Top 5 European teams that will compete in the 2022 World Cup play-offs

#3 Poland

Poland v England: 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Robert Lewandowski may very well be one of the best players in the world, but even he could not save Poland from finishing second in their qualifying group. With England firing on all cylinders, Poland needed a miracle to top the group. Instead, they ended up losing their final Group I encounter against Hungary on Monday.

Poland won six of their 10 matches, scoring 30 goals and conceding 11. Their two defeats came against England and Hungary respectively, proving their incompetence against organized opposition.

Poland rely heavily on Lewandowski’s brilliance to get favorable results, which often makes their gameplay one-dimensional.

It will be interesting to see whether Poland try to fix this issue or focus even more on giving the ball to their talisman.

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#2 Portugal

Luxembourg v Portugal - FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar Qualifier

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal were placed in Group A, alongside Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. On the surface, it looked like a straightforward group for the 2016 European champions. Unfortunately, they could not quite live up to the billing.

Portugal started their 2022 World Cup Qualifying campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Azerbaijan. In the next match, they were restricted to a 2-2 draw in Serbia.

They bounced back with four wins on the trot but ended up dropping points when it mattered the most. In their penultimate Group A fixture, they drew with Ireland, while their final match ended in a 1-2 home defeat against Serbia.

The onus will once again be on Ronaldo to carry Portugal to another World Cup campaign, just like he did back in 2013.

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#1 Italy

Northern Ireland v Italy - 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Reigning European champions Italy drew 0-0 with Northern Ireland on Monday night to find themselves in second position in Group C. Switzerland, who picked up an emphatic 4-0 win over Bulgaria on the same night, secured the automatic qualification spot, beating Italy by two points.

The four-time World Cup winners endured a torrid 2022 World Cup Qualification campaign. They drew four of their eight Group C fixtures, winning the remaining four.

Euro 2020 hero Jorginho missed two crucial penalties against Switzerland in their two World Cup Qualifying fixtures, which saw Italy drop four points.

Almost every Italian player underperformed throughout the 2022 World Cup Qualifying campaign. They could not penetrate defenses when they needed to and ultimately paid the price.

Roberto Mancini’s Italy will need to up the ante in the knock-outs to book their place at the 2022 World Cup. Another slip-up could see them miss the grandestest spectacle for the second consecutive time.