MATCH THREAD " BELGIUM v WALES " MATCH THREAD

Full time: Belgium 3-1 Wales



Better team won.


We move on to Tuesday when we play Czech Republic at home, which is a much bigger game for us.


I am, of course, ignoring the pointless friendly against Mexico.

Belgium have their all-time leading goal scorer Romelu Lukaku available despite Inter Milan initially blocking their players from leaving Italy.

Milan's health authority made the decision to stop Inter players joining up with their national teams because of Covid-19 cases at the Serie A club.

But forward Lukaku was called up by Belgium boss Roberto Martinez and has since tested negative for coronavirus.

Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard misses out with an ankle injury despite making his first club appearance since January last weekend.

Belgium are also without Borussia Dortmund midfielder Alex Witsel, who had surgery on an Achilles problem in January.

Martinez has called up a host of star names, including Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Napoli forward Dries Mertens.

is finishing second in this group of any use other than coefficient points .?

Go into some sort of playoffs but not sure how or who will qualify for finals as couple of nations league teams will be put into playoffs as well.... it is complicated but sure be explained on tv later

To clear it up..


There are 13 slots in the 2022 World Cup for European Nations.

The ten group winners will qualify automatically.

The three additional places will be determined in the play-offs.

The teams in the play-offs will be the ten group runners up and the two highest ranked Nations League teams.

These 12 teams will be split into three separate play-off routes, each containing four teams. There will be two knockout rounds in each route and the three winners will qualify for the World Cup.


The Nations League rankings are below:



TBD - France

TBD - Belgium

TBD - Italy

TBD - Spain

5 - Portugal

6 - Netherlands

7 - Denmark

8 - Germany

9 - England

10 - Poland

11 - Switzerland

12 - Croatia

13 - Ukraine

14 - Sweden

15 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

16 - Iceland

17 - Wales

18 - Austria

19 - Czech Republic

20 - Hungary

21 - Finland

22 - Norway


So, if we win the group then we will qualify.

If we finish second, we will be in the play-offs.

If we finish below second, to be in the play-offs we will need fifteen of the teams from France down to Iceland in those rankings to finish in 1st or 2nd in their group.


In short, it's very likely we will be in the play-offs at least.

its not based on purely nations lge rankings..... its based on nations lge rankings of group winners { which means we are 5th not 17th } .... so if 3 out of France . Belgium , Italy and Spain finish 1st or 2nd in their qualifying groups ..we will be in the play offs... which was why i asked my earlier question ...

Belgium have their all-time leading goal scorer Romelu Lukaku available despite Inter Milan initially blocking their players from leaving Italy.

Milan's health authority made the decision to stop Inter players joining up with their national teams because of Covid-19 cases at the Serie A club.

But forward Lukaku was called up by Belgium boss Roberto Martinez and has since tested negative for coronavirus.

Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard misses out with an ankle injury despite making his first club appearance since January last weekend.

Belgium are also without Borussia Dortmund midfielder Alex Witsel, who had surgery on an Achilles problem in January.

Martinez has called up a host of star names, including Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Napoli forward Dries Mertens.

is finishing second in this group of any use other than coefficient points .?

Go into some sort of playoffs but not sure how or who will qualify for finals as couple of nations league teams will be put into playoffs as well.... it is complicated but sure be explained on tv later

From what I understand of the Nations League (which is limited) our finish in our NL group and our points total means that if we finish 2nd in the WC qualifying group then we're guaranteed a play off place?

f**k knows truth be told, every time I think I've finally understood the NL there seems to be some new permutations or side tournaments/play offs that completely change what I thought I knew

all the 10 group winners qualify for the WC.
all the countries finishing second qualify for the WC play offs
the 2 highest ranked ..group winners.. from the nations league who have not qualified as above join the 10 runners up in the play offs { we are 5th best with Italy , Spain , Belgium and France placed 1 to 4 but all extremely likely to win or be runners up in their respective groups and therefore qualified for either the WC itself or the play offs } ..
the 12 play off nations will be drawn into 3 groups of 4....with each group then playing a mini knock out semis and final with the 3 group winners progressing to the world cup finals..