WORLD QATAR 2022 / DRAW: AFRICA MUST BELIEVE

The draw for the 22nd edition of the World Cup Qatar 2022 took place this Friday, April 1st in Doha, Qatar. Ceremony aucours of which the 05 African representatives were fixed on their opponents during this competition which will extend from November 21st to December 18th, 2022. The black continent has not managed, so far, to reach the semi-finals of the most prestigious competition in the world, therefore the time seems right for a draw that seems flexible for the African plenipotentiaries, if we exclude Morocco and Tunisia visibly in "strong groups". Here is the deciphering of the five African groups.

..... SENEGAL AND THE QATARI TRAP

The African champion Sénégal has inherited the Poula A alongside the host country Qatar, as well as the Netherlands and Ecuador. A favorable draw for the teammates of Sadio Mane who should logically pass to the second round. According to many analysts, everything will be played between the Netherlands (10th in the recent FIFA ranking) and Senegal (20th place). Only it will be necessary to be wary of Qatar, host country which will want at all costs to pass the Second round. In addition to the host country, Senegal must absolutely negotiate its entry into the competition against Ecuador. Although its best performance dates back to 2006 during the World Cup held in Germany or the team had reached the second round, eliminated at the stage of the eighth.

MOROCCO CONDEMNED TO PERFORM AGAINST BELGIUM AND CROATIA

It will take a great Morocco to hope for a place in the second round of the Qatari World Cup. Achraf Hakimi's teammates are in group F with Belgium, Croatia and Canada. A rather high level, but nothing is impossible! Everything will be played during the opposition against Canada. The North American team (ranked 38th by FIFA) seems to be affordable for Morocco (ranked 24th). If Belgium and Croatia can appear as giants in view of their World Cup record, the Kingdom of Morocco can count on two fundamental elements: its coach's experience and the quality of its staff. Vahid Halilhodzic is a World Cup specialist. Indeed, the former coach of Nantes, participates in his fourth World Cup. He was at the head of the Ivory Coast team, (2010, in South Africa), but also Algeria in 2014, and Japan in 2018 (he reached the stage of the last 16 with his team) and now at the head of Morocco in 2022. A strong experience that will be an asset for the Atlas Lions. In addition, Morocco can count on a stable group of players who, for the most part, are regulars in their positions in the five major European leagues. It will have to do better than in 1986 when the team was eliminated in the phase of the eighth, losing (0-1) against Germany.

TUNISIA AND THE WORST DRAW?

We are tempted to answer by a big YES, because the Eagles of the card did not have an easy draw this Friday, April 1st in Doha. The teammates of Whabi Karzi are in group D alongside France, Denmark and the winner of the Peru/Australia/Emirates match. In six appearances at the World Cup finals, Tunisia has never gone beyond the group stages. It will be necessary to quickly erase the offensive defects, hoping at least to cross the barrier of the eighth.

GROUP H, AND THE RETURN OF GHANA AND URUGUAY

The Blacks Stars of Ghana will have a lot to do in Group H against Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay. The opposition against this last team is also very expected, because we remember that it is against Uruguay in 2010 that Ghana had failed to reach the semi-finals of the South African FIFA World Cup. It will have to take its revenge to hope for a forcing, in front of South Korea (29th in the last FIFA ranking). Portugal is the favorite of this group H.

GROUP G, CAMEROON HAS THE RIGHT TO DREAM

The national team of Cameroon can dream of a qualification for the second round of the next World Cup. The team coached by Rigobert Song, which participates for the eighth time in the final phase of the World Cup, comes out of an elimination phase where it has shown multiple advantages. Facing Serbia, it will be necessary to bring out the best of them because this team has never crossed the group phase in two participations in the World Cup (2010 and 2018). In addition to Serbia, Cameroon will also have to face Switzerland, which managed to hold Brazil in check during the Russian World Cup. This team will certainly be taken seriously by the teammates of Vincent Aboubakar. Finally, Brazil, super favorite of the group, will certainly be a big giant for the lions. The last confrontation between the two countries dates back to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where Joel Matip scored the only goal of the lions, at the time, insufficient against the four goals conceded by Cameroon.

With eight months to go, before the start of the World Cup, all teams must prepare themselves in order to get a better start to the competition.

Remember that Qatar 2022 will host the last edition of the World Cup with only 5 African teams. However, from 2026, the African continent will qualify directly 09 selections and the last one will play the play-offs for a possible 10th place out of the 54 countries in Africa.

Here are the complete groups of the draw

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, United Arab Emirates/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

Fabrice Ndoum