We are approaching the completion of exactly four years since the night of July 15, 2018, when France on Friday evening (1/4, 19:00, Antenne. gr and Sportish liveblog) we are ready to finally turn the page and the Page marked “22. WM” open.

This will take place in Qatar next autumn, for the first time in the 92-year history of the institution, which will not take place in the summer but in the middle of the season (let’s look at the weather situation) with fans worldwide We look forward to the final draw, in which we will get to know the teams that make up the puzzle of eight groups, each of which hosts four teams.

A total of 32 teams will take part in this grand celebration (the last time we have that number as there will be a topping up of teams in forthcoming tournaments at FIFA’s request), with seven of the eight previous winners declaring themselves present.

Only Italy will be missing from the club of the strong

These are Brazil (5 conquests), Germany (4 conquests), Argentina, France, Uruguay (2 conquests), Spain and England (1 conquest), with Italy’s four stars on its jersey aglow by its absence with the recent shock defeat against North Macedonia in lockdown to ban them from the big party for the second year in a row (their last appearance at the World Cup, held in Brazil in 2014).

As for that The group of strong includes the teams that will lead the eight groups of the World Cup. It includes the hosting team Qatar, plus Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain and Portugal, which are the top seven countries in the world rankings.

The traditional armed forces of Germany and the Netherlands are in the 2nd capacity group and this automatically makes the existence of a “death group” very likely. At least one of the two will be drawn against an equally strong opponent and if you add Robert Lewandowski’s Poland or African champions Senegal then we’ve got a very strong group for anyone involved.

Of course, tonight’s draw will not include 32 teams but more as the puzzle is not yet complete as 29 teams have already checked the ticket but three tickets are still open.

One concerns Europe and the final of the third draw between Wales and winners Scotland – Ukraine, which has been postponed to June while the latter is being played in the intercontinental play-offs. New Zealand meets Costa Rica, while Peru meets the winner of Australia’s pairing with the United Arab Emirates.

It is noted that there will be at least one European team in each group, but no more than two, while the representatives of the other continents will not be able to compete against each other in the group stage.

It should be noted that, unlike earlier, when the draw was made, the teams do not know the stadiums in which they will play and the dates, as this will become known later.

capacity groups

FIRST GROUP

• Qatar (AFC, host country) 1,441
• Brazil (CONMEBOL) 1,833
• Belgium (UEFA) 1,827
• France (UEFA) 1,790
• Argentina (CONMEBOL) 1,765
• England (UEFA) 1,762
• Spain (UEFA) 1,709
• Portugal (UEFA) 1,675

SECOND GROUP

• Netherlands (UEFA) 1,659
• Mexico (CONCACAF) 1,659
• Denmark (UEFA) 1,654
• Germany (UEFA) 1,651
• Uruguay (CONMEBOL) 1,636
• Switzerland (UEFA) 1,635
• US (CONCACAF) 1,634
• Croatia (UEFA) 1,621

THIRD GROUP

• Senegal (CAF) 1,584
• Iran (AFC) 1,564
• Japan (AFC) 1,553
• Morocco (CAF) 1,552
• Serbia (UEFA) 1,548
• Poland (UEFA) 1,544
• South Korea (AFC) 1,520
• Tunisia (CAF) 1,500

FOURTH GROUP

• Cameroon (CAF) 1,480
• Canada (CONCACAF) 1,479
• Ecuador (CONMEBOL) 1,453
• Saudi Arabia (AFC) 1,445
• Ghana (CAF) 1,387
• UEFA draw winners: Wales (UEFA) 1,588 or Ukraine (UEFA) 1,535 / Scotland (UEFA) 1,473
• Intercontinental AFC Winner – CONMEBOL: Peru 1,562 or Australia 1,462 / UAE 1,357
• Intercontinental CONCACAF – OFC winners: Costa Rica (CONCACAF) 1,503 or New Zealand (OFC) 1,206