That brings the football week: Test, World Cup draw, Bundesliga

Created: 03/28/2022, 05:01

National coach Hansi Flick coaches his eleven during the game against Israel.

© Christian Charisius/dpa

Two days after the test in Amsterdam, Hansi Flick found out who his DFB squad was up against at the World Cup in Qatar.

In the Bundesliga, the international game week is followed by interesting games.

Berlin - First the prestigious test match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, then the group draw for the World Cup in Qatar: This football week brings the German national team a lot of important insights for the World Cup year.

In the men's Bundesliga, leaders FC Bayern Munich have to go to Freiburg, and there is a duel between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.

In the women's Bundesliga, the top duel between Wolfsburg and Bavaria is coming up.

Test match number two:

Looking ahead.

After eight wins in eight international matches under Hansi Flick against opponents of second-rate international caliber, the test on Tuesday (8.45 p.m./ARD) in Amsterdam against the Netherlands will be a real World Cup touchstone for the national coach and his team.

Germany got in the mood for the classic with a 2-0 win against Israel, while the Dutch beat Denmark 4-2.

"It's great for further growth and development towards the World Cup," said DFB director Oliver Bierhoff on Bild TV about the showdown: "We now have a really tough touchstone with Holland, even in Holland." formed a great rivalry.

And he will show "where we stand" - less than eight months before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.

World Cup qualification:

Not all World Cup participants will be known by the time of the group draw on Thursday.

But more are coming this week.

On Tuesday, the games between Portugal and Italy-conqueror North Macedonia as well as Poland and Sweden are all about a place in Qatar, in Africa a total of five more are up for grabs in the play-off second legs.

Qualification also ends in South America, Asia and the North and Central America and Caribbean zone.

There, participants for intercontinental playoff games are also determined everywhere.

FIFA:

The World Cup groups will be drawn in Qatar on Friday.

According to the current status, Germany will not be in the pot of the best teams.

FIFA will use the world rankings from March 31 after the current international match window as the basis for allocating the qualified teams.

Alongside the seven top-ranked teams, hosts Qatar will also be a group head in the drawing on April 1 in Doha.

Before that, the FIFA Council (Wednesday) and the FIFA Congress (Thursday) meet in the World Cup host country - compared to previous FIFA dates, the agenda seems to offer less need for discussion.

The World Cup rhythm should at best be discussed.

U21s in Israel:

With a win in Petach Tikwa, Germany's U21s can distance their closest pursuer Israel to five points in the European Championship qualifier and take a big step towards a European Championship ticket two games before the end.

In the game on Tuesday (5:00 p.m.), Antonio Di Salvo's team doesn't want to be held back by the continuing major personnel worries.

Before that, Germany's U19s in the final qualifying game are about participating in a European Championship for the first time since 2017 (4:30 p.m.).

However, Hannes Wolf's selection has to win against Finland after two points from two games and hope for a draw between Belgium and Italy.

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Bundesliga:

The 28th match day opens on Friday evening in Berlin with 1. FC Union and 1. FC Köln with former Union player Steffen Baumgart on the sidelines.

Saturday sees leaders Bayern Munich play at SC Freiburg, currently fifth.

RB Leipzig finished fourth in the last Champions League with the same number of points and takes on second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

BVB is six points behind Bayern.

The game between Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart is against relegation.

Women:

First it's about getting into the Champions League semi-finals.

Then for the German championship.

The soccer players of VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich are facing the most important week of the season so far.

The direct duel in the Bundesliga should decide the championship next Sunday in Wolfsburg.

League leaders VfL or defending champion FC Bayern?

There hasn't been another champion since Turbine Potsdam ten years ago.

In the Champions League, the corona-weakened Munich women had to make up for their 2-1 first-leg defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

Wolfsburg are in a better position before the second leg against Arsenal on Thursday (first leg 1-1).

dpa