The Argentine national team will meet the three rivals he will face in the first phase of the Qatar World Cup, with the expectation of a possible cross with Germany in what could be Lionel Messi's last World Cup. The draw will be held at the Doha Exhibition and Congress Center, where the albiceleste delegation arrived with the enthusiasm that arouses the undefeated 31 matches of La Scaloneta.
The Venezuelan delegation came after closing their participation in the South American Qualifiers in Guayaquil, after equating 1-1 with Ecuador. With a stopover in Madrid, the group led by Lionel Scaloni arrived in the Gulf Country in the hope of avoiding a power of Pot 2. The strategist who led the national team to win the last Copa America played in Brazil traveled with his entire coaching staff and some leaders. In other words, Pablo Aimar, Roberto Ayala, Walter Samuel and physical trainer Luis Martín were the ones who were together with the DT.
Other renowned figures who will witness Argentina's destiny include Javier Mascherano (in charge of the U20), Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Zanetti, Sergio Kun Agüero, Nery Pumpido, Maxi Rodríguez and Gonzalo Belloso (former Assistant Secretary General of Conmebol, who is now a consultant of FIFA within South American football). Lionel Messi, meanwhile, will follow the actions from Paris, wanting to have a favorable draw in what could be his fifth and final World Cup participation.
For his part, AFA President Claudio Chiqui Tapia commanded the managers' wing and traveled with Luciano Nakis and Víctor Blanco, who participated in the FIFA Congress in the exotic Asian destination.
The Argentine team will be seeded and will be part of the Pot 1 together with Qatar, Belgium, Brazil, France, England, Spain and Portugal. The second hype is led by Germany and the expectation lies in the possibility of a cross with the four-time champion and executioner of Albiceleste in the editions of Italy '90, Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014. Also in that same hype are the Netherlands (another rival that took Argentina out in France in 1998), Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia, Mexico, the United States and Uruguay. The charrua team is the only team in this ciborium that will not be able to face La Scaloneta because they are from the same confederation.
Pot 3 will include Iran, Japan, Serbia, South Korea, Tunisia, Poland, Morocco and Senegal; while in pot 4 will be Saudi Arabia, Ecuador (which will also not be Argentina's rival), Ghana, Canada and Cameroon. The remaining three vacancies will come out of the playoffs: Peru will face the winner of the crossing between Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE); New Zealand will collide with Costa Rica; and Wales will seek its ticket against Scotland or Ukraine. These crossings will be defined between 13 and 14 June, except for the European one that depends on the war that occurred after the Russian invasion of eastern Europe.
The criterion that FIFA used for the division of the pots was the ranking that the Argentine national team ranks fourth below Brazil, Belgium and France. The host, Qatar, will be seeded in Group A and the other seven selected will draw their places between B and H.
The most convenient thing for the Scaloni team would be to be drawn in groups B or C, since in case of advancing to the round of 16, the rivals will leave the area headed by Qatar, a team of smaller scale than Argentina they already faced in the 2019 Copa America. The draw will begin with Pot 1 and all the balls will be removed from one cubicle before moving on to the next.
Europe is the continent with the most places (13) and for this reason five of the eight groups will have two UEFA selections. This point will be interesting for Scaloneta, since it will not be the same to face the area with two opponents from the Old Continent (even one rival could be the one who has arrived since the last playoff.
The event will be hosted by Carli Lloyd (former member of the US women's national team), Jermaine Jenas (former English footballer) and Samantha Johnson (American footballer). Former players who will help draw balls will be Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia), Cafu (Brazil), Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia).
The schedule with the dates of each match will only be announced once a stadium and schedule have been assigned to the matches of each day. The World Cup will begin on November 21 and the group stage will last 12 days, with four matches per day.
This unprecedented edition of the World Cup, which will end a week before Christmas, will have a point in favor of the 32 selected ones and will be the proximity between the eight venues. The modern stadiums in Qatar are, at most, 55 kilometers apart and are less of a concern for coaches.
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