The Netherlands validated their ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, while Turkey, Ukraine and Wales will have to go through the play-offs to hope to qualify.
There are now ten European teams already qualified for the 2022 World Cup (21 November-18 December 2022), which will be contested by a total of 32 caps: Germany, England, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, ‘Spain, France, Serbia, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Three other additional European nations will also win their tickets at the end of March 2022 at the end of the play-offs, the draw of which will take place in Zürich (Switzerland) on November 26.
The twelve play-offs (the ten runners-up in the group and two teams selected according to the final classification of the League of Nations: Austria and the Czech Republic) will then be divided into three tables. Within each of them will be played the semi-finals (March 24 and 25) and a final (March 28 and 29) in a single match, with extra time and penalty shootouts.
The winner of each final will get his place at the 2022 World Cup.
The six best-ranked teams in qualifying, seeded in the draw, will have the advantage of receiving at home in the semi-final and another draw will determine which nation will receive their home opponent in the final of dams.
Dam teams:
+ Austria
+ Scotland
+ Italy
+ North Macedonia
+ Wales
+ Poland
+ Portugal
+ Czech Republic
+ Russia
+ Sweden
+ Ukraine
+ Turkey
The teams already qualified:
+ Germany
+ England
+ Belgium
+ Croatia
+ Denmark
+ Spain
+ France
+ Serbia
+ Suisse
+ Netherlands
The matches of the evening:
Hassle-free victory for the French
The France team won 2-0 Tuesday in Helsinki at the end of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup with goals scored in the second half by Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé against Finland, not qualified for the tournament in Qatar.
Already qualified, the Blues ended the year 2021 on a positive note, three days after winning their ticket for Qatar against Kazakhstan (8-0). Finland’s defeat benefits Ukraine, second in the group after their 2-0 victory in Bosnia-Herzegovina and qualified for the play-offs scheduled for March 2022.
The Netherlands qualified, Ukraine and Turkey in the play-offs
The Netherlands have done what is necessary to keep their first place and qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, while Turkey and Ukraine will have to go through the dams. At the end of a closed and tense match, the Dutch ended up winning 2-0 against Norway, on a heavy strike from Bergwijn (84th) and a counter concluded by Depay (90th + 1), synonyms of ticket live for the World Cup in Qatar 2022 (21 November – 18 December).
The miracle did not happen for Norway, who absolutely had to win to hope to clinch one of the first two places, counting on a worse performance than their own from Turkey. But the Turks have taken the place of play-off by winning on the field of Montenegro 2-1 and keep their chances of participating in the World Cup.
In Group D, Ukraine snatched second place from Finland, beaten at home 2-0 by the French world champions, already qualified. The Blues won thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema and a superb curled shot from Kylian Mbappé. The Ukrainians defeated Bosnia 2-0, enough success to overtake the Finns by a length with 12 points and thus take part in the play-offs in March.
Wales secured their second place in Group E by hooking Belgium 1-1 in Cardiff, with Kieffer Moore responding to Kevin de Bruyne. The Welsh are ahead of the Czech Republic, victorious over Estonia 2-0 in the same group, which will nevertheless also see the play-offs, to which it qualified through the League of Nations.
