The group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 European Qualifiers comes to a close on Tuesday evening when the final three groups finish up, after which we will know the last of the automatic qualifiers and we will have the playoff field confirmed.
Although there is only three groups on show on Tuesday evening we still get to see the defending champions France and two of the better sides in Europe in Belgium and the Netherlands on show over the course of the night.
Group D
France confirmed they would be heading to Qatar to defend their title with an emphatic win over Kazakhstan on Saturday evening and they will conclude their qualifying campaign away to Finland in what is a huge match for the home side. The equation is simple for Finland. If they win this match they will be into the playoffs but if they lose then they would leave the door open for Ukraine in the other match. They travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina and they will be in the playoffs should they win and Finland lose.
Group E
We have known for a while that Belgium would be the automatic qualifiers from this group but the playoff spot is yet to be officially confirmed. Both Wales and the Czech Republic will be in the playoffs courtesy of their Nations League exploits, but the team who finishes second could well get a home semi-final while the team that comes third will definitely be away from home. Wales are in the box seat for second place. They welcome Belgium to Cardiff knowing a point secures second spot. Should they slip up then a two goal for the Czech Republic in their home match against Estonia would give them the second spot.
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Group G
The most fascinating and intriguing group of the lot has been Group G and the automatic qualifier from it still hasn’t been confirmed. Three teams could still finish top and the leaders Netherlands could yet finish third and miss out completely. The Dutch are at home in their final game against Norway and a draw would secure their qualification for the main tournament. Were they to lose that then Norway would overtake the Dutch and could finish top. The other team in the mix are Turkey. They are guaranteed a playoff spot if they win away to Montenegro and if the Netherlands lose that win would be enough to qualify for the World Cup. The other match isn’t as relevant as Gibraltar play host to Latvia.
Betting
The Netherlands don’t need to win and that isn’t always a proposition I like when placing a bet but I still think they would want to qualify in style and I actually think their late meltdown against Montenegro on Saturday evening will help them here as if they get in front I don’t think they will get complacent a second time and allow Norway back into the game. The other thing in the favour of the Dutch is Norway have to win to have any chance of staying alive in this competition so the hosts aren’t going to have to break down a parked bus.
I think we can safely say that Norway are struggling without Erling Haaland, as you would expect them to, and failing to beat Latvia at home on Saturday afternoon shows us that while they are making good progress, they are still not quite where they want to be as a side. If they can’t score against Latvia then you wonder how they will fare against the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Matthias de Ligt et al. This is an exciting Dutch side going forward and even Louis van Gaal will do well to stunt that. In three home matches under van Gaal, the Dutch have scored 16 goals and while goals might not come in quite such warm supply here, I do think they’ll get enough to cover a handicap.
Tips
Back Netherlands (-1AH) to beat Norway for a 3/10 stake at 1.84 with BetVictor
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