Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från World Soccer

BUY ONE YEAR, GET ONE FREE Don’t miss this special buy one get one free offer Subscribe to World Soccer today and get a 2-year subscription for the price of 1 – Saving 50%. Plus, never miss an issue with FREE UK delivery direct to your door RECEIVE 26 ISSUES OF WORLD SOCCER FOR JUST £77.87 • DON’T MISS 2022 – it’s a massive year for football! • Get amazing coverage of the Champions League, Women’s Euro 2022 and lots more with World Soccer • PLUS…don’t miss our ultimate build-up to the 2022 World Cup Save 50% Subscribe online now shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSCP522 or call 01959 543 747 quote code WSCP522 Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday. Terms and conditions: Offer available for UK customers only.…

UEFA have decided against a controversial proposal for the reformed Champions League for the 2024-25 season. When the new-look competition arrives, it will do away with the current group stage format, with a single league table of 36 teams taking its place. Each club will play ten games against ten different opponents. Under one proposition, clubs with stronger coefficient rankings would be able to qualify for the competition regardless of their league position. Taking this season’s Premier League as an example, Manchester United’s European history would allow them to leapfrog West Ham United into the Champions League if they finished behind them. However, according to a report in The Times, UEFA have now dropped the plans, amid heavy criticism of the proposals in general, but “is still considering the use…

WORLD CUP 2022 DRAW No luck of the draw for the hosts. No group of death. Yet the draw for the first World Cup on Arab soil yielded eight intriguing groups that should see most of the powerhouses progress. As hosts, Qatar were supposed to get a favourable draw – a winnable opening match to get the party going and friendly Group A opponents to keep their knockout-round hopes alive. It’s a recipe to keep the tidal wave of enthusiasm and nation-building going during the tournament. In 2010, South Africa became the first host nation to exit in the group stage, despite drawing with Mexico and beating France. Will Qatar be the second host nation to suffer a similar fate? The draw, which included a star-studded show with the usual…

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING In 2000, Real Madrid signed Luis Figo from Barcelona. It was a transfer that had profound consequences. Madrid didn’t just take one of Barca’s best players; they also sent them into a panic. Humiliated, Barca felt an urge to assert themselves by spending, precipitating a financial meltdown. Joan Laporta was elected president, and sought to return the club to its tactical roots, appointing Frank Rijkaard as coach. Three years later, Barca won the Champions League. In 2017, Paris Saint-Germain signed Neymar from Barcelona. It was a transfer that had profound consequences. PSG didn’t just take one of Barca’s best players; they also sent them into a panic. Humiliated, Barca felt an urge to assert themselves by spending, precipitating a financial meltdown. Joan Laporta was elected president, and sought…

Tomas BOY (1951-2022) A hugely significant figure in the history of Mexican football, having captained the national team on home soil at the 1986 World Cup. Known as “ElJefe” (The Boss), Boy was known for his dribbling and vision, as well as his ability to score from long range, and spent the vast majority of his career at Tigres with whom he won two league titles and a Mexican Cup. After retiring in 1988 he managed a number of clubs, leaving his last job in May 2021. Egidius BRAUN (1925-2022) A long-serving German football administrator, Braun was the eighth president of the German Football Association (DFB) from1992 to 2001, overseeing the early years of reunification and Germany’s famous victory at euro ’96 in england. During the same period he also…

During the first four weeks of the war, about 2.2 million Ukrainian refugees entered Poland. Appropriate services and many volunteers helping refugees immediately appeared on the Polish-Ukrainian border. They offered food, transport and even their own flats, all for free. This was an eruption of solidarity from a nation in which the memory of World War II – when as many as six million Poles died – is still strong. In recent years around a million Ukrainians have come to Poland to work; every Pole has come into contact with a Ukrainian in their everyday life. That is why they are treated as neighbours, who receive help willingly from a nation of people who can empathise with their plight. Polish footballers also offered their immediate support. In the match against…

