Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 6th. Question: Summary of World Cup Preliminaries: 30 seats have been reserved for the top 32 of the World Cup, Wales will take the last train in Europe
Xu Shihao
After the European play-off final of the World Qualifiers on the 5th, the Welsh team at home beat the Ukraine team 1:0, and entered the World Cup finals once more following a lapse of 64 years. Wales became the 30th team to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, with the remaining two places to be determined through the results of the intercontinental play-offs.
On the 8th, Beijing time, Australia and the United Arab Emirates will compete for 0.5 intercontinental play-off spots in the Asian region. The winner will compete with Peru, the fifth place in South America, for a place in the race; while Costa Rica, which ranks fourth in North America and the Caribbean, will compete for Fight for another seat with Oceania champions New Zealand.
With Wales winning the last World Cup seat in Europe, all 13 European places have been released: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal and Wales. What is more surprising is the European Championship champion Italy, the “azure” was beaten by North Macedonia in the previous play-off and missed the World Cup for two consecutive times.
Brazil and Argentina, the two major powerhouses in South America, were successfully promoted with undefeated records. Brazil ranked first with 14 wins, 3 draws and 45 points, setting a new record for South America in the World Preliminaries, while Argentina ranked first with 11 wins and 6 draws. two. There is still a World Preliminary make-up match between the two teams that has not been played, but it will not have any impact on the South American rankings. Uruguay and Ecuador won the other two pass-through places in South America, while Colombia and Chile failed to qualify due to poor performance.
In addition to the host Qatar, the Asian region has produced four places, including Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan. The African powerhouses Cameroon, Senegal and other teams all advanced, while Egypt, led by Salah, regretted missing Qatar.
So far, the grouping situation of the World Cup is basically clear: Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands; Group B: England, Iran, the United States, Wales; Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland; Group D: France, Intercontinental Additional Match winners (UAE/Australia/Peru), Denmark, Tunisia; Group E: Spain, Intercontinental play-off winners (Costa Rica/New Zealand), Germany, Japan; Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia; Group G: Brazil , Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon; Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea.
The host Qatar will face the traditional powerhouse Netherlands and the new African champion Senegal in Group A. It is not easy to advance. Spain, Germany and Japan are placed in Group E, with the winner between Costa Rica and New Zealand entering this “group of death”. Relatively speaking, the “sign luck” of the “South American Two Heroes” is good, and they have not encountered a very strong opponent.
In Group B, Iran is surrounded by three “Anglo-American” teams from England, the United States and Wales. Among them, the “English Derby” in England and Wales may be a major attraction. In addition, France and Denmark in Group D, Belgium and Croatia in Group F, and Portugal and Uruguay in Group H will also be the focus of the battle.
In the middle of this month, the last two places in the World Cup finals will be determined. The Qatar World Cup will be held from November 21 to December 18 this year.