Confirmed, the Czechs will be in the third basket at the draw of the World Cup qualification, they will avoid the Russians, for example

The Czech team has been at the top of the rankings since last June, when it ranked 41st. Šilhavého’s charges played the last three matches of this year in November. First they lost in Germany in the preparation 0: 1 and then in the end of the League of Nations they scored two domestic victories 1: 0 over Israel and 2: 0 over Slovakia. Thanks to this, the national team won promotion to the elite League A from Division B in the second year of the competition.

FIFA untraditionally published the ranking on Friday instead of the usual Thursday due to the death of the legendary Diego Maradona on Wednesday. The Argentine ball magician succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 60.

The November issue of the ranking decided on the division of European teams into baskets for the world qualifiers, which will take place on December 7 in Zurich. The Czech team ranks 24th in a reduced order and is thus in the fourth position of the third basket. The first five baskets are ten-membered, the worst sixth is five-membered.

The Czech team is in the third basket together with Russia, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece and Finland. These opponents will definitely avoid it. From the second basket, the representatives can again come across the former federal partner Slovakia, which they defeated twice in the League of Nations.

The lottery will divide the teams into 10 groups – five of them will have six teams and another five of five. Only the winners will advance directly to the championship, the teams from the second places will have a draw. The Czech team has a solid chance to play the playoffs even if it does not finish second in the qualification. Šilhavého team could be one of the two winners of the groups of the League of Nations, who will join the 10 participants of the draw from qualifying.

In the ranking of the winners of the League of Nations groups, the Czech team is in seventh place behind France, Belgium, England, Spain as the best in League A and Wales and Austria in League B. need at least five of these six teams to finish second worst.

Breakdown of European teams into lots for the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers:

Basket 1: Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands.

2nd basket: Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Romania.

Basket 3: Russia, Hungary, Ireland, CR, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece, Finland.

Basket 4: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Belarus, Georgia, Luxembourg.

Basket 5: Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra.

Basket 6: Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, San Marino.