World Cup qualifying group, qualified for the play-offs . Austria and the Czech Republic were in the lottery pot thanks to the Nations League.
The six best runners-up in the group were placed in Pot 1 (Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Wales) and thus have home rights in the semi-finals. Ukraine (Pot 2) and Russia could not be drawn against each other after a UEFA decision for political reasons.
The twelve teams contest three play-off paths (A, B and C), each with a semi-final game and a final (excluding return legs). The winners of these three paths qualify for the World Cup.
Asia versus South America, CONCACAF versus Oceania
Play-offs will also take place in the other associations. The AFC team (Asia) will compete against the CONMEBOL team (South America), the CONCACAF team (North and Central America) will meet the OFC team (Oceania). The fifth from Asia will meet the fifth from South America and the fourth from North and Central America will meet the best nation from Oceania.
None of the four representatives has yet been determined. According to the current status, Australia or Japan could get the playoff place for Asia and should then face a strong South American representative such as Colombia, Peru, Chile or Uruguay. Panama currently ranks fourth in North and Central America, with a likely opponent from Oceania being New Zealand.
Where to watch the play-off games
DAZN broadcasts all six semi-finals and the three finals of the European playoffs – a total of nine play-offs – live and exclusively. The semi-finals will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2022, the finals on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.