Initially, the draw was not "blind" - the teams were divided into two baskets according to the rating. Thus, for example, meetings between Northern Ireland and Ireland were immediately excluded. Both "island" teams were among the unseeded along with Sweden and Greece. The first basket was made up of Switzerland, Italy, Croatia and Denmark. It is definitely impossible to say that these fours are fundamentally different in their level. And the results of the draw, which was conducted by the legendary defender of the “Real” in the past, Fernando Hierro, turned out to be amazing. Almost all the participants recognized it as successful and were delighted. Considering that they have a good chance of success.
Perhaps the least optimism is now among the fans of the Swedish national team. She got the objectively strongest team from the “seeded” basket - Italy. Scandinavians are not very lucky with the draws at all - recall that in qualifying they fought in Group A with France, Holland and Bulgaria. Coming out of such a solid company, it is probably a shame to get the 2006 World Champion as a rival. On the other hand, the Italians in the qualifying tournament did not show any outstanding football and looked rather mediocre. So no one will give the victory to Scuadre Azzurra in advance. Skeptics quickly recalled that the last time Italians could not qualify for the World Cup in 1958. And that tournament was held ... in Sweden.
As for the other couples, everyone has more or less equal chances. Croatia looks a little more preferable against the background of Greece. But the sequence of matches can play an important role here. The first fight will take place in Zagreb, which plays into the hands of the "Hellenes". In a two-legged confrontation, it is traditionally more profitable to start on the road in order to have the support of your stands at the decisive moment. In Athens, they always get hot sick, so it is very difficult to predict the outcome of this battle.
The pairs turned out to be so even that almost all the participants of the draw were satisfied
But, perhaps, the results of the draw caused the greatest delight in Ireland - both in its northern part and in the main territory of the island. Even before the start of the procedure, the head coach of the Northern Ireland national team, Michael O Neal, said that out of four potential rivals, he personally would prefer someone from the Denmark-Switzerland pair, but not Italy or Croatia. And how he looked into the water. His national team will play in the end with the Swiss, and Ireland will fight the Danes.
There will be an interesting confrontation. Any coach will tell you that it is better to play the second leg in the playoffs at home. On the other hand, if it comes to extra time, this will give the guests an advantage. In any case, a very important period awaits us now. We won the last two matches to get into the “seams”, and I really hope that in the next month my players will not get injured playing for the clubs, - said the head coach of the Irish national team Martin O Neil on the results of the draw.
His guys in green will kick off the playoffs in Copenhagen and the return leg will take place in Dublin. It is interesting that the balance of personal meetings in this pair is in favor of the Irish. The national teams met 13 times, and only three matches ended in favor of the Danes.
The most important thing is not to miss the first leg in Belfast. We usually play well at home and have lost just once in four years, mused another O Neil named Michael, who heads the Northern Ireland national team.
timetable
Northern Ireland - Switzerland
Croatia - Greece
Sweden - Italy
Denmark - Ireland
Switzerland - Northern Ireland
Greece - Croatia
Italy - Sweden
While football and betting fans “come off” after the international pause in club football and watch it excitedly, not forgetting to enhance their feelings with a bet, or even more than one, the draw for the play-offs in the European part of the selection for the 2018 World Cup has started.
The final pairs look like this:
Northern Ireland - Switzerland
Croatia - Greece
Denmark - Ireland
Sweden - Italy
Next, I will briefly share with you my view of games - nevertheless, we are talking only about the first glance, and only then I hope that you will not be stingy with your own opinion - also caused by the first glance at couples.
Northern Ireland - Switzerland.
Despite the fact that the Swiss made a very good qualifying campaign, they are more inclined to the fact that Northern Ireland will be able to overcome their resistance. The Swiss have a good lineup, but have problems with creativity and positional attack. It will not be possible to open a reliable and massive defense of the British team just like that, but in counterattacks or from the standards, Switzerland can get its own and end up out of the World Championship.
Croatia - Greece.
Croats, of course, are favorites - they have a powerful and experienced team, which received an emotional surge after the coaching castling and must overcome the Greeks. However, those rivals are very unpleasant and if Croatia does not manage to win big on their own field or even fails to win at all, in the return game there can definitely be an incredible carnage on the field, as a result of which there will be many cards - and not only yellow ones.
Denmark - Ireland.
So far, for me, the most mysterious couple, in which it is difficult to give preference to someone. But it still seems to me that Ireland has a little more chances and due to their dedication they are able to pass Eriksen's team.
Sweden - Italy.
Here, too, the pair is not the easiest one to choose a winner - the Swedes are not the easiest team. However, Sweden still lacks class and in two games the Italians must find moves in order to defeat their counterpart. So it is more inclined that Italy will be selected for the Mundial.
