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With less than 80 days before the start, it is time to decide the final entries for the World Cup in June and July in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
A total of 22 countries are in the hunt for the remaining six spots in the expanded 48-team event. In Europe, 16 countries will fight for the last four times of this continent, while six teams from other parts of the world will fight for the other two. All of this will be decided in a series of one-off mini-tournaments over the next six days, with matches taking place on Thursday and Tuesday.
Although Canada is not involved, it still has these qualifying tournaments. One of them will determine who the Canadian team will face in its opening game of the World Cup on June 12 in Toronto, while the total of three qualifiers will play the group stage game in Toronto or Vancouver.
So, let’s take a look at the European and intercontinental qualifiers.
In Europe
The 16 European hopefuls are divided into four different brackets of four groups – or “ways,” as they are called. Either way, the winners of these two matches on Thursday will enter the World Cup on Tuesday.
Route A is particularly interesting for several reasons. It features four-time World Cup winners Italy, who are desperately trying to avoid becoming the first multi-time champions to miss the event three times in a row. If the Italians win, they will face Canada on June 12 in Toronto, home to the largest Italian-Canadian community in the country.
Italy is ranked 12th in the world and is favored to win the tournament. But this same route led to disaster four years ago when, as the reigning conquerors of Europe, the The Azzurri was badly defeated 1-0 by small North Macedonia. They are now playing for their World Cup lives again after failing to beat their first round European qualifying group, when 32nd placed Norway beat them twice.
As you can imagine, tensions are running high in Italy. Earlier this week, hot-headed coach Gennaro Gattuso (the standout midfielder in Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning squad) sent home the talented Federico Chiesa (joint goalscorer in the Euro 2021 squad). Although Chiesa is dealing with a “minor” injury, Gattuso suggested that the decision had more to do with the player’s “frame of mind”.
Italy will host 69th-ranked Northern Ireland on Thursday in the small northern city of Bergamo, chosen by Gattuso because he did not enjoy the atmosphere at Milan’s San Siro stadium. When Italy lost to Norway in November, fans of rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan booed (the European equivalent of booing) opposing players.
The winner of the Italy-Northern Ireland match will go on the road to face No. 35 Wales or No. 71 Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in Group B at the World Cup with No. 29 Canada, No. 18 Switzerland and No. 56 Qatar.
Two of the three European brackets feature the clear favourite.
In Path C ranked 25th Turkey, which will host 49th Romania on Thursday. The winner goes to No. 44 Slovakia or No. 79 Kosovo on Tuesday. Whoever survives this round will enter Group D with the 15th-ranked United States, No. 27 Australia and No. 40 Paraguay. Vancouver will host it on June 13 when they face Australia.
On Path D, 21st-ranked favorites Denmark host the killers themselves, No. 66 North Macedonia, with the winner hitting the road to face No. 43 Czechia or No. 59 Ireland. This path leads to Group A, which includes 16th-ranked Mexico, No. 22 in South Korea and 60 in South Africa.
Route B, on the other hand, looks more open. Number 34 Poland and No. 42 Sweden are technically favourites, but their betting odds mean they each have just a 1-in-3 chance of making it to the World Cup. And the top-ranked team in the group, No.
Ukraine cannot host the games due to the war with Russia, so their match against Sweden on Thursday will be played at a neutral venue in Spain. Poland host No. 63 Albania, with the winners meeting either Spain or Sweden on Tuesday. The winner goes into Group F with seventh-placed Netherlands, 19th Japan and 47th Tunisia.
The Intercontinental
These playoffs work differently than in Europe. The legs are still split once, with games on Thursday and Tuesday, but this time the six teams are divided into three subgroups, with the best team in each leg getting to go through the first round. Also, every game will be played on a neutral site in Mexico.
In Path 1, 48th-ranked Congo awaits the winner of Thursday’s contest between No. 70 Jamaica and No. 150 New Caledonia, a small French territory located east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. The winner of this method joins Group K and No. 6 Portugal, No. 13 Colombia and No. 52 Uzbekistan.
In Path 2, 58th-ranked Iraq meets the winner between No. 76 Bolivia and No. 22 Suriname. This path leads to Group I, with number 3 France, No. 14 Senegal No. 32 Norway. Toronto will host a successful qualifier on June 26 against Senegal.
What is Canada up to
As they await their opponents in their World Cup opener, the 29th-ranked Canadian men will host friendly matches this international window. On Saturday afternoon they play against number 74 Iceland, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, and on Tuesday night they will face the World Cup team which will be number 47 in Tunisia.
Both games will be held at Toronto’s BMO Field, which we own added 17,000 seats bringing its capacity to 45,000 for the World Cup. But Canada will be without three key defenders as Alphonso Davies struggles with a strained hamstring after returning from a torn ACL, Alistair Johnston recovers from hamstring surgery and Moise Bombito works back from a tibia fracture. Midfielder Stephen Eustaquio and forward Jacob Shaffelburg are also out with injuries.
Here’s something else in the Canadian team that will play friendly matches.
