After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, Italy has been handed a challenging path to the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The four-time world champion was drawn in a qualifying group on Monday with Switzerland, which has made it to the last three World Cups and was the highest-ranked team outside of the top seeds. Italys failure in the 2018 playoffs cost FIFA around $100 million in lost television revenue.
Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania were also drawn in Group C, with only the first-placed team qualifying automatically.
Italy, though, ended up in a five-team group, like World Cup-holder France, which is in Group D with Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kazakhstan.
However, Germany faces five opponents in Group J, but only North Macedonia qualified for the European Championship next year, unlike Romania, Iceland, Armenia and Liechtenstein.
The Netherlands, another powerhouse to miss out on the 2018 World Cup, is in Group G with Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia and Gibraltar.
Group B is politically charged as Kosovo was drawn with Spain, Georgia and Greece, who don’t recognize the former province which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Spains refusal to respect the flag and anthem of Kosovo last year forced UEFA to move qualifying games in soccers Under-17 European Championship.
Sweden, which is the only team in the group to acknowledge Kosovo’s independence, will also face Spain at the delayed European Championship in June.
England, which last failed to qualify for a World Cup in 1994, is in Group I with Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino.
Rather than the usual glitzy event in the host nation with all the coaches, the draw was conducted in a studio in Zurich without any audience due the pandemic.
The 10 group runners-up will enter the playoffs, joined by two teams from the Nations League groups. Those two will be the two highest-ranked Nations League group winners who did finish in the top two of their World Cup qualifying group.
Playoffs will be three brackets of four teams in March 2022, each playing single-game semifinals and finals to fill the last three places in Europes 13-nation quota.
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