Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
We are on the cusp of the last set of World Cup Qualifiers around the world. We will not know the full list of 32 teams until next month but at the time of writing there are 13 nations that will have had to cancel their Summer Holidays next year. Let’s take a look at the nations have already qualified
Russia:
Hosts
Previous Appearances – 10
Best Finish – Fourth Place 1966
Brazil:
Previous Appearances – 20
Best Finish – Five Time Winners 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Iran:
Previous Appearances – 4
Best Finish – Group Stage 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014
Japan:
Previous Appearances – 5
Best Finish – Round Of 16 2002, 2010
Mexico:
Previous Appearances – 15
Best Finish – Quarter Finalsts 1978, 1986
Belgium:
Previous Appearances – 12
Best Finish – Fourth Place 1986
South Korea:
Previous Appearances – 9
Best Finish – Fourth Place 2002
Saudi Arabia:
Previous Appearances – 9
Best Finish – Round Of 16 1994
Germany:
Previous Appearances – 18
Best Finish – Four Time Winners 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014
Previous Appearances – 14
Best Finish – One Time Winners 1966
Spain:
Previous Appearances – 14
Best Finish – One Time Winners 2010
Nigeria:
Previous Appearances – 5
Best Finish – Round Of 16 1994, 1998, 2014
Costa Rica:
Previous Appearances – 4
Best Finish – Quarter Finalists 2014
That is the bakers dozen of nations that have already made it to Russia but there are still 19 berths left up for grabs. Six of these will come in the form of Play-Offs. Four from Europe as eight nations will progress to a further stage in the UEFA qualification section while two will come in the form of Intercontinental fixtures.
We will know four more of these qualifiers come the early hours of Wednesday morning when the COMNEBOL section finally comes to a close. Brazil are the only team to have booked their place at the moment but the other slots are still very much up for grabs.
One nation will have to make do with having to make the Intercontinental Play-Offs where they will face New Zealand while one nation will miss out altogether. The big question is just where exactly Argentina and Lionel Messi will finish up. We will know the answer to that in a few days time.
I’ll update the list on Wednesday when it will be just the African Confederation and Play-Offs left to play.
