Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
There you have it the 32 teams that will make up the World Cup next Summer have been confirmed as Peru capture the final berth at the expense of New Zealand. The two nations played out a first leg 0-0 draw at the weekend which left the return leg evenly poised.
Not only were either side potentially 90 minutes away from their Russian destiny but there was also the small matter of the UFWC crown to be competed for. Peru went into the game as holders and that is how it stayed thanks to their 2-0 win over New Zealand in the small hours of this morning.
But we cannot get the champagne out just yet as their win does not necessarily mean that they will be defending the title at next Summer’s World Cup. That is because there is still the international friendly window in March of next year to navigate.
In addition to that there will also be pre-tournament friendlies in May/June so the status of the holders will be up in the air until March 2018 at the earliest. Peru however will end the calendar year as UFWC champions as the South American landlock continues.
The fact that Peru have qualified for the World Cup is promising though because they will now look to test themselves against intercontinental opposition in the few friendly dates that are available therefore it opens up the possibilities of just who could be the next holders of the coveted UFWC crown.
The ideal scenario is that Peru take it all the way through to Russia and we have three guaranteed title matches like we did in 2014, not only that though but it was contested all the way to the final when Germany would do the double and become the last European nation to hold the much wanted accolade.
