Topic: 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers - page 120. (Read 35015 times)

Especially excited for group G, which is a low-key death group.
Swiss gave Brazil a lot of trouble in 2018. They eliminated World Champions France in the Euros. Cameroon is one of the best sides in Africa, but others are not going to be a fan of the team they'll face against them this time. Swiss-Serbian matches are always exciting.

Keep your fingers crossed and let's see what happens. Nevertheless, Brazil should be the group champions.

Like every world cup, we didn’t have a death group in this edition although if I were asked which group is the most competitive, I would say group G as we know from where Switzerland and Serbia have come. They sent Italy & Portugal respectively to the play off stage.
Nevertheless, I guess we will see a good competition from Latin America this time.

Big teams avoid to meet in the group stages due to the drawing procedure where teams are categorized into 4 tiers according to their strength

Here my thoughts:
A) Netherlands for sure, Senegal likely 2nd (unless they lose against Ecuador)
B) England for sure, USA or the missing Euroteam 2nd
C) Argentina 1st, then the 2nd is the almost equal fight between Poland and Mexico

Now the "boring" groups:
D) France and Denmark
E) Spain and Germany
F) Belgium and Croatia

and finally the rest:
G) Brazil without problems, the rest is open though
H) Portugal and Uruguay are the favorites, but I have the feeling that both Ghana and South Korea should not be underestimated here.

Before the drawing was done I actually had high expectations if we were to see a hell group would happen in this year world cup, but it turned out that my hopes were in vain, because I saw the results of the draw it turned out that many big teams were avoided to meet at least 2 other big teams In the group phase, it looks like in the last 16 later we will get a lot of balanced matches between the big teams, because each group is currently filled on average by 2 big teams and 2 non-seeded teams in my opinion.
But I'm quite grateful if England are in Group B which contains teams like Iran, USA and also Wales/Scotland/Ukraine which in my opinion is not a strong opponent for England

My prediction for the team that advances to the last 16:

Group A,
Group Winner: Netherlands
Runner Up : Senegal

Group B,
Group Winner: England
Runner Up : United States

Group C,
Group Winner: Argentina
Runner Up : Poland

Group D,
Group Winner: France
Runner Up : Denmark


Group E,
Group Winner: Germany
Runner Up : Spain

Group F,
Group Winner: Belgium
Runner Up : Croatia

Group G,
Group Winner: Brazil
Runner Up : Switzerland/Serbia

Group H,
Group Winner: Portugal
Runner Up : Uruguay

It's a nice list. Thanks.

Group A: Senegal and Netherlands.
Group B: It could be England and Scotland/Wales/Ukraine. I think European football is better.
Group C: Argentina is the clear favourite. There is a balance of power between the other teams.
Group D: France and Denmark.
Group E: Spain and Germany. It won't be a surprise.
Group F: Belgium and Croatia.
Group G: Difficult group. Like a witch's cauldron.
Group H: Portugal is my first favourite. Others are uncertain. They all have equal strength.

Groups G and H are worth following.

I'm also curious about this information. I thought it is the tradition that the host country play the first match in tournament   after the opening ceremony is done. I try to search for information concerning that but nothing is uploading about that for now. We need to know if there is a particular reason for that or it is just by chance that host nations play in opening matches.

Although Argentina and Portugal have many lists of pro players, the fact is that in the World Cup in the last 3 periods only Argentina could advance to the final with Germany in the 2014 World Cup. While Portugal is not reliable, but honestly I want to speculate about the dream match of Argentina vs Portugal in the final World Cup in Qatar 2022.

Yeap, the two European countries were already part of the Brazil group in 2018.
Against Serbia is the difficult mission of facing Brazil in their first game, which can be a great motivator if they get at least a draw in their debut, or else be a great disheartening if they lose with a more expressive score.
In any case, Serbia is my best option for the second spot in this group.

Well, in general, the hosts play in the opening, just not the first, but the third in turn. It will be an evening match, apparently there are too many matches in the evening to accommodate, that's why they gave the first game Netherlands vs Senegal. The evening game, which will be watched by most of the audience, will be held with Qatar against Ecuador.

We can dream on a final between Argentina and Portugal right ? Both groups allow them to meet in the final so it will be nice to see and epic on the same time if at least 1 of them can reach the final. Personally I would like Argentina to win that trophy as they are my favorites in World Cups but if they meet Portugal it will be very hard for me to cheer against Cr7 as my favorite World Cup team will meet my favorite all time player.

Also , an important question : Why is not Qatar playing the opening game ? are they afraid of something or what ?

