Playoffs decided
Superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar with Portugal and Poland. The Portuguese defeated North Macedonia 2-0 (1-0) at home in Porto on Tuesday evening. Lewandowski led Poland to a deserved 2-0 (0-0) win over Sweden in Chorzow at home. While the two veterans made it to the finals in the desert nation, Sweden’s icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the tournament.
24 out of 32 tickets awarded: These teams have qualified for the 2022 World Cup
England – World Cup appearances: 16 – Squad value: €1.24bn
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As of March 28, 2022
France – World Cup appearances: 16 – Squad value: €978.5M
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Brazil – World Cup appearances: 22 – squad value: €899.5M
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Spain – World Cup appearances: 16 – squad value: €793M
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Germany – World Cup appearances: 20 – Squad value: €748.5M
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Portugal – World Cup appearances: 8 – Squad value: €747.5M
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Netherlands – World Cup appearances: 11 – Squad value: €655.5M
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Argentina – World Cup appearances: 18 – Squad value: €552.2M
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Uruguay – World Cup appearances: 14 – squad value: €388.6M
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Belgium – World Cup appearances: 14 – squad value: €369M
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Serbia – World Cup appearances: 3 – Squad value: €337.2M
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Senegal – World Cup appearances: 3 – Squad value: €331.5M
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Croatia – World Cup appearances: 6 – Squad value: €323.5M
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Denmark – World Cup appearances: 6 – Squad value: €309.5M
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Poland – World Cup appearances: 9 – squad value: €277M
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Switzerland – World Cup appearances: 12 – Squad value: €235.2M
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South Korea – World Cup appearances: 11 – Squad value: €128.28M
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Ghana – World Cup appearances: 4 – Squad value: €112.6M
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Canada – World Cup appearances: 2 – Squad value: €110.1M
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Ecuador – World Cup appearances: 4 – Squad value: €91.5M
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Japan – World Cup appearances: 7 – Squad value: €76.35M
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Iran – World Cup appearances: 6 – squad value: €74.38M
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Saudi Arabia – World Cup appearances: 6 – squad value: €28.8M
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Qatar – World Cup appearances: 1 – squad value: €14.43M
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Bruno Fernandes (32nd/65th minute) scored the decisive goals for Portugal and secured the eighth participation in a World Cup for the 2016 European champions. The North Macedonians, who had sensationally won 1-0 against European champions Italy in the playoff semifinals, missed out on qualifying for the first time in front of 48,010 fans.
From the bench, 40-year-old Ibrahimovic had to watch as Lewandowski (49′) and Piotr Zielinski (72′) made everything clear for the Poles. The eccentric professional only came on in the 79th minute and was unable to do anything. Poland managed to get their ticket to the World Cup for the ninth time. As in 2010 and 2014, Sweden is not there. The Poles lacked penetrating power in the first half, but led by Lewandowski, that changed after the break. The Swedes were unable to capitalize on their few chances in the first half.
Meanwhile, Russia’s war of aggression means Ukraine won’t meet Scotland in the semi-finals until June, with the winners meeting Wales. In addition to the German selection in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia and Spain had also previously qualified. The preliminary round groups for the World Cup finals, which begin in Qatar on November 21, will be drawn on Friday.
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