draw
Puzzle about World Cup pot 1: Does a win help Nagelsmann at all?
Julian Nagelsmann has been preaching the importance of the best World Cup draw for months. The chances for the national team seem good. But why is FIFA delaying publishing the draw rules?
The national soccer team booked their World Cup ticket with a draw against Slovakia. And yet a victory on Monday (8.45 p.m. / ZDF) in Leipzig is of particular importance for Julian Nagelsmann – that’s what we thought up to now. Only through success would the DFB team secure tenth place in the world rankings and would most likely secure a place in Pot 1 in the World Cup draw.
Early tournament duels against defending champions Argentina, European champions Spain or other top European teams such as France or England would be ruled out in the group phase. The problem: FIFA has not yet officially confirmed the procedure for the draw on December 5th in Washington.
Speculation about rule changes
This is also why there are rumors about a possible new rule that would be a disadvantage for the German national team. What’s behind it? It was previously assumed that the 16 European teams and six teams from the other five confederations, which will play six World Cup participants in the playoffs in March, would end up in the fourth pot in their respective knockout paths with the six worst qualified teams in the world rankings.
However, there is now speculation that FIFA will instead assign the three to four teams per playoff path to the pot that the best-placed team in the world rankings from each path would take.
Italy a possible beneficiary
For example, Italy, ninth in the world rankings, could still slip into pot one, even though the Squadra Azzurra has not yet secured their World Cup ticket. Germany would then only end up in pot two. Portugal could also displace the DFB team, even if direct qualification fails without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo.
It would be bizarre if an outsider like Northern Ireland or even New Caledonia prevailed in one path and was thereby catapulted into a better draw. However, FIFA will also want to avoid sporting injustices. For the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, the order in the world rankings only applied to teams that qualified before the playoffs. It is generally assumed that this rule will be applied again.
So far, the betting variant is just a guess, a rumor. However, the world association remains silent and points out that the regulations for the draw should only be published after all qualifying games have been completed, i.e. on Wednesday at the earliest.
The publication of the relevant edition of the world rankings is also announced for this day. To be on the safe side, Nagelsmann should win against Slovakia in any case, because a draw would secure the World Cup ticket, but the place in pot one would almost certainly be lost, regardless of which rule FIFA chooses.
dpa
