The draw for the first round (group stage) of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which was held today, Friday, in the Qatari capital, Doha, put the Arab teams in difficult tests at the beginning of their career in the tournament through four confrontations with representatives of Europe and South America. Although the Qatari national team, the representative of the host country, is away from facing the teams that previously won the championship, the Qatari team (Al Annabi) will have three difficult tests, as it begins its career in the tournament against the Ecuadorean team, which made great performances in the South American qualifiers qualifying for the tournament and booked its place in the World Cup. well deserved.
Annabi will also meet his Senegalese counterpart, who was crowned last February with the title of the African Nations Cup in Cameroon, with the conclusion of Annabi’s campaign in the first group in the first round of the World Cup against the Dutch team, which reached the final of the tournament three previous times, the most recent of which was in 2010 in South Africa.
At the same time, the Saudi team (the green) will have a very difficult start against the Argentine team, the second South American qualifier and the World Cup winner in the 1978 and 1986 editions, knowing that the Argentine team is currently ranked fourth in the world.
The Saudi national team will then meet in the next two matches in Group C with Mexico and Poland, respectively.
The Tunisian team (the Eagles of Carthage) will face two very difficult European tests, where it will meet its Danish counterpart, the former European champion (Euro 1992) at the beginning of its campaign in Group D, which ends with the other European confrontation against the French team, the world champion.
The Carthage Eagles are waiting for their opponent in the second match of the group, which will be determined through the continental playoff, where the qualifier for this supplement will be the UAE, Australian or Peruvian team.
The Moroccan team was drawn into the sixth group, during which it will undergo three fiery tests, as it begins with its Croatian counterpart, who reached the final of the last World Cup in 2018 in Russia, and then meets the Atlas Lions in the second match with the Belgian team (Red Devils), which fell yesterday from the top of the world rankings. The teams of the game moved to the second place in the classification, knowing that it was crowned in the last World Cup in third place.
The Moroccan team concludes its march in the first round of the tournament by confronting its Canadian counterpart, who qualified for the expected World Cup after leading the qualifiers for the Concacaf Confederation (North, Central America and the Caribbean) ahead of the Mexican and American teams.
The third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh groups look very strong in light of the strong levels of the different teams in each of these groups.
And the Spanish team, which won the World Cup in 2010, collides with its German counterpart, who won the world title four previous times, the most recent of which was in 2014 in Brazil.
The two big teams will meet in the second round of Group E matches, in which the Spanish team opens its career by confronting the winner of the continental play-off between New Zealand and Costa Rica, while the German team (Mannschaft) begins its career in the tournament against its Japanese counterpart, one of the four representatives of the Asian continent in this tournament.
In the third round of matches in the same group, the Spanish team will meet its Japanese counterpart, while the German team will face the team promoted from the continental play-off.
The seventh group appears to be one of the most difficult groups that resulted from this draw, as the Brazilian national team faces Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon, respectively.
In the second group, the English team, the European runner-up and fourth-placed in the 2018 World Cup, will open its career in the Qatar World Cup by facing its stubborn Iranian counterpart, while the US team will meet in the same round the remaining team of the European continent, which will be decided by the European play-off next June. It is one of three teams: Wales, Scotland and Ukraine .
The Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and his companions will start their career in the Qatar World Cup against Ghana, one of the five representatives of the African continent, while the Portuguese team will face Uruguay and South Korea in the next two matches.
The draw, at Qatar Convention Center, today resulted in the following groups:
Group A: Qatar – Ecuador – Senegal – the Netherlands.
Group B: England – Iran – USA – the winner of the European play-off (Wales, Scotland or Ukraine).
Group C: Argentina – Saudi Arabia – Mexico – Poland.
Group D: France – the winner of the international supplement (UAE, Australia or Peru) – Denmark – Tunisia.
Group E: Spain – the winner of the international supplement (New Zealand or Costa Rica) – Germany – Japan.
Group F: Belgium – Canada – Morocco – Croatia.
Group G: Brazil – Serbia – Switzerland – Cameroon.
Group H: Portugal – Ghana – Uruguay – South Korea.
Qatar will host the World Cup in eight stadiums, including seven stadiums built specifically for the tournament, which are “Lusail”, “Al Bayt”, “Educational City”, “Ahmed Bin Ali”, “Al Thumama”, “974” and “Al Janoub” stadiums, in addition to the stadium Khalifa International,” which underwent a comprehensive renovation and development several years ago in preparation for this world championship, which is being held for the first time in the Middle East.
The tournament will be held during the period from November 21 to December 18, with the participation of 32 teams, to be the last version of the World Cup of this size, as the number of participants in the tournament will rise to 48 teams starting from the next edition in 2026.
The activities of the first round of the tournament will be held over 12 days, starting from November 21 until the second of December, while the activities of the second round (the round of sixteen) will be held from the third to the sixth of December, then the quarter-finals on the ninth and tenth days. of the same month.
The semi-final matches of the championship will be held on the 13th and 14th of the same month, while the match for third place will be held on the 17th of the same month.
During the first round of the tournament, four matches will be held daily, with a round of two groups per day, given the convergence of distances between the eight host stadiums.