World Cup 2022 Qualification Live: Steps required for Portugal to qualify for WC 2022; check out

By
Jehan Mucadum
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Portugal WC 2022: Portugal missed out on the opportunity to qualify directly for the WC 2022 after they lost 2-1 at home to Serbia in their final clash on Sunday.

Alexander Mitrovic’s last minute goal ensured a comeback win for Serbia, as the visitors qualified for the World Cup 2022 as group A toppers.

Portugal’s hopes were dashed with the winner in the dying minutes of the game, leaving them with runners-up spot.

Portugal WC 2022- Eligible to Qualify?

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Ronaldo and Co’s loss on the final day meant they finished as runners-up in the group A.

Due to this, Portugal will need to go through a play-off round and emerge victorious in order to book their spot in the FIFA World Cup next year.

The UEFA Qualification had 10 groups with the winners of each group gaining their place in the World Cup finals next year directly.

However, the runners-up of each group will move to a play-off round where 12 teams will participate.

Play-off Format for World Cup 2022

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A total of 12 teams can compete from the UEFA in the play-offs.

10 of which are the runners-up from the groups as mentioned while 2 teams are from the UEFA Nations League that are top ranked but could not qualify.

There will be 3 groups, each with a one off-semi-final and final to be played with 4 teams competing in each group.

Just three teams from the 12 can make it through to the World Cup via the new format.

In addition to Portugal; Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Wales, Scotland, Turkey, Russia, Poland and North Macedonia are the teams that play the play-offs.

From the Nations League, Austria and Czech Republic are the first and second top ranked sides which join the above 10 in the race for a World Cup spot.

In the one-off semi-final, the losers are going home while the winners advance to the final.

This will be the 3rd time when Ronaldo and Co will have to qualify for the main event via play-offs in the 21st century.

For the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, Portugal had to endure the play-off rounds.

Seeded and Unseeded Teams

The top 6 best ranked sides will be considered as ‘Seeded’ while the remaining ones are ‘Unseeded’.

Portugal, Italy, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Poland are the teams which qualify as ‘Seeded’ and will be in Pot 1. While the remaining sides make up Pot 2 as ‘Unseeded’.

The six-seeded teams will be regarded as the host team during the semi-final. No two seeded sides can face each other in the semi-final but can in the final.

When are the play-offs going to take place?

The Play-offs semi-final games will be contested on March 24 and 25 respectively while the finals will be held on March 28 and 29.

Draw for the World Cup 2022 Play-offs?

The draw for the World Cup 2022 Play-offs will be held on Friday, November 26th at 9:30 PM IST; which could be caught on the Sony Sports Network.

Portugal’s Chances????

ImageThis could in all understanding be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup and the 36-year-old would want to make one last impression at the World stage and help his team go all the way.

A Selecao have a talented and capable squad this time as well and we do see them getting through but not without a challenge against one of the other seeded teams.

The likes of Italy, Sweden are whom Portugal may hope to avoid in the final round but they would still need to be confident to make it through to Qatar 2022.

Unlucky Portugal  

If anything was visible after the Portugal-Serbia encounter, it was Ronaldo’s disgusted expression.

Cristiano Ronaldo was seemingly unhappy that Portugal had to go through the play-offs after the events of March 2021; when both sides met in the 1st leg of the qualifiers.

The Portuguese captain scored what looked like the winner in the clash earlier this year but the referee ruled out the goal.

However, VAR was not in operation for that clash and replays clearly suggest that the ball had crossed over the line and Portugal should have gone up 3-2.

Had that goal been accounted for, Portugal may not have faced the play-offs issue and would have directed qualified for the WC Finals.


       

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