As we step away from the crazy start to the pro soccer season, we go into the thrill of the upcoming international break. Firstly, the ending of the South American World Cup Qualifiers brought surprises that nobody expected. There are two more games to be played, with six teams left to qualify and one playoff spot remaining. In first place, to no one’s surprise, is Lionel Messi and his Argentina team with 35 points, but what’s unbelievable is second place Ecuador with 25 points. This is surprising because Ecuador got fourth place in the last world cup qualifiers and got second-to-last place for the 2018 world cup. The third and fourth positions are occupied by Brazil and Uruguay with 25 and 24 points. The rest of the table includes Paraguay with 24, Colombia with 22, Venezuela with 18, Bolivia with 17, Peru with 12, and finally Chile with 10 points.
While Chile is eliminated from qualifying for the World Cup, Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela all have chances to get that playoff spot. It is not going to be easy though, because Bolivia has to face two of the hardest opponents that will be favored against them: Colombia and Brazil. These two teams have a lot of depth in between their players and they will have the upper hand against Bolivia. Peru is going up against Uruguay and Paraguay which will also be tough, as Uruguay has a lot of experience, talent and youth to bring to the table. Paraguay also has a young team who has the potential to do very well in international tournaments in the coming years. Finally, Venezuela is up against the mighty Messi and his dominant world cup winning Argentina team, and Colombia who has experience and the youth that can be dominant against this Venezuelan team. In these next few days, we will see who comes out triumphant and will get that playoff spot to qualify for the World Cup here in North America.
Now we have the European World cup Qualifiers. There are a number of groups for Europe. The groups include:
Group A with Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Germany.
Group B with Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, and Kosovo.
Group C with Greece, Denmark, Scotland, and Belarus.
Group D with Iceland, France, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan.
Group E with Spain, Georgia, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
Group F with Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, and Armenia.
Group G with Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, and Malta.
Group H with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Cyprus and San Marino. Group I with Norway, Israel, Italy, Estonia, and Moldova.
Group J with North Macedonia, Wales, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and Liechtenstein.
Group K with England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, and Andorra.
Group L with Czechia, Croatia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, and Gibraltar.
The European qualifiers are sure to bring good competition as there are many strong teams with great players. Many of these teams have been on the World Cup stage, ensuring it will be the best of the best soccer to watch. Some of the favorites are Portugal, Spain, England and Germany. Of course, Portugal has one of the greatest players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, so they have the best chance of winning the entire tournament and are currently the favorites. However, don’t discount players like Flroian Writz, Jamal Musiala, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and their countries to also win this entire tournament. Let’s get ready to watch the best soccer and be amazed by the tremendous talent by the greatest soccer players in the world.
