Though the biggest soccer tournament is months away, there is already plenty to talk about. The World Cup has had its fair share of entertainment in Qualifiers, with 42 out of 48 teams decided.
The International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA, as it’s commonly known, oversees the World Cup. FIFA has six continental confederations under its international umbrella, and each confederation is in charge of its respective World Cup Qualifiers.
Sixteen European teams have qualified for the playoffs by coming second in the group stage of qualifying. Six teams qualified from the Confederation of North America, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), three of which are the host countries: Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), a powerhouse confederation in international soccer, also has six spots. Africa and Asia each qualified nine teams, with Oceania qualifying one.
There are six spots left, four up for grabs from European playoffs and two from inter-confederation playoffs. Notable European teams include Italy, the highest ranking team yet to qualify, and Denmark, captained by Simon Kjær. Six teams still have hope in the interconfederation playoffs, one from CONMEBOL (Bolivia), one from Oceania (New Caledonia), one from Asia (Iraq), one from Africa (DR Congo), and two from CONCACAF (Jamaica and Suriname).
November was a pivotal month for qualifications, ending all group qualification play. European qualifiers had a whirlwind of exciting big games, with notable matchups including Scotland vs. Denmark, Ireland vs. Hungary, and Austria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Going into matchday 10 of 10, Scotland had an opportunity to qualify for the Cup for the first time since 1998. They needed at least a point against Denmark to go no. 1 in their group. Scott McTominay opened the scoring at home three minutes into the match. With a bit of skill, Ben Gannon-Doak floated it into the middle of the box, and McTominay bicycle kicked it into the bottom left. While the athletic skill and technique were top-notch notch, the goal did not hold off the Danes for long. Rasmus Højlund tied it up with a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half. Then, right back Rasmus Kristensen was sent off after a foul with a red card.
Scottish pressure continued when Lawrence Shankland capitalized on a corner from the left side. Still, Denmark didn’t let up, with Højlund once again contributing with an assist to Patrick Dorgu, who opened up and slipped one into the bottom left. Going into extra time, Scotland wasn’t comfortable without a safety net. In the 92nd minute, Kieran Tierney bent one into the corner from outside the 18. While celebrations rang out with the security of qualification, stoppage time excitement wasn’t over yet. Kenny McLean hammered it home from the halfway line with the last shot of the game.
After the game, Scottish captain Andy Robertson was in tears during his interview, reminiscing about when he would talk with his late friend and Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota about wanting to qualify for the World Cup. The heartfelt moment was an amazing tribute to Jota and capped off an emotional evening.
Also in the last matchday of qualifiers, Hungary and the Republic of Ireland battled it out for a chance to get into the playoffs underneath no. 1 Portugal. Ireland was coming off a huge win against the Portuguese, where one of the best of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, was sent off with a red after a flying elbow and a juvenile taunt to the crowd. Even though momentum was high, Hungary was able to get solid footing early in the game. Off a short corner in the fourth minute, Dominik Szoboszlai whipped the ball into the front of the six-yard box, and Dániel Lukács dove to head it past the Irish keeper. It wasn’t long until Ireland found a response. It came from Troy Parrott in the 15th minute, off a penalty kick powered into the bottom left. The first-half goals were not over yet. Leftback Milos Kerkez lifted the ball to the top of the box, where Barnabás Varga took one touch off the chest, and the next was a hit of pure technique, off the half volley right into the top right corner.
Although there was a lull in goals coming out of halftime, there was not a second lacking action. It took until the 80th minute for Ireland to tie it back up; Finn Azaz chipped the ball over the backline to a nearly perfectly timed run by Parrott, who used the outside of his right foot to curve it around the keeper into the net. Hungary was still content, though, for a draw would solidify them in second place, qualifying for the playoffs.
Ireland wasn’t giving up yet, as they headed into extra time needing the three points that would come from winning. In the 95th minute, Irish goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher collected the ball just before the halfway line, and defender Liam Scales darted forward in a last-ditch effort. Kelleher lofted it across the half into the box, where Scales rose up to head it on. Who else other than Parrott was there to meet it, getting a touch milliseconds before the keeper could grab it. He sent the ball into the back of the net for his third goal, completing the hat trick, and sending his country into the playoffs. Hungarian players collapsed with their hands on their heads, in disbelief of the unrelenting Irish, while Parrott stripped himself of his shirt and sprinted to celebrate in front of his bench.
Just an hour away from Hungary by plane, Austria was fighting Bosnia and Herzegovina for their first World Cup qualification since 1998. The game did not start off well for Austria, who only needed a tie to come first in their group and qualify. After back-to-back corners, Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager punched the ball out to the top of the box. It fell to Ermedin Demirović, who one-timed it off the half volley. While it wasn’t a great shot, the bounce it got off the turf guided it to Edin Džeko, who headed it past Schlager to put Bosnia and Herzegovina up in the twelfth minute.
Even though Austria was clearly leading in possession, they couldn’t connect going forward. It took until the 77th minute for them to break the spell. Marcel Sabitzer crossed it onto Marko Arnautović, who headed it towards goal but was denied by the crossbar. Substitute Michael Gregoritsch was there to clean it up, one-timing it off the volley and powering it into the goal. The late goal tied up the game and sent the Austrians to North America for their first World Cup in this century.
While international soccer fans will have to wait until March for on-field action in the last of the World Cup Qualifiers, plenty is happening off the field. At noon today, the World Cup Draw will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Why is the draw important? It decides who teams’ opponents will be, which cities they’ll play in, and their path to the final. The biggest chunk of the draw is the random selection of countries from pots into groups. There will be 12 groups with 4 teams in each. The top two teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the Round of 32. Forty-eight teams are different from previous years, where only 32 teams would qualify, so only the top 2 teams from each group advanced to a Round of 16. Now there is more opportunity to get out of the group stage, lessening the importance of a group of death. A group of death is an accolade given to the hardest group to advance out of. Four years ago, it was Group E (Japan, Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica); a famous group was Group B in 2014 (Spain, Netherlands, Chile, and Australia).
At the draw, there are four pots. Pot one has all the top seeds in addition to the three hosting countries. The next three pots are divided by ranking; the worse the ranking, the lower the pot. This is great news for the host countries, because it means that they won’t have to play a top seed.
Payton Radosti can be reached at pradosti@wesleyan.edu.
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