Not just Cristiano Ronaldo but also fans were shocked to see Portugal lose to Serbia in the World Cup Qualifier. The 60,000 plus capacity crowd at home were all seen go quiet after one of football’s greatest ever players was seen crying after the loss and also possibly seeing him play his career’s last FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.
After having suffered an upset at the hands of Dusan Tadic’s Serbian national team, it shattered all hopes of Portugal booking their place in the 2022 FIFA WC through automatic qualification by topping Group A in Europe on Sunday (November 14) at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.
Frustrating night for Portugal & Cristiano Ronaldo…#WCQ pic.twitter.com/T8gNhWdYnW
— European Qualifiers (@EURO2024) November 14, 2021
However, courtesy of CR7’s goals through their qualifying campaign, Portugal can still have a shot at redemption.
How can Portugal make it to the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar?
The side had finished second in Group A with 17 points (5W, 2D, 1L) behind table-toppers Serbia (20 points). Ronaldo’s men will need to go all guns blazing in the forthcoming play-offs by which they can still dream of making it to the big stage.
How will the European play-offs work?
For Portugal, Ronaldo and his team will have to win back-to-back single-leg play-off fixtures. This is much like a semi-final and final tie to finish on top of their play-offs group.
The red and green side cannot afford to lose a single game as after this they won’t have any more chances of qualification. A defeat will see Portugal and CR7 bidding goodbye to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A total of 12 nations will be given the opportunity to book a place in Qatar from Europe.
The number game:
– 12 countries
– 3 groups
– 4 countries in each group
– Only 3 countries will qualify out of 12
– 2 wins needed to qualify (semi-final and final)
– Play-offs draw: November 26, 2021
– Play-offs: March 24 & 29, 2022
However, with the likes of Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and even Euro 2020 champions Italy, the road to Qatar 2022 will surely not be a cakewalk for Portugal. The CR7 side could be also pooled in the same group as Sweden or Poland, both of which heavily depend on their talismanic leaders Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robert Lewandowski.
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