Greece likely to miss out in Qatar 2022
Greece likely to miss out in Qatar 2022
For the first time in the competition’s history, the FIFA World Cup will take place in December. The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar and due to the extreme heat conditions in the summer, FIFA was forced to move the World Cup from the traditional summer period to the winter. Qualifying is in the final stages across the world and a few teams have already booked their ticket to next year’s World Cup. Despite not having the full 32-team layout, people have already placed their bets on next year’s World Cup champions and 20Bet app offers betting futures for the World Cup and many other competitions.
Greece will likely not take place in the World Cup next December after losing to Sweden 2-0 in their last qualifier earlier this month. Greece came into the October qualifiers in a difficult position, sitting in third place of Group B with six points while Sweden (nine points) and Spain (13 points) claimed the top two spots. A reminder, only the top team from each group will automatically qualify for the World Cup while the group runner-up will play in the qualifying playoffs for a ticket to next year’s event.
Greece did a great job in their first October qualifier by defeating Georgia on the road 0-2. Although it looked as if it was an easy win for Greece, it was anything but comfortable. The Galanolefki needed a late penalty from Anastasios Bakasetas to take the lead before Dimtris Pelkas sealed the three points with his marker in second-half stoppage time.
This result set up a do or die matchup for Greece in Sweden. Greece trailed Sweden by three points in the standings and Spain by four points heading into the matchday eight qualifier. The Greeks put together a fantastic first half display, and came close to opening the score however the woodwork denied the Greeks on two different occasions. The second half, however, was a different story as an early mistake from Dinos Mavropanos resulted in a penalty for the hosts and they did well to convert from nine meters to gain the lead. The shaky Greek defense allowed Isak to sneak in a second goal just ten minutes later to put Sweden in the driver’s seat. The Scandinavian side held on for the 2-0 win, putting them atop Group B with 15 points while Greece remained well behind in third place with nine points. Spain are second with 13 points.
Greece are not mathematically out of qualification with two games remaining in the group. Greece host Spain on matchday nine and host Kosovo on the final matchday. For Greece to claim second place, they must defeat Spain and Kosovo in their final two qualifiers. The Greeks will also need help on the final matchday from Sweden, as they will need the Swedes to either defeat or draw Spain on the road. In this scenario, Sweden will win the group and Greece will claim second place, leaving the elite Spaniards out of qualification. It seems to be a difficult task but there is still some hope for the Euro 2004 Champions.
Group B will conclude in November.