Benjamin SESKO Red Bull Salzburg In a sentence Although the18-year-old Slovenian striker has been hampered by a recurring thigh problem this season, he has been compared to former Red Bull Salzburg superstar striker Erling Haaland. What they say “He has all the ingredients to develop into an international class striker in the coming years. He has made huge progress in recent times” Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund “For someone of his age, Benjamin Sesko is already bringing a lot to the table. He has proven his worth for both [Salzburg] and the Slovenian national team. He’s a complete player, but is still young of course and needs time to get himself ready for the next steps in his career” Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle3things you didn’t know aBout sesko The story…

After a torrid 2021, the US women’s league must have been tempted to rebrand as NWSL 2.0 for the new season. It could have been justified too, with significant change taking place during the winter. There are two new teams, one of them with a ground-breaking ownership philosophy, expanding the league into California and taking the competition to a record12 clubs. Two sides have moved into new stadia, while Kansas City Current (previously known as Kansas City NWSL) have renamed. Champions Washington Spirit are under new ownership after a bitter takeover fight. As for the structure of the league, every team will play each other twice, the first balanced schedule since 2014. For the first time there is a collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, establishing significant pay increases…

Unsurprisingly, North Macedonia looked jaded in the wake of their exertions against Italy and barely troubled novice Diogo Costa in the Portuguese goal No prizes for guessing the identity of the most humbled European nation in World Cup 2022 qualification. Just eight months after claiming the European crown at Wembley, Roberto Mancini’s Italy somehow managed to turn wine into water, sensationally falling victim to the minnows of North Macedonia in a1-0 play-off semi-final defeat in Palermo. Incredible to think that Italy, four times global champions, have now failed to qualify for the last two World Cups; an unthinkable turn of events for such a soccer superpower. It will take some time for the Italians to digest the chilling enormity of North Macedonia’s 1-0 hold-up in Sicily. For all the Azzurri’s…

Canada, Mexico, and the United States will be present in Qatar later this year after securing places in the top three of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, but as the all-important third round came to an end, perhaps only Canada will be pleased with their overall performance after reaching their first men’s World Cup since1986. Below them in the table, a late surge from Costa Rica saw them book a place inJune’s inter-confederational play-off where they will face Oceania representatives New Zealand. Los Ticos, coached by Colombian Luis Fernando Suarez, ended the third round as the region’s form team. But the headlines belong to Canada, who began this qualifying cycle as the seventh best team in CONCACAF according to the FIFA rankings, and ended it top of the qualifying table. They…

Between them, Brazil and Argentina provide almost half the field in the group phase of this year’s Copa Libertadores once again. Since the competition was extended to cover the calendar year in 2017 it has been very hard for the rest of South America to get a look in. And since that controversial River Plate-Boca Juniors final in 2018, it has been a tale of Brazilian domination. Brazil’s big three – Palmeiras, the winners of the last two Libertadores titles, 2019 champions Flamengo and domestic double winners Atletico Mineiro – are clearly the teams to beat. Last year the three of them played a total of 38 Libertadores matches, and only lost two. One was a meaningless group game when Palmeiras fielded a weakened side, and the other was the…

(All kick-off times, if stated, are BST) Friday April 15 ENGLAND: Good Friday sees a full set of Football League fixtures. Saturday April 16 ENGLAND: Liverpool face Manchester City at Wembley in the first FA Cup semi-final. SPAIN: Sevilla host Real Madrid in a potential title decider at the top of the table La Liga. FRANCE: Lille take on Lens in Ligue 1, just a few months on from the pitch invasion that marred their last meeting. Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain face arch-rivals Marseille. PORTUGAL: Sporting play local rivals Benfica in the Lisbon derby. SCOTLAND: It’s an Edinburgh derby in the first Scottish FA Cup semi-final, with Hearts going head-to-head with Hibernian. Sunday April 17 GERMANY: Bayer Leverkusen host RB Leipzig in the race for a top-four finish in the Bundesliga.…

