The 2022 World Cup is soon upon us! Around a year from now, the newly-built stadiums in Qatar will be home to the best football in the world. While this competition specifically has been a subject of controversy, all of the teams still want to be there to represent their nations. After the first round of qualifiers in Europe ended, there was a draw for the second, playoff round, which will give us three more European teams in the World Cup.
Thus, here are our 2022 World Cup playoff draw takeaways (so far).
2022 World Cup playoff draw takeaways
One of Italy and Portugal is not going to the World Cup
Starting off with the obvious one, one of these two magnificent teams will not feature in the World Cup. The draw was set up so that there are three parallel tournaments of four teams happening. Two teams would advance to the final of the mini-tournament and the winner will be going to Qatar. The luck of the draw put Portugal against Turkey, and Italy versus Northern Macedonia, both in the same tournament. Thus, only one of these teams will go through to the final tournament.
How did we get here? Portugal had a surefire ticket to Qatar, but their last two matches kept them out of the tournament directly. They drew away to the Republic of Ireland in a completely meaningless game for the Irish. Then, in a head-to-head game with Serbia for direct qualification, Portugal needed a draw or a win, but lost to an Aleksandar Mitrovic header in the 90th minute, even after going up by one in the second minute of the game.
Italy, on the other hand, recorded four draws in their group. Two of them were against direct competitors, Switzerland, but one of them came against Bulgaria at home, and then away to Northern Ireland when they needed a win in the last matchday. Thus, the Italians, as European champions, might not feature in the World Cup. An important thing to note, as well, is that this could be the last big tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo, who would be 41 at the time of the next World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Mexico, and Canada in 2026.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic might have played his last game at a World Cup
Another legend of the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, will be fighting his way through the playoffs for a chance to experience World Cup football for one last time. His Sweden was unable to go through the groups, finishing second behind Spain in Group B. This came despite beating Spain at home in the first part of the qualification. After that, crushing defeats to Greece and Georgia destroyed their chance to qualify directly. One final loss to Spain in the last matchday sealed their path through the playoffs.
Their path also consists of Russia, Poland, and their opposition in the semi-final, the Czech Republic. Interestingly, both Russia and Poland played in the 2018 World Cup, where Poland had a poor tournament, but the hosts Russia went through to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by Croatia, eventual finalists, in a penalty shoot-out. The Czech Republic last featured in the World Cup in 2006, when it was held in Germany.
It is unknown whether Ibrahimovic would even feature for Sweden, should they qualify. The legend is now 40 and will be 41 when the World Cup begins next year. He briefly retired from the national team in 2018 when he was not included for the World Cup in Russia, but has since returned and almost played in the EURO's this year. Due to all of this, if Sweden qualifies and Ibrahimovic is not retired from football, he will definitely feature in his third World Cup.
A possible surprise for the World Cup might be hidden in Path A
In the parts above, Paths B and C were looked over, but what is hiding in Path A? There are four teams here, and whichever one qualifies, could be a landmine for every squad in the final tournament. Austria will be playing Wales and Scotland will face Ukraine. Interestingly enough, Austria actually finished fourth in their group, but due to winning Nations League, actually ended up in the playoffs.
The other three teams, however, finished second in their groups. Wales beat out the Czech Republic for second in Group E, Ukraine secured a key win over Bosnia&Herzegovina in the last matchday to trump Finland, while Scotland was in the group with Austria and finished above them and Israel. All of these teams were fighting for playoffs at best, as their groups featured such stalwarts of European football like Belgium and France.
On paper, it seems like the favorite is Scotland, who missed out on direct qualification by just four points. Key draws against Austria and Israel, and a loss to Denmark sealed their fate and put them in these playoffs. However, these are four similar teams with distinct styles of football, so it would be ungrateful to assume favorites and underdogs. They all have an equal chance to finish first in this path, which might not feature huge teams or legends, but will be the most competitive.
Nonetheless, do you agree with our 2022 World Cup playoff draw takeaways?
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