Key day for the 2022 World Cup: the agenda of the 13 matches that will define the majority of qualifiers for Qatar

Vista general del trofeo de la Copa del Mundo de la FIFA
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanyThere are already 20 qualifiers for the World Cup and there are 12 tickets available. This Tuesday, March 29, will be the key day to know the almost complete picture on the way to Qatar: 7 direct passports and 2 tickets for the June playoffs will be put into play.With Qatar, Argentina, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, Croatia, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, France, England, Iran, Serbia, Switzerland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Netherlands and Canada already qualified, the outlook for Concacaf and Oceania will remain to be defined after this Tuesday grid.The draw next Friday, April 1, will be held with 29 qualified teams and 3 balls designated for the countries that will play the playoffs in June. On the European side, that passage will be defined between Wales and the winner of Ukraine-Scotland. Also today will close the repechage that will be played in the fifth of Conmebol (Peru, Colombia or Chile) against the third place winner from Asia (Australia is waiting for a rival in their tie).On Wednesday, March 30, the last two direct passes from Concacaf and the remaining playoff match between the fourth of the qualifying round in that region against the winner of the Oceania qualifiers will be announced. Except for a completely historical situation, Mexico and the United States will travel directly through Concacaf and Costa Rica will play the playoff against the Solomon Islands-New Zealand winner.The continental repechages will be between Asia vs. Conmebol and Oceania vs. CONCACAF (Photo: FIFA)It should be noted that the four pots for the World Cup will be almost defined after this day of multiple qualifiers, but everything will only be clarified next Thursday, 31, when FIFA last updates the ranking that will order the teams in the draw.• CONMEBOL (1 repechage)Peru comes with an advantage to keep the ticket to the repechage against Asia (Photo: Reuters)There is only one ticket available for the Asian playoff and there are three teams that aspire to do so. Peru (21 points), Colombia (20 points) and Chile (19 points) will fight on this last date for the last available space after the four direct flights to Qatar have been appropriated by Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay.Peruvians depend on themselves and will receive Paraguay. The Colombian team, which will visit Venezuela, has two results in favor if Peru does not win: the draw and the win. La Roja, for its part, will receive Uruguay and will have to hope that neither of the other two will win.The one who finally qualifies in fifth place in Conmebol will face the Asian playoff that will be defined in a match between Australia and a national team to be decided on this day (United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Lebanon have mathematical chances).• UEFA (2 direct tickets)Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese team play a World Cup final against North Macedonia (Photo: Reuters)The European continent still has three direct tickets to the World Cup available, but only two of them will be announced this Tuesday: Poland will host Sweden at Stadion Śląski and Portugal will seek its ticket to North Macedonia at the Do Dragao Stadium in Porto.With the current FIFA ranking (it will be updated again on March 31), if Portugal wins will be seeded, while North Macedonia if it strikes the blow will be in Pot 4. In the other duel, if Sweden wins it has minimal chances of being in Pot 2, while if Poland is the winner it would go to Pot 3.The other direct passage to the World Cup awarded by UEFA will be resolved only in June when Ukraine faces Scotland in the semi-final of the repechage that was left pending following the war on its territory. The winner of that match will define the direct qualification in a final match against Wales. Anyway, any of these three teams will be in Pot 4 in the draw.• AFRICA (5 direct tickets)If Senegal beats Egypt and qualifies for the World Cup, it has a chance of being in Pot 2 in the draw (Photo: Reuters)The African qualifiers will be the ones with the most direct qualifiers this Tuesday. After the first leg that took place on Friday, the return clashes will take place: Senegal – Egypt (0-1)/Algeria – Cameroon (1-0)/Ghana – Nigeria (0-0)/Morocco – DR Congo (1-1)/Tunisia – Mali (1-0).Taking the current FIFA ranking as a parameter, Senegal is the only country that could aspire to be in Pot 2. Morocco and Nigeria aspire to be in Pot 3, something that Egypt, Tunisia and Cameroon could also achieve. Algeria, Ghana, DR Congo and Mali are on the radar of Pot 4 in case they get the World Cup pass.• ASIA (1 repechage)Australia finished third and hopes to meet their rival in the final they will face to play the repechage against Conmebol (Photo: Reuters)The situation table of the Asian qualifier has great certainty and there is only room for one final qualifier that will allow the playoff against Conmebol to be played. South Korea, Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia have all four available tickets to go straight to Qatar.Australia, who finished third in Group B, was sure to play the final by going to the repechage and their rival will be known this day: the United Arab Emirates (9 points), Iraq (8) and Lebanon (6) are the three contenders for that place. The third player in Group A of these three countries will face Australia: the winner of that match will play the playoff against Peru, Colombia or Chile in June.THE AGENDA OF DEFINITIONS• Tuesday 29/38.30: Iran vs. Lebanon (Asia)10.45: Siria vs. Irak (Asia)10.45: United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea (Asia)14.00: Senegal vs. Egypt (Africa) TV: ESPN214.00: Nigeria vs. Ghana (Africa)15.45: Portugal vs. North Macedonia (Europe) TV: ESPN15.45: Poland vs. Sweden (Europe) TV: DirecTV 161216.30: Algeria vs. Cameroon (Africa) TV: ESPNextra16.30: Morocco vs. DR Congo (Africa)16.30: Tunisia vs. Mali (Africa)20.30: Peru vs. Paraguay (Conmebol) TV: DeporTV20.30: Venezuela vs. Colombia (Conmebol) TV: DeporTV20.30: Chile vs. Uruguay (Conmebol) TV: TyCSports2• WEDNESDAY 30/314.00: Solomon Islands-New Zealand22.05: Costa Rica-United States22.05: Mexico-El Salvador* Argentina timetablesKEEP READING:Alphonso Davies’ moving reaction to the confirmation of Canada’s qualification for the World Cup in QatarThe Canadian national team thrashed 4-0 Jamaica and qualified for the World Cup in Qatar after 36 years of absenceHere are the pots for the World Cup draw with the current FIFA Ranking: how many teams are left to qualifyArgentina’s agenda on the way to Qatar 2022: the matches it could play before the World CupFIFA confirmed what the Qatar World Cup draw will be like: pots, seeds and the great mystery that will be unveiled in JuneFIFA started the second sale of tickets for the 2022 World Cup: how to buy them and how long can they be purchasedControversy with a seeded head, broken balls and confusion with the first chosen ones: the story of the embarrassing 1982 World Cup draw

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