EUROPE 2021-22 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Round of16 – 2nd leg Mar 8 – Munich bayern Munich 7 (Lewandowski12 pen, 21 pen, 23, Gnabry 31, Muller 54, 83, Sane 85) red bull salzburg1 (Kjaergaard 70) Bayern Munich win 8-2 on aggregate Mar 8 – Liverpool liverpool 0 internazionale1 (Martinez 62) Liverpool win 2-1 on aggregate Mar 9 – Madrid real Madrid 3 (Benzema 61, 76, 78) Paris saint-Germain1 (Mbappe 39) Real Madrid win 3-2 on aggregate Mar 9 – Manchester Manchester City 0 sporting 0 Manchester City win 5-0 on aggregate Mar 15 – Manchester Manchester united 0 atletico Madrid1 (Lodi 41) Atletico Madrid win 2-1 on aggregate Mar 15 – Amsterdam ajax 0 benfica1 (Nunez 77) Benfica win 3-2 on aggregate Mar 16 – Lille lille1 (Yilmaz 38 pen) Chelsea…

This time last year, when Italy and Algeria were in the process of setting world and African records for lengthy unbeaten runs (37 and 35 international games respectively), the idea that neither of them would be present at Qatar for the 2022 World Cup would have been unthinkable. Yet football has a funny way of surprising you. The surreal situation of European champions Italy missing out on a second consecutive World Cup was summed up by journalist Richard Jolly, who pointed out that former England defender Matthew Upson – whose last cap came in the Three Lions’ 4-1 defeat to Germany in South Africa in 2010 – has scored a World Cup knockout goal more recently than the Azzurri – a fact that will remain true until 2026 at least.…

France Football magazine, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or, have announced a number of reforms to their prestigious award. The headline change is the date, with voters now asked to vote based on season performances rather than over the calendar year, as has been the case since the award’s inception in1956. For example, this year’s ceremony will be held in September or October, with the season concluding after the Women’s Euro 2022 final in July. The Qatar World Cup will be a factor in the 2023 vote. In addition, the voting panel will be reduced from170 to100 for the men’s award, and 50 for the women’s.…

THE INSIDER Gianni Infantino, barring cataclysm (not to be ruled out these days), is expecting to be re-elected next year as president of FIFA for a further four years. The jury is out on the balance of his reign thus far. The 52-year-old Swiss lawyer was voted in six years ago to complete the last three years of Sepp Blatter’s fifth term, and then won the top job in world football in his own right in 2019. Under the current rules – which he could always seek to rewrite – a president may serve “only” three full terms. This means that Infantino may seek a further re-election in 2027, preside over the 2030 World Cup and then retire to the luxury of five-star travel, accommodation and VIP seating for the…

Alejandro GARNACHO (Manchester United) For March’s World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Ecuador, Argentina named a provisional 44-man squad with seven uncapped players aged18 or under. The one thing that many of the young talents have in common is the fact that they are eligible for other nations. Spanish-born Garnacho arrived at Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 2020 and has received attention for firing United’s U18s to the FA Youth Cup final with five goals, but he is yet to taste senior action. Indeed, neither have Valentin and Franco Carboni (Inter), Nico Paz (Real Madrid) or Tiago Geralnik (Villarreal), while Luka Romero (Lazio) and Matias Soule (Juventus) only have a handful of first-team games between them. The Inter duo, plus Geralnik and Soule, are eligible for Italy; Garnacho and…

In March, when Ukraine’s Andriy Yarmolenko replaced Michail Antonio with West Ham United and Aston Villa still goalless, a supportive roar greeted him. Going into the match, the Hammers had lost three games in a row, all in different competitions. But 18 minutes after his introduction, the 32-year-old had brought that run to an end. His precise touch and clinical finish were impressive enough, helping the East Londoners to a 2-1 victory as they aim to keep pace with the Premier League’s elite. But the timing of the strike made it extra special, coming just weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yarmolenko is undisputedly one of Ukraine’s most influential footballers. He’s one of only five players to win100 Ukrainian caps, while 2004 Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko is the only…

For those that follow Italian football, Italy’s elimination from the Qatar World Cup – beaten1-0 in March in a play-off by “minnows” North Macedonia – was just about the most inexplicable and unexpected result of modern, Italian times. La Repubblica’s senior football writer, Enrico Curro, probably got it right when he described the disaster as “certainly the worst in 112 years of Italian national team history”. What happened? Institutional incompetence, penalties missed along the qualifying way, and tired and injured players all led to a woeful attack of the collective jitters from the same squad which only eight months earlier had played bold, brave and sparkling football on the road to winning the 2020 European Championship. On paper, this was a complete mismatch: the FIFA-ranked No.6 side playing at home…

