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In Zurich on Monday, the groups for qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were drawn in a virtual ceremony. The Swiss team will face Italy, as in EM 2021.
After the European Championship, Switzerland will once again compete with our southern neighbor, Italy. The other opponents are Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
Qualifying begins next March and ends a year later with playoff knockout games. The ten group winners qualify directly for the final round, while the runners-up have three tickets to the playoffs. The finals in Qatar will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
Duel with strong Italians
With the four-time world champion and neighbors to the south, Italian lottery fairy Daniele De Rossi gave the Swiss attractive but difficult luck from the first jackpot. The Italians recently won all ten qualifying matches for the European Championship, and also reached the Final Four of the Nations League undefeated. The last time the Squadra Azzurra coached by Roberto Mancini lost was more than two years ago in the Nations League against Portugal (0: 1).
The first duels with Italy in more than ten years have additional appeal for national coach Vladimir Petkovic from his past as Lazio Roma coach and for Serie A legionaries Ricardo Rodríguez (Torino), Remo Freuler (Atalanta Bergamo) and Simon Sohm (Parma).
In return, Switzerland got rid of the most unpleasant tasks from a sports and travel point of view. Northern Ireland from the third well still knows the SFV selection from the tough 2018 World Cup tie. At that time, the Swiss prevailed with an overall score of 1-0.
Holland, Turkey and Norway in a group
Defending champions France will face Ukraine and Finland, among others, in Group D. Portugal, European champions, will face Serbia and Ireland in Group A, while England will play Poland in Group I. Group G with Holland, Turkey and Norway it is complicated.
Austria can be considered lucky, that it was extracted from Denmark from the first boat and also meets Scotland, Israel, the Faroe Islands and Moldova. Germany was also lucky with Romania and Iceland as opponents of pots 2 and 3. Liechtenstein is also in the group of Germany.
A total of 55 European nations are represented in the rankings. For political and geographical reasons, some teams could not be integrated into the same group. Two Nations League group winners who have not yet qualified may also participate in the runner-up playoffs. Due to the coronavirus, the draw was not held with a gala as usual, but virtually.
Group A:
Portugal
Serbia
Ireland
Luxembourg
Azerbaijan
B Group:
Spain
Sweden
Greece
Georgia
Kosovo
Group C:
Italy
Switzerland
North Ireland
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Group D:
France
Ukraine
Finland
Bosnia Herzegovina
Kazakhstan
Group E:
Belgium
Welsh
Czech Republic
Belarus
Estonia
Group F:
Denmark
Austria
Scotland
Israel
Faroe Islands
Moldova
Group G:
Netherlands
Turkey
Norway
Montenegro
Latvia
Gibraltar
Group H:
Croatia
Slovakia
Russia
Slovenia
Cyprus
malt
Group I:
England
Poland
Hungary
Albania
Andorra
San Marino
Group J:
Germany
Romania
Island
North macedonia
Armenia
Liechtenstein
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