Deutsche Welle (English edition)
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
Spain Sweden Greece Georgia Kosovo
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)