“You’ve been living in Japan since 2018. Do you feel at home there now or do you still miss Spain? I’d say that we miss home a lot. Above all, because of the recent situation of not being able to get back and our family not being able to visit. It’s been very difficult for everyone. It’s true that changes always generate a bit of stress, but since the first day we arrived we’ve felt great here and that feeling has grown both on a sporting and family level. We’re very happy here. On the pitch, what have you made of the standard of the Japanese league and how does it compare to playing in Europe? They’re different. different levels or however you want to call it, but it’s not…

SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 21 Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) 18 Alisson (Liverpool) 10 Ederson (Manchester City) 7 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) 6 Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) 4 David Ospina (Napoli) 4 David de Gea (Manchester United) 3 Mike Maignan (Milan) 3 Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal) 2 Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim) 1 Walter Benitez (Nice) 1 Bono (Sevilla) 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG) 1 Mark Flekken (Freiburg) 1 Alfred Gomis (Rennes) 1 Samir Handanovic (Internazionale) 1 Juan Musso (Atalanta) 1 Maty Ryan (Real Sociedad) 1 Jose Sa (Wolves) 1 Yann Sommer (B. M’gladbach) 1 DEFENDERS Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) 40 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 25 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 24 Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) 19 Ruben Dias (Manchester City) 18 Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea) 17 Achraf Hakimi (PSG) 12 Eder…

With a new format in the 2026 World Cup, South America’s qualification system may well have to change. But the one group, everyone-against-everyone marathon format, used between1998 and this year, has certainly left its mark. When it arrived, it gave the teams of the continent, for the first time, the type of calendar that European sides have long taken for granted, with regular competitive games and guaranteed income. The effect on the lesser nations was clear: Ecuador qualified for their first World Cup in 2002, and reached the second round four years later; Paraguay enjoyed their best-ever World Cup in 2010, as did Colombia in 2014; Uruguay roared back to the game’s top table; and, back in the competition for the first time since 1982, Peru gave eventual champions France…

Asia looked at the controversial and dramatic end to Africa’s World Cup qualifiers in wonder. The road to Qatar that ran through the world’s biggest continent was also the longest as it started back in June 2019. The ending was, however, dull and predictable – a carbon copy of the last time around with Iran, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia as the four automatic qualifiers. The quartet all made it with at least a game to spare, but there will be drama to come in the June play-offs. The two third-placed teams, United Arab Emirates and Australia, meet in Doha, with the winner taking on South American representatives Peru a week later. In Group A, Iran and South Korea had the two automatic spots sewn up from the start,…

Mamelodi Sundowns set a new benchmark for the group phase of the African Champions League with a record points haul, but must now get rid of their Manchester City-esque penchant for flattering to deceive ahead of the knockout phase of the competition. The South African club, who are owned by Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe, became the first team since the group competition started in1997 to amass 16 points from their six matches – five wins and one draw. Previously Esperance from Tunisia had won five but lost one in1999 and 2013, but the Pretoria outfit went one better in an impressive display of efficiency that included beating the holders Al Ahly both home and away. But the Egyptian giants still qualified in second place from Group A…

MAKING OF MESSI As Messi mania swept football, World Soccer was there every step of the way, and this special 100-page bookazine tracks Leo’s amazing journey with club and country. GREATEST RIVALRIES From Rome to Cairo, Glasgow to Buenos Aires, Milan to Shanghai and Moscow to Rio de Janeiro, this edition showcases some of the biggest rivalries in football. FACE TO FACE This issue features a collection of interviews with footballing icons, including Maradona, Kaka, Zidane, Xavi, Ronaldo, Cruyff, Sacchi, Pele, Klinsmann, Shearer and Wenger. HISTORY OF THE EUROS Published specifically to coincide with the European Championship’s 60th anniversary, World Soccerchronicles the history of the Euros, from 1960 through to 2020. PEP TALK The greatest manager of all time or a flawed genius? You decide after reading this special issue…

