The draw for the 2022 World Cup took place this Friday, April 1 at the Doha Exhibition Center, in the presence of Brazilian Marco Evangelista de Moraes “Cafu” and German Lothar Matthaus, two emblematic figures of world soccer. Twenty-nine out of 32 qualified teams attended this long awaited ceremony, while waiting for the final verdict of the intercontinental playoffs.
The eight(8) groups are thus constituted and the fans will attend confrontations some more interesting than the others.
Qatar, the host country, under the leadership of Spanish coach Felix Sanchez Bas will cross swords with Ecuador on November 21, 2022 at 7 am in Doha, for the opening match.
This long-awaited event has given birth to groups where fans will have to attend historic matches.
Argentina of Lionel Messi fears its opponents in Group C, especially Mexico, which has already met several times (1930, 2006 and 2018) in the prestigious competition, as well as Poland (1974, 1978).
In Group B, the long-awaited duel will oppose England to the United States. The selection of the three lions (England), considered as the country inventor of soccer, champion in 1966 had been beaten (0-1) in 1950 by the starry selection and saved the draw (1 -1) in 2010 in South Africa.
In Group D, which seems affordable for the defending champion (France), the band Kylian Mbappé will have a lot to do against Denmark of Christian Eriksen and Kasper Smeichel that it has already faced twice in the World Cup, victory (2 -1) for the French in 2002. And a draw (0-0) in 2018.
In Group E, the eyes are riveted on the duel between two world champions (Germany and Spain) who have already faced each other four times. In 1982, the Germans defeated the Spaniards in their homeland (1-2) in the second round. In 1966, Germany in the group stage was victorious against Spain (1-2). In 1994, they drew (0-0) in their third confrontation. In 2010, in the quarterfinals, the Spanish had won (1-0).
In Group G, considered the most difficult, Brazil will find on its way, Switzerland and Serbia as was the case in 2018 in Russia at the same stage. Brazil will also have to face Cameroon for the third time in the final phase of the World Cup (1994 in the United States, 2014 in Brazil and 2022 in Qatar, each time in the group stage). But as far as African teams are concerned, this is the seventh confrontation between Brazil and the formations of this continent in the World Cup, (Zaire in 1994, Algeria in 1986, Cameroon in 1994, Morocco in 1998, Ghana in 2006, Ivory Coast in 2010, Cameroon in 2014 and Cameroon again in 2022. Brazil is always victorious each time.
In Group F, considered the toughest, Belgium, which held the top spot in the Fifa ranking, will have its work cut out against the young Canadian wolves (Alfonso Davies of Bayern Munich and Jonathan David of Lille in France) without forgetting the Croatia of Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic of Inter Milan.
Finally, in Group H, the battle will be tough between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani’s team. Without neglecting the South Korea of Heung Min Son and Ghana of Thomas Teye Partey (Arsenal) and the Ayew brothers (Andre and Jordan), the two sons of Abedi Pele, former glory of African soccer and Olympique de Marseille in the 80-90s.
Remember that Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, the United States, France, Mexico and Uruguay are the seven countries that were present in 1930 in the first edition and are still there in 2022, ninety-two years later.
The complete draw of the group phase
A- Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
B- England, Iran, USA (Wales/Ukraine/Scotland)
C- Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
D- France, (Peru/United Arab Emirates/Australia), Denmark, Tunisia
E- Spain (Costa Rica or New Zealand), Germany, Japan
F- Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
G- Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
H- Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea.