World Cup in South Africa is less than a year away and decisive qualifying battles are in front of us. As usually, the European qualifying zone is probably the most interesting one, partly as the teams fight for no less than 13 places at the big tournament. Netherlands is the first national team from Europe to have booked their ticket to South Africa, while England and Spain are likely to do the same, but there are still 10 places up for grabs.
Group 1
Denmark are the surprise leaders with 16 points, and they are followed by Hungary with 13, while Portugal and Sweden face a difficult task in the final four rounds as they have nine points each. In September, Denmark hosts Portugal before traveling to Albania and they are very close to ensuring the first place in the standings, while Hungary hosts Sweden and Portugal in the next two games. Therefore, there is still plenty of excitement in front of us in this qualifying group.
Group 2
Greece and Switzerland are tied at the top with 13 points and the teams are set to meet in Basel in the next qualifying round. Apart from that game, Greece has a very easy fixture list and they are definitely the favourites to finish top of the group, while the Swiss should make the play-offs as Israel and Latvia are unlikely to cause them big problems.
Group 3
This is definitely the most evenly matched group as no less than five teams are fighting for the top two places. Slovakia is in pole position having won 15 points from six games, and they are followed by Northern Ireland and Slovenia with 13 and 11 points respectively. Poland and Czech Republic are also in the mix and it is still too early to say who has the biggest chances to finish second as Slovakia will probably win this group.
Group 4
Germany and Russia are the only two teams in contention for the top two places and they are now fighting for the first place in the group. Russia are four points adrift of Germans with the game in hand, but they will host Joachim Low’s team and could easily win this group. Nevertheless, whichever team finish second, they will be hot favourites to go through after play-offs.
Group 5
Spain have already ensured the first place, while Bosnia is close to causing an upset as they are four points clear of Turkey in the fight for the second place in the group. Bosnia will host Fatih Terim’s side in September and if they don’t lose the game, they will make a giant step to South Africa.
Group 6
England will finish top of this group, while Croatia and Ukraine are locked in the battle for the second place. The teams have already played each other twice, thus other teams in the group are likely to decide their destiny.
Group 7
Serbia are currently top of this group five points clear of France, who they will host in Belgrade on 9th September. France have a game in hand and even if they beat Romania in their next game, Les Bleus will still need three points from Serbia in order to finish top of the group.
Group 8
Things are quite clear in this group as Italy is very close to ensuring the first place, whereas Republic of Ireland should make the play-offs, even though Bulgaria has a small chance but only if Giovanni Trapatoni’s team slips up.
Group 9
As I have already said, Netherland have booked their ticket to South Africa after winning all seven games, while Macedonia, Scotland and Norway are fighting for the second place. However, the worst second-placed team (doesn’t make the play-offs) is likely to come from this group, which means the aforementioned teams don’t have much to play for.
Popularity: 3% [?]
No Comment
Random Post
Leave Your Comments Below