These are my expectations, and what thoughts come to you when you first look at a pair of play-offs in Europe?
Not far off, and almost all the teams have already been decided, which next summer will compete for the gold medals of the most prestigious football tournament. But among the 32 teams that will play at the World Cup, there are still several places, that is, several more teams have a chance to jump on the bandwagon of the departing train. But, there are much more applicants for getting into Russia than free seats, which is why FIFA introduced the play-off matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The confrontation on the flight will be discussed in this article. We will tell you about all pairs of opponents, dwelling on each of them in detail. After all, each of these teams, with a different degree of probability, can come to Russia, and by the will of lot, it can become a rival of our team. So, as they say, you need to know the "enemy" by sight.
General information about the 2018 World Cup qualifier
Qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup has started 12 March 2015 years in the Asian zone. It will end 16 november 2017 of the year in return matches of the intercontinental playoffs. In total, 206 national teams took part in the qualifying cycle, although 208 national teams applied for participation. Recall that FIFA decided to disqualify the national teams of Zimbabwe and Indonesia. Not without debutants in the qualifying cycle. Thus, Gibraltar, South Sudan, Bhutan and Kosovo took part in the qualifying matches for the World Cup for the first time.
European teams are the largest group of teams represented at the World Cup. The European selection was attended by 54 national teams that have been allocated to 9 groups of 6 teams... The nine teams that won their group victories made it to the World Cup directly. The tenth national team was Russia, which, as the host country, does not take part in the qualifying round matches.
The top eight teams that took second places in their groups get the opportunity to get to the Mundial through the 2018 FIFA World Cup play-offs. The ninth team, which also took second place in its group, but has the least number of points among all the second teams, is automatically eliminated.
European teams with a second chance: Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Northern Ireland.
In addition to the play-offs of European national teams, similar confrontations will take place between the national teams of South America, North America, Asia and Oceania. Here, the FIFA regulations allocated to each confederation an additional half place, for which the teams that took certain places according to the results of qualification in their confederations will compete.
Second Chance Intercontinental Teams: Peru, Honduras, New Zealand, Australia.
European Qualifiers Playoffs
On October 17, 2017, FIFA held. In the European qualifying tournament, four pairs of teams were determined, the winners of which will be able to go to the 2018 World Cup in Russia:
- Italy - Sweden.
- Croatia - Greece.
- Switzerland - Northern Ireland.
- Denmark - Ireland.
Now we will try to dwell on each pair in more detail, since, as we said above, there may be rivals of the Russian national team.
Italy - Sweden
Squadra Azzurra was a slight favorite in this pair. In her group, she lost first place to the Spanish national team, and with 1958 of the year is a regular participant in the World Cup. There is no need to say that famous football players play in the national team, since Buffon, Chiellini, De Rossi, Bonucci do not need additional introduction.
The Swedish national team in this selection played without Ibrahimovic. The famous Swede ended his career in the national team. However, the team finished second in their group, leaving France behind and leaving the Netherlands behind.
The result of the play-offs in this pair was unexpected. The Italians were left without Mundial. In the first match, Sweden scored a minimal victory at home 1:0 , and the return match ended without goals, although Italy was "San Siro" had an overwhelming advantage, and inflicted more 20 strokes towards the opponent's goal.
Croatia - Greece
In this pair, the Croatian squad was the clear favorite. Despite the fact that Croatia was predicted to win in the qualifying group, the national team was only able to guarantee itself a second place in the last round, defeating Ukraine in an away match.
Greece, on the other hand, surprised by being able to get out of a rather difficult group. The Greeks secured themselves a solid lead in the opening matches of the qualifying group stage. In the confrontation with Belgium, which took first place in the group, they also looked good.
Despite the fact that many expected intrigue in this pair of rivals, Croatia removed all questions about the Mundial participant in the first match, defeating the Greeks with a score 4;1 ... The second match in this pair was a mere formality, it ended without goals.
Switzerland - Northern Ireland
Representatives from the country of watches, cheese and banks were the favorites in the play-offs against Northern Ireland. The Swiss scored the same number of points in the group with Portugal, letting it go ahead only by the difference between goals scored and conceded. Switzerland outnumbered its rivals in the selection of players, being a fair favorite of this pair.
Northern Ireland was able to create a sensation by making it to the 2016 UEFA European Championship through the play-offs and then making it to the playoffs. In the qualification for the 2018 World Cup, Northern Ireland conceded only the German national team, leaving the Czech Republic and Norway behind the Mundial.
The first match between these teams ended with a minimal away victory for the Swiss 1:0 ... In the second match, a goalless draw was recorded. And although the coach and the players of Northern Ireland announced that the penalty kick, and the only goal in this pair was scored from the penalty spot, was assigned erroneously, you cannot rewrite history, and it is the Swiss who are going to Russia.
