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JAKARTA - After Australia and Costa Rica each beat Peru and New Zealand in the intercontinental play-off earlier this week, 32 teams will compete in the 2022 World Cup finals which will be held in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December.

There are a total of eight groups and like four years ago, this World Cup will not be joined by four-time world champions Italy. While defending champions France and the six countries that have won the World Cup are back in this pandemic edition of the World Cup.

The five groups are inhabited by one former world champion each, namely England in Group B, Argentina in Group C, Brazil in Group G and Uruguay in Group H. Meanwhile, Group E is the only group that brings together two former world champions, Spain and German.

Can Group E be called a hell group? What about the other groups? Is it lighter than Group E? The most objective way to see which is the light and heavy group is to look at the FIFA rankings of all the teams.

The following is an overview of the 2022 World Cup groups, extracted by Antara from the pages of The Athletic and ESPN, starting from the lightest to the heaviest groups.

Group A

This group has an average rating of 31.75. The Netherlands is ranked highest at 10, followed by Senegal at 20, Ecuador 46, and Qatar at 51. Theoretically, the Netherlands, which is a close subscriber to the world champions and Senegal, who has just won Africa, are the two countries that have the greatest possibility of qualifying from the group stage.

However, Qatar can be heartened by the interesting fact that with the exception of South Africa in 2010, all of the World Cup hosts have always progressed from the group stage. It's just that Qatar is too difficult to ignore the Netherlands, which underwent a revitalization under Louis van Gaal and was filled with talented players who strengthened Europe's big clubs and won important trophies in Europe.

So does Senegal. The team was gifted with brilliant talent from Edouard Mendy in goal to Kalidou Koulibaly in the middle and Sadio Mane at the end of the attack. This is also what made them win the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Egypt which they again beat in the determination of qualification to the 2022 World Cup from the African zone.

Ecuador is also not a random team, moreover they escaped from the death zone inhabited by the three world champions, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

H group

This group has an average rating of 27.5. Portugal ranks highest, 8. Uruguay follows with 13, South Korea at 29, and Ghana at 60

This group consists of teams made up of older players, from Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, to Diego Godin who are all in their 30s, while Son Heung-min will be 30 when Qatar 2022 starts. But this group was also enlivened by charming young talents such as Darwin Nunez, Facundo Pellistri and Federico Valverde.

This may be Ronaldo's last World Cup, and his chance to take Portugal to the highest stage after leading Portugal to European champions in 2016.

Portugal is also a favorite because it has bright young stars such as Ruben Dias, Renato Sanches, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jotat.

Uruguay is the second strong favorite, but South Korea can't be underestimated because they often beat anyone like when they silenced Germany in 2018. Even Ghana, which is not an easy opponent for the other three teams.

D group

The average rating for this group is 22.75. Defending champions France are ranked 3rd, followed by Denmark 11, Tunisia 35 and Australia 42

France are definitely the strongest favorites and only Denmark can bother them. For this reason, these two teams have the greatest possibility of qualifying for the knockout phase.

What is of concern is whether Les Bleus, who is still being coached by Didier Deschamps, rely on a solid defense with deadly counter-attacks like when they won the 2018 World Cup, or are more offensive because they have many explosive players like Karim Benzema who brought Real Madrid to the Champions League champions and Kylian Mbappe who is sharp, creative. and productive.

Tunisia and Australia have a long enough time to get out of the predicate complement of the group, while Denmark who appeared impressive during EURO 2020 will be the most attacking team in this group.

Group C

With an average rating of 22, Argentina is the highest ranked team with 4, followed by Mexico 9, Poland 26, and Saudi Arabia 49. No wonder Argentina and Mexico are favorites to qualify for the next round.

Just as for Ronaldo in Portugal, Qatar 2022 could be Lionel Messi's last World Cup. This time he was with the young players who made him finally lift a major trophy when he won the 2021 Copa America.

But Mexico and Poland, who have the most prolific player in Europe in Robert Lewandowksi, could be a problem for Argentina, while Saudi Arabia, who even underwhelmed in the Asian Cup, are the least likely to progress from the group stage.

Group F

Belgium has the highest FIFA ranking in this group at 2, followed by four years ago finalists Croatia with 16, then Morocco 24 and Canada 38.

For this reason, Belgium and Croatia are the two favorite teams to qualify from this group, even though they still rely on old faces such as Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic until both are called the oldest squad in Qatar 2022.

But a Canada filled with young players who top the CONCACAF zone above the usually dominant United States and Mexico in this zone is definitely no complement, just as a Morocco with stars playing for big European clubs like Achraf Hakimi at Paris Saint-Germain. Germain.

G Group

With an average ranking of 19.25 and world number 1 Brazil in it, this group is the fourth most difficult group because the ranking difference between them is quite close. Switzerland ranked second highest with 14, followed by Serbia with 25 and Cameroon 37.

Brazil is too difficult to remove from the group stage which has become their tradition in any World Cup. Attention is focused on who is accompanying Brazil.

Switzerland, which eliminated France in the last 16 of EURO 2020, has yet to lose its momentum to shine again. But that doesn't mean Serbia and Cameroon won't be a surprise, but except for the 1990 World Cup Cameroon has always had a hard time escaping from the group stage. While Serbia has been less convincing in several previous World Cups except in 1998.

Group E

Spain and Germany are definitely strong favorites in this group. Not only have they won the World Cup several times, but they are also the two highest rankings in the group which has an average rating of 18.25. Spain is 7th, Germany is 12th, Japan is 23rd, and Costa Rica is 31st.

Without underestimating Japan who have always created surprises in previous World Cups and a solid Croatia defending, Germany and Spain are still far above these two teams.

Germany, who is eager to close the shame of being eliminated from the group stage four years ago and only made it to the last 16 at EURO 2020 a year ago, could be a team hungry to win. Similarly, Spain has improved rapidly under Luis Enrique.

Neither Hansi Flick nor Enrique wanted Germany and Spain to slip at the start of the tournament and this could be an additional factor that saw both teams desperately snatch the three points from Japan and Costa Rica.

Group B

From the point of view of the difference in ranking between the four teams in this group, Group B is the toughest group. Anyone can beat anyone.

Having an average rating of 14.75, the group ranks England as the highest-ranked team with 5, followed by USA 15, Wales 18 and Iran 21.

England have a very even and talented squad. The 2018 World Cup semi-finalists are still too absurd to consider ending in the group stage, especially since a year ago they almost beat Italy in the EURO 2020 final.

The United States, which has star players who have defended Europe's elite clubs from Chelsea to Borussia Dortmund, could become the second favourite.

But Iran, which has only lost once in the Asian zone, cannot be underestimated. Likewise, Wales, who were in euphoria, entered the World Cup finals again after a long wait since 1958.


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