World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

theturnaroundfromnewcoachYakinin
thedugout to slowdownItaly’sprogress.
DenmarkwereswepttotheEurosemi-
finalsona powerful wave of emotion
arisingoutoftheChristianEriksen
drama.Whethertheycanrekindlesuch
spiritisopentoquestionbuttheyboast
a securecushion thankstoa 4-0away
winoverAustria,whoproved no one’s
pushoversinthesummer.
England’sreturntoactionwill be
accompaniedbythe usualPremier
Leaguemanagers’bleatsaboutfixture
pressure andinjury fears.Polandand
Hungarypresentawkwardstumbling
blocks,whetherGareth Southgate looks
tomake changestohis
teamorstickwith the
formulathattookthem
tothe Euro 2 02 0 final.
Eitherway,forallthe
talent,Englandmust
prove more consistently
creative to justifyWorldCup optimism.
ItalymissingoutonRussia 2018 will
offer a warning to theotherbig-hitters.
EvenPortugal,Spain,Franceand
Germany must conquertheirown
nervesaswellasrivalspoisedto
punishpost-Euro jitters.
IfCristianoRonaldodoesn’tsurpass
AliDaei’s all-timeinternationalscoring
record againstRepublicofIreland,he
willbe confidentofdoingitinoneof

Portugal’s followingqualifiersagainst

Azerbaijan,Luxembourg or Serbia,for

whomAleksandarMitrovictopsthe

scoringchartswithfivegoals. Spain

mustenvysucha strikertocomplement

theirbuild-upskills:thatweaknesscost

thembadlyinEuro 2 020.Still,once

theyhavewithstoodanimmediate

testinSwedentherestshould be

comparativelyplainsailing.

DidierDeschampssurvivedFrance’s

misfiringEuro 2020 campaignand

a four-pointcushion should permita

comfortableresumptionoftheirWorld

Cupdefence.Noreigningtitle-holders

haveeverfailedtoqualify(Uruguay did

notenterin 1934 after winningin 19 30)

butLesBleusmustsortoutattacking

balanceamongAntoineGriezmann,

KarimBenzemaand KylianMbappe

toavoidsucha fate.

Atleast Deschampsneednot

reshufflehisentireteam,unlikeFlick

withGermany.JoshuaKimmich,Serge

GnabryandCo. maycometoruetheir

shockhome defeatbyNorth Macedonia

inMarch.

Every newtournamentprovidesa

platform forsurpriseandArmeniacan

fulfilthisroleafterwinningtheirfirst

three GroupJ ties.GoalsfromTigran

Barseghyaninspiredhomevictoriesover

IcelandandRomania,anindicationof

thechallengeawaitingin Yerevanafter

thoselongflightsintoEuropeanAsia.

NotethatNorth Macedonia,thrilled

bytheiroutsiders’Eurodebut,alsobegan

wellinpursuitofwhat will probablybe

the“other” qualifyingslotwithGermany.

Fewothermidand low-rangenations

threatentodisturbthe statusquo.

Scotland,encouragedbytheirEuro

campaign,canreachthe WorldCup

finalsforthefirsttimesince1 998

throughGroupF.Wales’October 8

triptoCzechRepubliccanbecrucialin

GroupE while,the nextday,thefateof

TeemuPukki’s Finland mayrestontheir

hometieagainstUkraineinGroupD.

Winnersof thetengroupsall

qualifydirectforthefinalsinQatar.

Theotherthreeslotswillbe decided

byplay-offsfeaturingthe tengroup

runners-up andthetwobest non-

qualifyingNationsLeaguegroup

winners(basedonNationsLeague

overallranking).Thesingle-leg

semi-finalswillbe playednext

March 24- 25 and thesingle-

matchfinalsonMarch 2 8-29.

GroupA

p W D L pts

1 Portual 3 2 1 0 7

2 Serbia 3 2 1 0 7

3 Luxembour 2 1 0 1 3

4 Re. of Ireland 2 0 0 2 0

5 Azerbaian 2 0 0 2 0

GroupB

p W D L pts

1 Sain 3 2 1 0 7

2 Sweden 2 2 0 0 6

3 Greece 2 0 2 0 2

4 Georia 3 0 1 2 1

5 Kosovo 2 0 0 2 0

GroupC

p W D L pts

1 Ital 3 3 0 0 9

2 Switzerland 2 2 0 0 6

3 Northern Ireland 2 0 1 1 1

4 Bularia 3 0 1 2 1

5 Lithuania 2 0 0 2 0

GroupD

p W D L pts

1 France 3 2 1 0 7

2 Ukraine 3 0 3 0 3

3 Finland 2 0 2 0 2

4 Bosnia-Herzeovina2 0 1 1 1

5 Kazakhstan 2 0 1 1 1

GroupE

p W D L pts

1 Belium 3 2 1 0 7

2 CzechReublic 3 1 1 1 4

3 Wales 2 1 0 1 3

4 Belarus 2 1 0 1 3

5 Estonia 2 0 0 2 0

GroupF

p W D L pts

1 Denmark 3 3 0 0 9

2 Scotland 3 1 2 0 5

3 Israel 3 1 1 1 4

4 Austria 3 1 1 1 4

5 FaroeIslands 3 0 1 2 1

6 Moldova 3 0 1 2 1

GroupG

p W D L pts

1 Turke 3 2 1 0 7

2 Netherlands 3 2 0 1 6

3 Montenero 3 2 0 1 6

4 Norwa 3 2 0 1 6

5 Latvia 3 0 1 2 1

6 Gibraltar 3 0 0 3 0

Grouph

p W D L pts

1 Croatia 3 2 0 1 6

2 Russia 3 2 0 1 6

3 Slovakia 3 1 2 0 5

4 C rus 3 1 1 1 4

5 Slovenia 3 1 0 2 3

6 Malta 3 0 1 2 1

GroupI

p W D L pts

1 Enland 3 3 0 0 9

2 Hunar 3 2 1 0 7

3 Albania 3 2 0 1 6

4 Poland 3 1 1 1 4

5 Andorra 3 0 0 3 0

6 SanMarino 3 0 0 3 0

GroupJ

p W D L pts

1 Armenia 3 3 0 0 9

2 NorthMacedonia 3 2 0 1 6

3 German 3 2 0 1 6

4 Romania 3 1 0 2 3

5 Iceland 3 1 0 2 3

6 Liechtenstein 3 0 0 3 0

ThESTAnDInGS

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Fourofthetengroupswere

headedonrestartbyteamswho

hadwonallthreeearlygames