25/04 - 20:00
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins in the middle of November. The final round of qualification takes place at the end of March with the intercontinental playoffs in the summer.
The last week or so, though, was the penultimate block of qualifiers in Asia (AFC), North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL).
One host country and 15 others have already booked their slot in the middle-east at the end of this year. Two will qualify via the intercontinental playoffs in the summer with three in Europe and five in Africa from those confederations’ playoffs.
Asian, North American and South American qualification had some crucial encounters over the last week and this is a round-up of what has happened and what it means…
ASIA (AFC)
The most dramatic storyline to come out of the Asian set of qualifiers over the last week would be the failings of Australia. A 2-2 draw against Oman has left Graham Arnold’s Socceroos in serious danger of missing out on automatic qualification – just like they did in 2018.
However, the difference in this case is that the intercontinental playoff of 2018 was against fourth place in the CONCACAF region, which ended up being Honduras. This time around, though, they would be set to face fifth place in the CONMEBOL region, which would see them likely play one of Peru, Uruguay, Colombia or Chile. It is likely they will face the UAE for a place in those intercontinental playoffs.
As for the rest of that group, Japan defeated Herve Renard’s Saudi Arabia by two goals to nil. That win moves Japan a point behind the Saudi’s with both countries looking set to finish above the Australians and qualify.
In Group A, Iran booked their spot at their third successive FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 win against Iraq last week. South Korea have also qualified for the final tournament with a couple of composed and controlling victories themselves.
NORTH AMERICA (CONCACAF)
The big news to come out of the North American qualifiers this time around was the impressiveness of the Canadian national football team.
Englishman John Herdman took over in 2018, leaving the Canadian’s women team and having only ever coached the New Zealand and Canada women’s teams at professional level. However, the 46 year-old has led The Canucks to the bring of their second ever FIFA World Cup qualification. They began CONCACAF qualifying in the first round and remain unbeaten 17 games later, eight points clear of fourth with just nine points to play for.
The underperformers of the US and Mexico make up the rest of the top three. The United States, under the management of Gregg Berhalter, managed an impressive 3-0 hammering of Honduras in freezing conditions in Minnesota whilst Tata Martino’s Mexico got a much-needed but, once again, underwhelming victory against Panama to open up a gap.
Panama and Costa Rica look set to do battle in March to finish fourth and clinch that intercontinental playoff place, whereby they will play the winners of Oceania (OFC) qualification.
SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL)
Ten South American sides went into this round of international fixtures with two, Argentina and Brazil, having qualified. Ten South American sides come out of this round of international fixtures with two, Argentina and Brazil, having qualified.
Ecuador could only manage back-to-back 1-1 draws against Brazil and Peru. They remain in a very strong position to achieve qualification but haven’t quite managed it yet.
One team that took a big leap towards automatic qualification was that of Uruguay. After 15 years, they said goodbye to Oscar Washington Tabarez and appointed former Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso. A crucial 1-0 win in Paraguay was followed up by a 4-1 hammering of bottom-of-the-table Venezuela. It means that Uruguay and Peru are now the two sides most likely to do battle for the top four.
Chile and Colombia do remain in the hunt for a top four spot but it is likely that they will have to settle for fighting it out for fifth place and the intercontinental playoff place alongside the losers in the Peru-Uruguay battle.
