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Two-time world champion Uruguay is also at the tournament in Qatar
Photo: Pool/Getty Images
Uruguay and Ecuador qualified as 18th and 19th teams for the World Cup in Qatar (November 21 to December 18) on Thursday evening.
This means that 19 of the 32 participants in the final round have been determined.
Such is the situation in the individual confederations.
EUROPE (13 starting places):
Germany, Denmark, England, France, Belgium, Croatia, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain and the Netherlands
have already been confirmed as participants.
The remaining three places will be played out in the play-offs.
The winners from the games Portugal vs North Macedonia and Poland vs Sweden will be there.
The last starting place will be played in the duel Poland vs Scotland/Ukraine.
SOUTH AMERICA (4 or 5 places):
Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay
have qualified.
Peru, Colombia and Chile are battling it out for fifth place, which maintains a chance of participating.
ASIA (4 or 5 starting places plus host Qatar):
Qatar (hosts), Iran, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia
will be at the tournament.
One team will still get a chance to qualify via the intercontinental play-offs.
Who that will be will be decided in an elimination match between Australia and the third in the main round group 1. According to the current status, this would be the United Arab Emirates.
AFRICA (5 starting places)
On March 25th and 29th, the decisive duels for the five starting places will take place in back and forth games.
The winners of the following pairings are in Qatar:
Egypt vs Senegal
Cameroon vs Algeria
Ghana vs Nigeria
DR Congo vs Morocco
Mali vs Tunisia
North and Central America and the Caribbean (3 or 4 starting places):
With two games left in qualifying, no team is sure to be in Qatar.
Canada (25 points), USA and Mexico (22 points each) are currently in the top three qualifying positions.
Fourth place, which entitles them to take part in the intercontinental play-offs, is currently occupied by Costa Rica (19 points), while Panama (18 points) also has a chance.
OCEANIA (0 or 1 slot):
No representative from Oceania can qualify for the World Cup directly, only one participant in the play-offs will be selected.
Four teams are still in the running, which will determine their emissary in semi-finals and finals.
The semi-final pairings are Solomon Islands vs Papa New Guinea and New Zealand vs Tahiti.
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