Liverpool 3 Nottingham Forest 1 1989, FA Cup semi-final, Old Trafford Just 22 days had passed between the most harrowing tragedy in English football history and the re-arranged game. Liverpool-born John Aldridge scored twice to seal a 3-1 win on a day overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster “It was so much more than a football match to me and everyone else in that Liverpool dressing room. After all that happened on that fateful day at Hillsborough, the goals I scored in the re-arranged FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest a few weeks later will always be the most important of my career. I went to the funerals of so many Hillsborough victims and will never forget my encounter with a young lad who was on a life support machine as…

€300,000 Fee paid by Bayern Munich for Borussia Monchengladbach 13-year-old Mike Wisdom. 23 Roma goals scored by Tammy Abraham by the start of April, breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s record for strikes in a debut season for the Italian club. 6 Bids made for the ownership of Chelsea before the Premier League’s March18 deadline. 287 Days between Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 and his return for Denmark, as the midfielder scored with his first touch against the Netherlands on his international comeback. 49 England goals for Harry Kane, putting him level with Bobby Charlton, four behind Wayne Rooney’s all-time record. The Tottenham man also moved ahead of Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard into fifth place on the all-time Premier League list. 134 Northern Ireland caps won by Steven Davis, extending…

THE O’LEARY YEARS By Rocco Dean (Pitch Publishing, £16.99) The O’Leary Years charts the rise and fall of Leeds United at the turn of the 21st century. The journey lasted four seasons under David O’Leary, each one a rollercoaster, and the often-scorned club enjoyed popularity like never before. But things are never straightforward at Elland Road. Off-the-pitch controversies and a “spend, spend, spend” attitude would eventually bring the club to its knees, but not before it was one match from reaching its holy grail: a European Cup final rematch with Bayern Munich. WEST HAM UNITED ByJack Fawbert (Pitch Publishing, £16.99) West Ham United: From East End Family to Globalised Fandom is the story of the evolution of West Ham. It charts how a works football team was transformed into a…

“It is to do with family matters, but I’d rather not go into detail. At this point in time, I wanted to spend time with my family. I did not go with the Russian team [but that was] not because of political aspects”Zenit Saint Petersburg striker Artem Dzyuba after declining an international call-up by Russia IN EUROPE Following the departure of Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds United appointed JESSE MARSCH as their new head coach. Dutch giants PSV announced that RUUD VAN NISTELROOY will replace Roger Schmidt as coach this summer – his first senior managerial role. Relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin appointed former Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Fulham boss FELIX MAGATH as coach until the end of the season, replacing Tayfun Korkut. Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia appointed former Celtic boss NEIL LENNON…

Mexican football usually enjoys being in the limelight. Aztec fans are well known for being amongst the most enthusiastic and active on social media, whether with the export of one of their stars to a European club, the performances of their clubs in international tournaments or the results of the national team in World Cups. However, on March 5, they were on the planet’s lips for all the wrong reasons. On that infamous night, social media networks were not filled with praise or memes, but with images of the worst riots in a Mexican stadium in the last 20 years. Furthermore, the match in which the incidents occurred was neither a derby nor even between rivals from the same region, but rather a match that, in principle, pitted two unrelated…

The early morning of February 24 would change Ukraine forever, as Russian fighters launched bombing and missile strikes across many cities, and armoured units crossed the border. Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991, has been trying for decades to escape the influence of its aggressive imperial neighbour. The latest attack was a painful recurrence of the country’s past. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany bombed Kyiv in the early morning. On that day, a grand reopening of the refurbished Red Stadium (now the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex) was due to take place in the Ukrainian capital city centre, with Dynamo Kyiv involved. Yet instead of a sports festival, civilians were left sheltering from bombs dropped on them by enemy aircrafts. This time, Russia…

Red Bull Salzburg have finally experienced their Champions League dream. After long years of unsuccessfully trying to get into the group stage of Europe’s most prestigious club competition, there was talk of a “curse”. While Salzburg dominated the Austrian Bundesliga – winning12 of the last15 league titles – it took until 2019 for the team to get into the groups. When it comes to the club’s philosophy, though, there was always a belief that Salzburg were doing something right. The proof came in 2021-22, when they advanced to the last16 of the Champions League, bringing a clash against Bayern Munich, a superclub just across the German border. After earning a1-1 draw in Austria, Salzburg hoped for a big surprise, but lost the return leg 7-1. But one heavy defeat doesn’t…

