Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo and Armenia qualify for Norway in the struggle to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
This became evident after the European Football Association (UEFA) World Cup qualifying draws were held in Australia and New Zealand on Friday.
Fifty-one countries participated in the lottery and they were divided into nine groups. Six of the groups consist of six teams, the other three of five.
Norway ranked first in the lottery alongside the Netherlands, Germany, England, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy and Denmark.
If we look at the two strongest opponents, Belgium and Poland, I think we have a very heavy draw, Martin Segren, head of the national team, told NTB.
Players in big clubs
Norway’s Sjögren crew was drawn against Belgium from level 2. Norway beat Belgium 2-0 in an international training session earlier this month. When the two teams met in the 2017 European Championship qualifiers, the match ended in a 0-2 defeat for the Norwegian.
Belgium is ready for the play-off matches in the highly-rated European Championship next summer. From this standpoint, it was a heavy draw. Sjögren says that since we met them in March, our mention of him has been very recent.
From the third level, Poland became the rival. Norway has met the team only twice before. In both the Algarve Championship in 2019 and in the European Championship qualifiers in 2008, Norway won 3-0.
Poland is getting more players in the top European clubs, and it is also a good opponent. Sjögren says it is likely that the group will be decided in matches between the three mentioned teams.
Frivolous leaves
This was followed by Albania, Kosovo and Armenia from levels 4, 5 and 6. The Norwegian coach doesn’t know much about them.
Norway also met Albania in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. They won 11-0 and 7-0 in both matches. These are the only team meetings so far.
Kosovo and Armenia new knowledge of the Norwegian team.
The nine winners in the group qualify directly for the World Cup. The runner-up in the group will go to the second chance, with two more teams advancing to the play-off rounds.
Qualification begins in the fall. Europe ranked more places in the World Cup Final in 2023 than the previous World Cup.
The United States is the world champion. The Netherlands suffered a 2–0 defeat in the final in France.
(© NTB)
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