There are three out of 32 nations who have officially qualified for World Cup 2022. Other than the hosts in Qatar, Germany and Denmark have joined the festivities following their successful European group stage campaigns.
Germany have 21 points and they lead Group J by at least eight points while Denmark are on top of Group F via a seven-point lead en route to recording 24 points.
With 11 slots left in the European qualifiers, the clock is ticking particularly for certain countries who are still trying to catch up and their World Cup 2022 odds for Qatar don’t offer much hope.
As another international break comes to a close, allow SBOTOP to analyse certain takeaways here in our latest review.
Germany and Denmark join Qatar for 2022
Germany and Denmark have been on a tear following their respective Euro 2020 campaigns as they continue to pick up positive World Cup 2022 results en route to securing their places for next year.
Die Mannschaft have gathered seven wins and one loss in Group J while the Danes have been feasting on their lean competition in Group F with an eight-game winning streak.
It is a new era indeed for Germany with former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick at the helm, and their emphasis on youth development has been paying dividends.
Compared to the time when they were humiliated by Spain 6-0 last year in a UEFA Nations League game when Joachim Low was still in charge, Die Mannschaft fans are now optimistic about the squad’s direction moving forward.
Bayern Munich standouts make up for much of Germany’s core, but we’ve also seen some stalwarts from various clubs as well.
The Chelsea duo of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner continue to gain confidence here while Florian Neuhaus, Jonas Hofmann, Florian Wirtz, and Karim Adeyemi offer a glimpse to the future.
The Germans thrashed North Macedonia 4-0 yesterday, which serves as their revenge from their loss against them last April.
As for Denmark, they continue to excel even with the absence of Christian Eriksen – who suffered a cardiac scare few months ago at the start of Euro 2020.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Thomas Delaney, Joakim Maehle, and Daniel Wass have been holding it down at the middle, while the front trio of Andreas Skov Olsen, Yussuf Poulsen, and Mikkel Damsgaard are sharing a fruitful attacking partnership.
The Danes are set to take on Faroe Islands and Scotland in their last two group stage matches, which are both considered winnable.
Cristiano Ronaldo is inevitable
Cristiano Ronaldo’s legendary status with Portugal continues to grow by the day and he reminded us why he’s one of the greatest footballers ever.
In yesterday’s 5-0 victory over Luxembourg, the Manchester United striker netted his 10th hat-trick for Portugal to extend his impressive international goalscoring record to 115.
The 36-year-old broke the all-time international goals record last month, which was previously held by Iran forward Ali Daei.
Ronaldo indeed loves to face Luxembourg as he has now scored nine goals against them, which is more than any other country he’s faced.
His Manchester United teammate in Bruno Fernandes also found the back of the net in the said game, and Red Devils fans are hoping that they can maintain their form since they have a brutal schedule ahead starting this week.
Surprise teams plan to confirm their slots
Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, and Poland have a qualification berth within their reach heading into the final matchdays in the group stage.
The Serbians are on top of Group A with a one-point lead over Portugal. However, the latter has a game in hand.
Serbia are filled with quality especially up front with their strike duo of Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic while manning the midfield is the uncompromising Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio.
In Group B, Sweden have a two-point lead over UEFA Nations League runners-up Spain and they’re coming off of back-to-back wins versus Kosovo and Greece with an aggregate of 5-0.
Spearheading for them are Emil Forsberg and Alexander Isak while Victor Lindelof is their marshal at the back.
Switzerland are level with Italy with 14 points apiece in Group C while Russia stand tall in Group H with a two-point lead over 2018 World Cup finalist Croatia.
Poland will try to make their second consecutive appearance in the World Cup but they face a tall order in Group I – which is led by England.
Robert Lewandowski surprisingly hasn’t scored in his last three international games and he must regain his shooting touch upon facing Andorra and Hungary next.
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