World Cup comes into focus ahead of Friday draw in Qatar

The World Cup in Qatar will become a little more real on Friday when the draw for the November 21-December 18 tournament is made in Doha.

And even the relatively sedate pace of international friendlies is being taken up a notch as top nations prepare for what could be the crowning achievement of even the most successful careers.

“We need to take advantage of every test we can get before Qatar, so we have to take every game seriously,” Germany captain Manuel Neuer said after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw in the Netherlands.”This was the first big name that we’ve faced and we did well for large parts. I think it was a decent performance.”

Germany have won eight and drawn one since Hansi Flick was appointed coach after Euro 2020 and will be feared even not at their best – especially among the second seeds of teams in the draw.

World number one Belgium, holders France and England, runners-up at Euro 2020 last year, are also tipped to spearhead the European challenge in the shock absence of continental champions Italy.

France, led by the dazzling forward Kylian Mbappe, are seeking to become the first to retain the title since Brazil in 1962 while the Seleç?o are leading the charge to take trophy out of Europe for the first time since their 2002 triumph.Brazil set a record points total in the notoriously hard South American qualifying and are joined in Qatar by old rivals Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador. There is one fixture, between Brazil and Argentina, left outstanding.”The overriding feeling I have now is one of peace,” Brazil coach Tite said. “We’ve all worked as hard as we possibly can to get to where we are.”

African champions Senegal survived a penalty shoot-out, which eliminated Mohamed Salah’s Egypt, alongside Cameroon, Tunisia, Morocco and Ghana.And Canada will be making a first finals appearance in 36 years after dominating in North and Central America (CONCACAF), with the United States and Mexico favourites to join them.”We’re going to be ready to go there at the World Cup and put ourselves really on the map,” 39-year-old veteran Atiba Hutchinson said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence and we believe that we can do well.”

Perenial powerhouses Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran all qualified from Asia, as did South Korea, but Australia must face the UAE in an elimination game just to reach the inter-continental play-off against Peru.

Those games take place in June when the winner of Oceania qualifying, the Solomon Islands or New Zealand, face the fourth-placed CONCACAF side.And the last place from Europe is also set to be decided then when Wales meet the winner of the Scotland v Ukraine play-off semi-final delayed due to the Russian invasion.

dpa

Photo A handout photo made available by FIFA of the World Cup Trophy during the European qualifying draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Zurich, Switzerland, 07 December 2020. EPA-EFE/Kurt Schorrer / HANDOUT