World Cup Qualifiers play-offs could be more mouth-watering than the WC itself

When FIFA officials start pulling the teams out of the pots in Zurich on Friday, November 26, the World Cup Qualifiers drama will reach its climax.

As many as twelve sides will be divided into two pots, in terms of seeded and unseeded teams, with only three of them advancing to the World Cup after the showdown scheduled for March 2022.

Whoever wants to book their ticket for Qatar will ough to win two consecutive one-leg ties, which seems stressful enough even without knowing who the potential rivals might be.

And they are, to make a long story short, a creme de la creme of the world football.

Italy and Portugal, just to start with. The last two European champions are among the sides that underachieved in the qualifiers group stage and finished as the runners-up. Switzerland and Serbia were the unlikely winners, and now those two giants mentioned above are with their backs to the wall.

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Azurri are on the verge of a massive paradox, as they could end up missing the second WC in a row, thus winning the EURO 2020 in between. Mancini's boys, obviously, find it more challenging to qualify for the global showdown than for the continental tournament and the upsets they suffered - against Switzerland and a modest Bulgaria - tend to prove that pattern.

For manager Roberto Mancini, though, the prospect of a playoff holds no fear.

"We will make it to the World Cup in March, and then maybe we will even win it. I am totally confident," said the Azzurri boss.

"Despite controlling matches, we're struggling to score goals at the moment. We needed to score early on tonight. It's a shame because we should have finished things off sooner in this group.

"We need to rediscover what has set us apart until now and remain completely calm until March.

"We should have won against Bulgaria and had two penalties against Switzerland. These are games that could have finished in our favour. I'm completely confident about the playoffs."

On the other hand, Portugal had everything on the plate, with a winner-takes-it-all game in Lisbon against Serbia, but Aleksandar Mitrovic's 90th-minute winner stunned the home crowd, and Cristiano Ronaldo burst into tears.

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Now, it will be twice as harder for them to reach the World Cup, which could be Ronaldo's (37 next year) last major tournament. For a side comprised of CR7, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix and other outstanding players, it would be devasting to miss the WC. Especially, considering that they would be one of the favourites to go all the way if they eventually make it to Qatar.

Moreover, the playoffs could probably host some more heavyweight contenders, such as the Netherlands or Norway.

Yes, in truth, the Scandinavians are not considered as one of the major forces in European football, but with Erling Braut Haaland in the team, they transform into a nasty opponent no one would like to face in the playoffs. In order to reach that stage, they'll need to shine without injured Haaland tonight in Rotterdam against the much-vulnerable Dutch side, which tops the group with 20 points.

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Turkey and Norway are levelled in second place with 18, but the Turks are feeling comfortable - they have a much better goal difference than Norway and will secure at least the playoffs if they grab an away win at Montenegro.

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On the other hand, Louis Van Gaal's team was on the brink of success but dropped a two-goal lead in four minutes at Montenegro a few days ago and now require a win. Whoever finishes the group as the runners-up will go to the playoffs and add some more high quality into an already very spicy mash-up.

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The other teams waiting for the March pre-WC showdown are Russia, Scotland, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Wales, Austria and North Macedonia.

Well, it's blatantly clear we are heading to a super exciting tournament as a prelude for the World Cup.

QUALIFIED - Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland

PLAY-OFFS - Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Sweden

QATAR 2022 - EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

Tuesday

22.45: (5.10) B&H (3.70) Ukraine (1.78)

22.45: (6.00) Finland (3.80) France (1.67)

22.45: (1.12) Czech R. (12.0) Estonia (20.0)

22.45: (10.0) Gibraltar (4.90) Latvia (1.38)

22.45: (6.00) Montenegro (3.80) Turkey (1.67)

22.45: (1.45) Netherlands (4.70) Norway (8.00)

22.45: (3.25) Wales (3.30) Belgium (2.40)

***odds are subject to change