“Being the coach of Iceland but living in Belgium must make your job particularly demanding? I am about 50 per cent of the time in Iceland, and the other half of the time I work from home in Belgium. But it’s actually a plus, in my opinion, because we have had less travelling with COVID in the past year and a half. To be able to travel to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, England – wherever players are playing to go and scout games – is actually easier from Belgium. I get the best of both worlds. I see a lot of games in Iceland during the summertime. And then in the winter I can see more games from our players live. You recently had the chance to play Spain in…

“I am fighting to influence my people to fully participate in CONIFA as we qualify with no limit”Zanzibar Football Federation president Seif Combo The Zanzibar Football Federation has set its sights on joining alternative football association CONIFA after a17-year battle to join FIFA failed. The ZFF was founded back in1926 and predates the union of the island of Zanzibar with Tanganyika in1964 that formed Tanzania, whose federation joined FIFA the same year. The autonomous island of a million people became an associate member of the Confederation of African Football and clubs were allowed to enter the qualifiers for the African Champions League and the Confederation Cup. Zanzibar also fielded a national team in the Council for East and Central Africa Football Association’s championship, winning in1995, but grumbles over the allocation…

Few, if any, World Cup qualifying campaigns have concluded as dramatically as the five African play-offs that saw Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia book their berths as the continent’s representatives at the Qatar World Cup. Cameroon snatched success away from Algeria with virtually the last kick of the match, while Sadio Mane reprised his penalty-kick heroics as his Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah skied his effort in yet another shootout between Senegal and Egypt. Ghana won unexpectedly thanks to a goalkeeping howler, while Tunisia had a bizarre own goal to thank for their qualification. Morocco proved the only side to produce an emphatic victory over the two legs, but even then their progress was dogged by controversy over player selection. Karl Toko Ekambi was Cameroon’s hero, sweeping the ball home…

New Zealand predictably emerged from the Oceania qualifiers to secure an inter-confederational play-off with Costa Rica for a place at the 2022 World Cup finals, but the relocated tournament proved unsatisfactory. With none of the Oceania Football Confederation’s11 full members able to host the tournament due to COVID-19 restrictions, the qualifiers were relocated to Qatar. But the virus and a trip halfway round the world proved major obstacles. American Samoa and Samoa ruled out travelling on healthcare grounds and Tonga pulled out after the eruption of the Hunga volcano on the islands in January. Vanuatu made the 13,000-mile trip but a 3-0 defeat to Fiji in a warm-up friendly at the Qatar University ground proved their only action. Subsequent tests proved that the majority of the Vanuatu team had the…

The 2022 AFC Champions League kicks off in April but it will mark the end of an era. This is not because it will feature 40 teams; that expansion came into play last year. It is not because there are clubs from nations such as India, the Philippines and Tajikistan; these were already there. It is because it will be the last edition that runs from spring to autumn. The next edition will start in September 2023 and finish the following May. The change to align with the European calendar has long been thought about with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) saying that it will “enable Asia’s top clubs to benefit from more synchronised transfer windows, improved opportunities to sign quality players and coaches with respect to worldwide leagues’ seasons,…

2022 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS EUROPE section l 13 finals places available (3 via the play-offs) second round – semi-finals Path a scotland - ukraine - Postponed untilJune, along with the Path A final Mar 24 – Cardiff Wales 2 (Bale 25, 51) austria1 (Sabitzer 64) Wales: Hennessey - C. Roberts, Ampadu, Rodon, B. Davies, N. Williams, Ramsey, Allen, Wilson, Bale (Mepham 90+3), James (Johnson 88). austria: Lindner - Lainer (Gregoritsch 88), Dragovic, Hinterreger, Alaba, Laimer (Kalajdzic 55), Schlager (Lazaro 77), Seiwald, Baumgartner (Weimann 77), Sabitzer, Arnautovic. Path b russia - Poland - Poland given a bye to the Path B final Mar 24 – Solna sweden1 (Quaison110) Czech republic 0 After Extra-Time sweden: Olsen - Danielson, Lindelof, Nilsson, M. Olsson (Bengtsson 61), Claesson (Quaison 62), K. Olsson (Karlstrom107), Ekdal (Svanberg…