The confrontation between the four-time world champion Germany and the 2010 champion Spain will be the most prominent confrontation in the first round of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, according to the lottery that was drawn Friday in Doha.
Qatar, hosts Ecuador, will meet for the opening on November 21, while the traditional “group of death” was absent from the finals.
Spain had inflicted a historic loss to Mannschaft 6-0 on November 17, 2020, in the European Nations League, under the supervision of its former coach Joachim Loew, but the current German team appears completely different under the era of Hansi Flick, who received his training at the end of the European Cup last summer.
The German national team, champion in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014, came out with nostalgia in the last edition of the first round, in a modest group that included Mexico, Sweden and South Korea, and came in last place.
Commenting on the draw, Flick said: “It’s an interesting draw, but it’s not easy. We expect a lot from this tournament. Japan has many Japanese players in the Bundesliga and they have quality. We wanted to play a friendly match with them, but it’s over now.”
As for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, whose country was eliminated from the last 16 of the European Cup once morest England, he said: “It was not possible to avoid falling with a strong opponent. We have negative memories, but the same thing does not happen twice.”
And the lottery favored the defending champion France, and placed it in a group at its disposal, along with Denmark, Tunisia, Peru, the UAE or Australia.
France won its second title following 1998 at home in the last edition in Russia, beating Croatia 4-2 in the final.
Brazil, the world champion 5 times in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 (a record), and its star Neymar, will face Switzerland and Serbia for the second time in a row (Brazil won 2-0 in Moscow), in addition to Cameroon.
As for Qatar, which hosts the World Cup for the first time in the Middle East and is making its first participation in the football wedding, it will play the opening match once morest Ecuador in the first group, which also includes the Netherlands, the three-time runner-up for the World Cup, returning following an absence from 2018, and Senegal, the African champion with its star Sadio Mane.
Argentina, led by its star Lionel Messi, 35, the best player in the world seven times, who is likely to participate in his last (the fifth) World Cup, is facing Poland and its top scorer Robert Lewandowski, as well as once morest Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
The same applies to Portugal and its star Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, the best player in the world five times, who is also likely to play in his finals. It came in Group G along with Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea, and the latter is led by a Portuguese coach, Paulo Bento.
Coincidentally, the United States and Iran, who are politically antagonistic, fell face to face for the second time in the history of the World Cup following the 1998 edition in France, when the meeting ended with Iran winning 2-1.
On the other hand, England, seeking to win their second title following the first at home in 1966, came in an acceptable group along with the United States, Iran and one of three other teams: Wales, Scotland or Ukraine.
England reached the last European Cup final and lost to Italy on penalties.
Teams on the waiting list
For the first time in the history of the drawing of the lottery, the identity of the teams was not complete, as three matches remain in different supplements, the first between Peru, fifth in South America and fifth in Asia (UAE or Australia), and between New Zealand, champions of Oceania, and Costa Rica, fifth in the CONCACAF region (Central and North America and the Caribbean). , In addition to the European supplement, where Wales, which surpassed Austria a few days ago, is waiting for the winner of the confrontation with Scotland and Ukraine, all of these matches to be held next June.
The tournament also witnessed the absence of Russia following it was excluded from the European play-off due to its invasion of Ukraine, while Italy is the largest absentee for the second time in a row, following its shocking loss to North Macedonia a few days ago in a continental playoff.
The matches will be held on 8 stadiums, most of which were built for this event and are located in an area not separated by more than 50 kilometers, which will facilitate the transfer of game supporters from one stadium to another, especially following the development of a metro network.
