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Canada will play these three countries at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Apr 1 2022, 5:23 pm
Canada will play these three countries at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar
TSN

FIFA sure made us wait, but we now know who Canada will play at the World Cup in Qatar.

The final country announced at the FIFA World Cup draw today, Canada will play in Group F, with matches against Belgium, Morocco, and Croatia.

As the No. 2 ranked country in the world, Belgium is the most difficult opponent in the group for the 38th-ranked Canadians. They lost in the semi-finals four years ago in Russia.

Croatia is currently ranked 16th in the world, and were a surprise World Cup finalist in 2018.

Morocco, ranked 24th, didn’t win a match four years ago.

The World Cup will begin in November for the first time ever due to Qatar’s hot climate. It begins on November 21, and wraps up December 18.

Canada will play Belgium on November 23, Croatia on November 27, and Morocco on December 1.

A total of 32 countries will compete, although three countries have yet to qualify — they’ll book their tickets to Qatar following inter-continental and European playoffs in June.

The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout round.

FIFA World Cup groups

The 32 participating countries have been divided into eight groups of four teams each:

  • Group A

    • Qatar ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
    • Ecuador ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ
    • Senegal ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ
    • Netherlands ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ

  • Group B

    • England ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
    • Iran ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท
    • USA ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
    • European playoff (Wales, Scotland, or Ukraine)

  • Group C

    • Argentina ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท
    • Saudi Arabia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
    • Mexico ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ
    • Poland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ

  • Group D

    • France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท
    • IC playoff 1 (Peru, Australia, or United Arab Emirates)
    • Denmark ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ
    • Tunisia ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ

  • Group E

    • Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ
    • IC playoff 2 (Costa Rica or New Zealand)
    • Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช
    • Japan ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต

  • Group F

    • Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช
    • Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
    • Morocco ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
    • Croatia ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท

  • Group G

    • Brazil ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท
    • Serbia ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ
    • Switzerland ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ
    • Cameroon ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ

  • Group H

    • Portugal ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น
    • Ghana ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ
    • Uruguay ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ
    • South Korea ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท

The most favourable group Canada could have been drawn in was Group A, with the host country Qatar (ranked 51st), along with the Netherlands (10th) and Senegal (20th). It could have been much worse though, notably in Group E, where getting out of the group would mean finishing higher than Spain or Germany.

Group of death?

There’s not a clear “group of death” this year.

According to the FIFA rankings, the group of death is Group B, which includes England (5th), USA (15th), Iran (21st), and the European playoff winner (Wales, Scotland, or Ukraine). Many people would disagree with that sentiment though, instead pointing to Group E, with Spain (7th), Germany (12th), Japan (23rd), and the winner of Costa Rica/New Zealand.

You could also make a case for Group D being the group of death, particularly if Peru (22nd) wins its inter-continental playoff. They would be with France (3rd), Denmark (11th), and Tunisia (35th).

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