Qatar 2022: Germany to face Romania and Iceland World Cup qualifying

Germany have been handed a favorable qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup. The four-time winners have been paired with Romania and Iceland for the year-long qualifying process, which gets under way in March 2021.

Germany are heavy favorites to top their World Cup qualifying group, which was drawn on Monday evening in Nyon, Switzerland.

The challengers to Germany in Group J areRomania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia and Lichtenstein.

Joachim Löw's side, one of the ten top seeds, managed to avoid the likes of Turkey and Wales, but in a press conference on Monday, Löw was forced to defend his position once again. His comments can be found here.

The qualification games begin in March 2021 and end in March 2022, with the 10 group winners qualifying automatically. The 10 second-placed teams will be joined by the top two ranked Nations League teams that are outside of the top two qualifying positions and then enter into the playoffs, with three teams qualifying via this path.

The tournament, the first to be held midway through the European football season, will be held from November 21 until December 18, 2022.

UEFA groups in full

Group A Portugal

Serbia

Republic of Ireland Luxembourg Azerbaijan

Group B

Group C

Italy

Switzerland Northern Ireland Bulgaria Lithuania

Group D France Ukraine

Finland

Bosnia and Herzegovina Kazakhstan

Group E Belgium

Wales

Czech Republic Belarus

Estonia

Group F Denmark Austria Scotland Israel

Faroe Islands Moldova

Group G Netherlands Turkey Norway Montenegro Latvia Gibraltar

Group I England Poland Hungary Albania Andorra San Marino

Group J

Germany

Romania

Iceland

North Macedonia Armenia

Liechtenstein

mds (DPA, Reuters)

Spain Sweden Greece Georgia Kosovo