The qualifiers are set up a bit differently now - 12 teams will be split into 3 pots. Each team will play a semifinal and a final, so from 3 pots there will be 3 winners that will secure qualifications to the World Cup.
Since each game will be a one-off, the room for error is nonexistent. Also - the probability to play another big team in the final is really high.
Bottom line - I'm really glad that Croatia was able to qualify directly. This is way harder than before.
Yes, Croatia should real promise the last world cup and I am happy for them too. But I am really sad about Portugal not qualifying directly. As this is Cristiano Ronaldo's last world cup I think deserved better from his own team.
While it is sad at the end of the day they have no one other than themselves to blame, they only needed two draws during their last two matches to get their ticket to the world cup and they were unable to do this under circumstances that were very favorable to them.
And what should be really disappointing is not only that they failed to qualify directly to the world cup but how this happened, they allowed a goal at the last minutes of the most important game of the qualifiers, which tells me they let their guard down as they felt they were already qualified to the world cup, and we will have to see if Portugal can get their ticket to the world cup, something not easy when there are many good teams which could beat them any given day.
Such things happen, didn’t Italy fail to qualify for the last World Cup and later they became European champions?
Portugal should also have lost in the match against Ireland, so this defeat against Serbia is not too much of a surprise either, the better team deservedly won.
If Portal does not raise the level of their game and aggression, they will not go to the World Cup.
As for Ronaldo, given how he plays at the moment, it is not impossible for him to perform at the next World Cup in 5 years, and I think that is his wish.