In the World Cup Qualifiers mode, no one can look at the cards

After the farewell match of Austrian Football Association President Leo Vintner, who missed none of the 123 international matches played in his era, a new era begins on Sunday with the election of the UEFA president. In the past twelve years, Windtner has introduced three team leaders: Didi Constantini, Marcel Koller and Franco Voda. The immediate dismissal of Karel Bruckner was inevitable at the beginning of his term. His designated successor, Gerhard Milic, recently pointed out something similar.

The timeline for that looks like this: There is little time left until the last two international matches of the World Cup qualifiers. On November 12 and 15 he will be in Klagenfurt against Israel and Moldova. This is followed by a long break from the national team’s competitive matches. World Cup playoffs are not on the program until March.

Given the table is set in other World Cup groups, it is already almost certain that a victory in the Nations League will be enough to participate in this play-off. A total of 12 countries at the start, including all runners-up in the current World Cup qualifiers.

The lottery will be held this year. FIFA and UEFA have yet to announce a specific date, nor have they announced the criteria by which the twelve teams will be divided. For example, is ranking used as a criterion? This can help the ÖFB pick get a little easier in the semi-finals. Umm: Will winning the Nations League be higher or lower than the second place in the World Cup qualifiers? In the past, UEFA always waited to see what countries were actually eligible before deciding on the specific procedure. The only sure thing is that there will be three different tracks, each with four teams, that will play the last three World Cup tickets in the semi-finals and final.

June is exhausting

In June 2022, the ÖFB selection will continue with the new version of the UEFA Nations League, whose draw will take place on December 16 this year, with four matches in the program in two weeks. After Austria was promoted to League A for the first time, there will be some really attractive opponents this time around. The Nations League will conclude in September with the remaining two matches. Because the World Cup in Qatar will not be held in the summer, but from November 21, 2022, the national championships will end in the fall much earlier than usual. Ahead of the World Cup, Austria will play two international matches in November, regardless of whether they are in Qatar. After that, the entire year of 2023 will be devoted to qualifying for the 2024 European Championship in Germany.