Qatar 2022 World Cup Guide

South American football giants Brazil and Argentina have navigated the World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the region without a single defeat till date and they would be hoping to maintain that unbeaten run when hostilities resume later this month.

In addition to their respective unbeaten runs, Argentina and Brazil have already qualified for the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar with several games to spare. They have qualified for the tournament automatically as they have an unassailable points advantage over the other teams in their region. Two teams are expected to join via the automatic route while a fifth team could qualify for the World Cup 2022 tournament via the playoffs.

Five-time world champions Brazil are on course to pick the first automatic spot from the CONMEBOL section ahead of the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar. The Brazilians will seal their place at next year's World Cup tournament with four points from their two qualifying games in November.

As things stand, Brazil have a six-point lead over Argentina in second place and a whooping 15-point lead over Uruguay in fifth position. The first four teams from the South American region will qualify automatically for Qatar 2022, while the fifth team will have to navigate the inter-confederation playoffs to get to the tournament.

Four-time champions Germany became the second country to book a spot at the World Cup 2022 tournament after host nation Qatar on the back of theirconfirmation as Group J winners. Germany were drawn in Group J alongside Romania, North Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Armenia, and Iceland when the World Cup 2022 qualifying draw for the UEFA section took place. The Germans have won the group with two games to spare.

Germany sealed their place as the top team in Group J thanks to the convincing away win over North Macedonia. The Germans are through to Qatar 2022 courtesy the 4-0 win over the North Macedonians. Germany scored four goals in the second half to secure the win that confirmed their passage to next year's World Cup tournament.

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Portugal international superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will miss his country's next FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture as a result of the suspension, it has been confirmed. Ronaldo picked up a yellow card that confirmed that he will be missed in his nation's next fixture and while it would be a loss for Portugal, Manchester United are the side that will be benefitting from the decision.

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Ronaldo scored two goals deep in the closing stages of their last game against Northern Ireland to overturn a one-goal deficit and hand his side a much-needed win as a result. Having conceded in the first half of the fixture, Portugal needed a response and they did so in the second half courtesy of a brilliant showing by Ronaldo.

Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini is edging closer to signing a new contract extension with the Old Lady and he could put pen to paper and sign the new deal as early as in the coming days, according to several widespread reports.

The veteran central defender is 36 already and while many have thought that he is already nearing the tail-end of his career, he is still going stronger and is also making a huge statement to be offered a new contract extension at the Turin club. After captaining his country Italy at the recently concluded UEFA Euros tournament and leading them to win the title, it is looking highly likely that he plays for Italy in Qatar next year.

New Germany head coach Hansi Flick may not have taken possession of the country's national side squad yet, but he is already making plans for the future, according to a recent interview he granted. Flick announced before the end of last season that he would be stepping down as Bayern Munich manager after insisting that he would not be extending his contract with the German Bundesliga giants. His departure from the German club meant that he was going to be replaced by RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann even though the move earlier had tongues wagging.

Cruzeiro striker Marcelo Moreno is the surprise leader of the goal-scoring chart in the South American section of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers after finding the back of the net five times in the first five games. Moreno has more goals than big name players like Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attacker Neymar and others.

Moreno and Bolivia began the World Cup 2022 qualifiers on the losing side following the 5-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Brazil. Cruzeiro striker Moreno opened his account in the second game against Argentina. Moreno gave Bolivia the lead on 24 minutes before Argentina recovered to win the game 2-1 courtesy the goals from Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez and Angel Correa.

Sometimes, in football, some things just happen that may appear to be unexplainable. This is the case of Hansi Flick's announcement that he was going to be stepping down as Bayern Munich's manager. Flick, a hugely successful and talented manager guided German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to several trophies since his appointment by the club and he has already set a legacy even though he will be leaving at the end of the season.

Flick's announcement came as a shocking one because no one saw it coming. It is hard to manage a club like Bayern Munich and win the German Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal, the UEFA Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup all in less than two years and still decide that you are going to be stepping down from your role as the manager of the club. However, for Flick, it appeared not to be that hard.

It was a shocking sight as a star-studded Germany squad lost to North Macedonia in their World Cup Qualifying fixture days ago, and the result has still left some people feeling shocked and awed at how Germany could succumb to defeat to the Macedonians. Germany headed into the game having not lost a World Cup Qualifying game in as many as 20 years, and a lot of German news media outlets have brandished the result as an unacceptable one.

The loss not only came at home in Munich, but it was also suffered against a North Macedonian side that was ranked 65th in the world FIFA rankings. Following the result, the German press became overwhelmed and several headlines made the rounds, with one newspaper media saying that the result was shocking and humiliating.

Republic of Ireland international midfielder Jack Byrne is set to spend a huge amount of time on the sidelines and has also been ruled out of his country's World Cup Qualifying games which will be played later this year against Serbia and Luxembourg. The midfielder suffered a serious back injury and has since undergone surgery but will not be able to recover in time to help his country on the football pitch at the qualifiers.

“It comes as disastrous and disappointing news for the talented midfielder who earlier this season made it clear that he would do everything he could to represent his team at the qualifiers and has been putting in some incredible performances for his club side APOEL since then.