Denmark - Ireland
Another pair of rivals, in which the Danish national team has a slight advantage. In the selection, the Danes conceded ahead of Poland, in which Lewandowski scored 16 goals, becoming the top scorer of the qualifying matches. Denmark has a fairly strong national team, with several footballers playing in the top European championships.
Ireland finished second in the group after Serbia. Surprisingly, these teams managed to leave the national teams of Wales and Austria behind the World Cup.
The first match in this confrontation did not determine the winner, so now on the field of Ireland the chances of the Danish national team to pass have increased significantly, since it is enough for the team to score and not concede more than one goal.
Play-offs: results in the form of a table
| Sweden | 1:0 | Italy | 10.11.17 | ||
| Italy | 0:0 | Sweden | 13.11.17 | ||
| Sev. Irlan. | 0:1 | Switzerland | 09.11.17 | ||
| Switzerland | 0:0 | Sev. Irlan. | 12.11.17 | ||
| Croatia | 4:1 | Greece | 09.11.17 | ||
| Greece | 0:0 | Croatia | 12.11.17 | ||
| Denmark | 0:0 | Ireland | 11.11.17 | ||
| Ireland | 1:5 | Denmark | 14.11.17 |
Intercontinental Play-offs
Together with the pairs of European teams that will fight for a ticket to the World Cup in the play-offs, the pairs of opponents of the intercontinental play-offs have been determined. They are:
- Peru - New Zealand.
- Australia - Honduras.
Both pairs of rivals have strong favorites, they are Peru and Australia. The level of the opponents differs in polarity, and it will be a sensation if these teams fail to win a ticket to the World Championship. By the way, the first matches, in which the home team were New Zealand and Honduras, respectively, ended without goals scored. So, now the fate of the tickets to the World Cup is in the hands of the favorites of the couples, who, in front of their own fans, must ensure their participation in the most prestigious football tournament.
What's next
After the winners of the play-off matches become known, a full set of national teams participating in the World Cup will be assembled. Already 1 december 2017 of the year, a draw will take place, according to the results of which the teams will recognize their rivals. Will be formed 8 groups of 4 teams in each. And already June 14, 2018 at the World Championship, an opening match will be played, in which the Russian team will play with one of its rivals in the group stage.
We can only wish good luck to the teams, which are still solving their problems in the play-offs. And also wish our team a successful draw. In any case, we hope that the World Cup will turn out to be no less productive and intriguing than the qualifying round and play-offs.
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The time indicated in the broadcast is Moscow
15:20. Well, we are waiting for the matches. The most interesting pair seems to be Sweden - Italy, but the other three are decent. In any case, everyone will try to get to the World Cup in Russia, all that remains is to wish the teams good luck. All the best!
15:10. First pair: Northern Ireland - Switzerland. Second pair: Croatia - Greece. Third pair: Denmark - Ireland. Fourth pair: Sweden - Italy.
15:00. The draw has begun! First, as usual, the official and solemn part.
14:55. Participants and representatives of football delegations are already in the hall. It's starting very soon. Everyone recognizes their rival.
14:45. The draw will begin soon, but for now we remind you once again who will definitely perform on all continents.
14:30. Let's remember the pleasant. Exactly 10 years ago, the Russian national team beat England (2: 1) in the qualifying match for the 2008 European Championship held at Luzhniki. The double was designed by Roman Pavlyuchenko.
14:15. The hosts of the ceremony are already known. They are Mexican journalist Vanessa Huppencoten and famous Spanish defender Fernando Hierro.
14:00. Greetings to all football fans! We are glad to bring to your attention the text broadcast of the draw for the European qualifiers play-off matches. The beginning of the ceremony, which will take place in Zurich, is scheduled for 15:00 Moscow time, but we start our broadcast in advance in order to have time to introduce you to interesting facts.
So, the owners of 23 out of 32 vouchers have already been determined. Europe at the 2018 world championship will be represented by 14 teams, including the host of the tournament, the Russian national team. According to the results of the group stage of the European qualification, nine teams won the right to compete in Russia. In the playoffs, the top eight teams of the runners-up in their groups will compete for the remaining four spots.
10 facts you might have missed about the 2018 World Cup
Messi will not do without again.
As for the technical regulations, as reported on the official FIFA website, eight teams will be divided into two baskets, one of which will include the four national teams occupying higher places in the FIFA world rankings as of October 16, 2017. According to it, the four higher ranked teams - Switzerland, Italy, Croatia and Denmark - form the first basket, while the other four - Northern Ireland, Sweden, Ireland and Greece - are assigned to the second basket.
First, one ball is removed from the first basket, then from the second basket, after which they are placed in the third basket. Then both balls will be mixed and taken out one at a time, determining which team will play the first match at home. The rest of the balls will be done in a similar manner.