Well, I think you can pretty much predict how the group stage will end:

Group A: Netherlands and Senegal for sure.
Group B: England and USA.
Group C: Argentina and Mexico/Poland whereas I would tend more to Mexico.
Group D: France and Denmark.
Group E: Spain and Germany.
Group F: Belgium and Croatia.
Group G: This group is the only one imho which is totally open. Brazil should be the favorite but all others can be reach the next round too.
Group H: Portugal and Uruguay.

I just read that the opening game will be Netherlands vs Senegal. I thought that the hosts always play the opening game, wasn't it like that so far? Did the rule change in this WC?
Qatar is playing Ecuador at the same day but a bit later.

WC is starting on November 21st and lasts almost a month - final game is scheduled on December 18th.

Interesting groups.
The Netherlands has obviously already won the jackpot and they can be very happy.
I think that in the group A Senegal is stronger than Qatar and will win second place.
In the second group, England and any European team have the best chances.
Argentina got an easy group and Poland and Mexico will fight for second place.
In Group D, France and Denmark have an advantage over other teams.
In Group E, the obvious favorites are Spain and Germany.
In Group F, I expect Croatia and Belgium to win the first two places.
In Group G, Brazil is ahead of the others and I expect Serbia and Switzerland to fight for second place. It is interesting that we had almost the same group at the last World Cup and now Serbia has a chance to take revenge on Switzerland.
In Group H, Portugal has a small advantage, but Uruguay and Ghana also have chances.  
Of course, surprises are always possible and often happen at world championships.

Netherlands to win their group, Senegal to qualify in group A.
England to win their group, United States to qualify in group B.
Argentina to win their group, Mexico to qualify in group C.
France to win group D, Denmark to qualify.
Portugal to win group H and to win the World Cup.

This are my own assumptions!

In the group H Portugal is the strongest among all and I believe they will be the winner, Ghana and SouthKorea  are of the same level of performance. I don't think if Ghana will be able to qualify in this round when we have team like Portugal and Uruguay,  this two teams makes the groups H to be so I interesting.

Mane alone can't do much, what happened in the last games in senegal Is that African teams are very weak and senegal  were a little stronger, just look at the number of goals they scored in each game? it was disappointing and in this world the teams are very strong, look at the netherlands, look at Ecuador. they are two very strong teams with great quality and that score a lot of goals... senegal will be on the way, they didn't pass in this group. unfortunately as an African I feel sad to say this, but I see African games and the difference between European and American games. in the past something like 10 years ago we had very strong African teams that could face European teams today the situation is bad

The Netherlands has an easy group, we can expect them to win all the matches! There will be a fight for that second place, and I see Senegal there, although Qatar may surprise, they are hosts after all!
A similar situation in group B! England will dominate and there will be a fight for that second place! I would not write off the Americans, maybe they can do something more, other teams are not much stronger!
Group C is interesting! I agree that the Saudis are outsiders and that they will take the last place, which means that there will be a fight for first and second place.
I guess there should be no surprises in groups D and E! France, Denmark, Germany, and Spain are stronger and these are teams we can see in the finals!
In Group F I think Belgium and Croatia go further, stronger names and stronger teams! I don't see that Canada and Morocco can do anything against these two teams, but we'll see!
Group G is very interesting, at the last World Cup Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia were also in the same group (only with Costa Rica)! It was close and the Swiss celebrated against Serbia and went on, Brazil was first in the group! Whether it will be similar or Serbia may surprise this time we will see!
From Group H I see Portugal and Uruguay in the first two places, but nothing is certain here, I agree that the teams are pretty much the same as their chances of passing!

Easy groups for the two top contenders to win the World Cup which I think are still Argentina and Brazil,we know they always start as favorites although some surprise results have happened at least to Argentina when it was being managed by the great Maradona.Overall the groups for strong teams like France,Netherlands,Germany and England look also easy for the top contenders from Europe so I am assuming we will see some intense fight since 1/16 and up.I doubt other teams in the groups will be able to cause surprise results to these teams.

Obviously Netherland must top the group. The second place comes between Ecuador and Senegal. I think Senegal and Cameroon appear to be in fair groups to advance in the last of 16. With Senegal, I haven't heard of Qatar so much with football despite them being the host nation. Ecuador cannot bring anything extraordinary against Senegal, except for Netherlands in group (A). But one thing is for sure, there is always one shocker in every group stage. Who you’ll expect won't come out. Doesn't matter who meets who, depends on the motives of going to Qatar. Most of the teams are going just to represent, while others are hungry for the trophy.

For Group E maybe it will be a bit difficult but it is clear that there are Spain and Germany who stand at the top there. as for Japan and New Zeland/Costa Rica I think this would just be a dark horse but it would be great if they came up with something interesting.
For Group D, France and Denmark are still the seeds, especially with Denmark who managed to be heroic at Euro 2020 then