The Latvian national football team in the 2022 World Cup qualifying group against the Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro and Gibraltar became known on Monday in a draw in Zurich, Switzerland. The drawing of the European Qualifications Area groups took place remotely without the participation of representatives of the teams involved.
The final of the World Cup in 2022 will take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.
From the first basket in the group represented by Latvia, the Netherlands was drawn, which had previously played in 10 World Cup finals, but did not qualify in the previous tournament in 2018, therefore it will be even more in the mood for revenge. So far, the best success for the Netherlands is the three-time final, the last of which was in 2010 in South Africa.
From the second basket, the opponent of the Latvian national team became Turkey, which was once beaten in the fight for a place in the final tournament of the 2004 European Championship. The Turks have played only twice in the World Cup final, but in the last successful attempt in 2002 they won 3rd place.
Latvia’s opponents from the third basket – the Norwegians – will compete for the fourth time in the World Cup final tournament, but all previous successful attempts by the Scandinavians were at the turn of the century.
The fourth basket team Montenegro is one of the youngest European national teams to debut in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers without going to the final. Gibraltar will play in the World Cup qualifiers for the second time, but so far the team has lost in all qualifying games.
In the qualification tournament there are five teams in five groups, another five – six national units.
From March to November 2021, the team will meet with each opponent at home and away.
The winners of the groups will ensure participation in the final tournament, but the winners of the second places will fight for three more tickets in the additional selection,
where the two best teams of the League of Nations will also participate, which will not be among the two best teams of the qualification group. The 12 teams will be divided into three mini-tournaments, where the winners will receive a ticket to the final tournament after being excluded from the system.
2022 World Cup Qualifiers in the European Zone
Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan
Group B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo
Group C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan
Group E: Belgium, Wales, 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, Malta
Group I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino
Group J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein
Lottery conditions
The lottery was welcomed by the Latvian state unit in the penultimate basket. The teams were drawn to the lottery in six baskets for their national team place in the International Football Federation (FIFA) rankings.
Alongside Latvia, the Faroe Islands and Andorra, as well as Cyprus, Armenia, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Lithuania, were introduced to the lower Division D group in the last League League.
As no more than one team from each basket was drawn in each group, the national units in one basket will definitely not play against each other.
FIFA regulations provided for Latvia and nine other national entities to apply additional conditions to the lottery due to possible harsh winter weather. In order not to put the game calendar at risk, no more than two “winter countries” could be drawn in each qualifying group, regardless of their place in the lottery basket.
If a third “winter team” were drawn in a group, it would automatically move alphabetically to the first free qualifying group.
The list of countries at risk of winter also included Latvia’s neighboring countries Belarus, Estonia, Russia and Lithuania, as well as Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Ukraine. FIFA considers Iceland and the Faroe Islands to be the riskiest countries, so they could not be summed up in one group, as three days of qualifying are scheduled for March 2021, when conditions in both countries may not be suitable for football.
The composition of the qualification groups was also affected by the conditions due to political conflicts between the countries, so Russia and Ukraine, as well as Gibraltar and Spain could not come together.
The most restrictive was Kosovo,
who would have to play in the same group as Serbia in the absence of restrictions. Russia, too, could not be drawn into Russia, as could Bosnia and Herzegovina. For political reasons, FIFA also named Armenia and Azerbaijan as non-drawable in one group, but both teams were in the same lottery basket, so they could not be drawn in one group.
Additional conditions in the draw were also in place due to geographical conditions to prevent teams from flying too long. 20 team pairs were identified as disproportionately long potential travel. Only one such pair could enter each qualifying group, but if a third such team were drawn in a group, it would automatically move alphabetically to the first free qualifying group.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iceland were identified as distant destinations for several regional entities.
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