In qualifying for promotion to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Czech national football team will compete in the five-member Group E with the FIFA leaderboard in Belgium, Wales, Belarus and Estonia.
This was decided by today’s lot in Zurich, which took place only virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, without the participation of national representatives.
Qualification will start in March, only the winner of the group will ensure direct promotion to the World Cup. Teams from second places are waiting for the playoffs. It will feature the other two best winners of the League of Nations groups, who will not succeed in the qualification.
The Belgians are Šilhavý’s favorites
“I consider Belgium to be probably the biggest candidate to win the whole championship, so a big favorite and a very tough opponent. As for Wales and other teams, I believe that we will compete for the second place, which means a draw,” said national team coach Jaroslav Squinting in the media recording.
The Czechs, as the first team in the B2 group, rank seventh in this order behind France, Belgium, England, Spain, Wales and Austria. If the representatives in the classic qualification do not finish better than the third, they will need at least five of these six teams to take second place in order to participate in the playoffs.
The twelve participants in the playoffs will be divided into four parts of three, which will be played in a knockout manner. The three winning teams will secure their participation in the championship and will join the ten teams from the first places in the groups.
The Belgians won the last match in June 2017 in Brussels 2: 1, but the Czech team dominated the previous two preparations. The “Red Devils” again won both duels of the playoffs at the 2002 World Cup. The biggest stars in the current selection of Spanish coach Robert Martínez are goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne or forward Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku.
With Wales for a playoff?
The national team with Wales, whose biggest personality is Captain Gareth Bale, has not lost eight times in a row since November 1980, when he lost 0: 1 in Czechoslovakia as Cardiff. In the last five matches, the Czechs and Wales drew four times, including the last goalless result from June 2007 in the European Championship qualifiers.
“Wales also played very well in the League of Nations, won their group and it is also a tough opponent,” said Šilhavý. “We certainly don’t underestimate teams like Estonia and Belarus, but I believe that we now have a strong team and we can at least manage these two opponents,” added the 59-year-old coach.
While the Czech team in independent history was never missing at the European Championships, it played at the World Championships only in 2006.
The reigning world champions from France in Group D will encounter Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan, where the Czech coach Michal Bílek finished at the end of November.
A lot of hard work in the qualification awaits Slovakia, which in the “Slavic” group H will fight for the promotion with the Czech opponent on the Euro and the silver team from the last World Cup Croatia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.
Lottery of the European part of the qualification of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar:
Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan.
Group B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo.
Group C: ISwitzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania.
Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan.
Group E: Belgie, Wales, Czechia, 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.
– .
