Analysis of Group G-L in the European World Cup: England can advance early, but Italy’s victory will be difficult to reverse

These two weeks are the national team competition days, and the World Cup European qualifiers will continue to compete. Among the next six groups from Group G to Group L, England, with five consecutive victories, is in the most optimistic situation and is expected to advance early. Even if Italy wins all the remaining games, it is believed that it will be difficult to reverse. Giants such as the Netherlands and Belgium should have no worries about advancing to the World Cup.

The competition format of the World Cup European Qualifiers is relatively simple. 54 teams are divided into 12 groups, with 4 teams in each of the first 6 groups and 5 teams in the next 6 groups. The team that wins the first place in the group can directly advance to the World Cup. The 12 second-place teams in the group, plus the 4 teams with better UEFA Nations League results, 16 teams will pass the European play-offs to compete for the last four World Cup places.

The following six groups have 5 teams in each group. There will be a total of 10 rounds of competition, and one team will have a bye in each round. At present, the first six rounds have been completed, the seventh and eighth rounds will be held in these two weeks, and the final two rounds will be held next month. Therefore, the number of games that have ended for each team in each group will be different. Next, only the teams from Group G to Group L that are expected to advance from these six groups will be discussed.

In Group G, the Netherlands and Poland have 10 points, and Finland has 7 points. The Netherlands has one game less. There will be no qualifying team in advance in the past two weeks. There was a disagreement between the generals in Poland, and they hurriedly changed coaches and recalled Lewandowski. Obviously, it had good results. They drew with the Netherlands away from home and retained the hope of ranking first in the group. The Netherlands does not necessarily need to win completely. Even if they draw away from Poland in the penultimate round, the chance of qualifying for the World Cup is still very high. What is worrying is that the Dutch midfield and backfield are strong, but the striker still needs to rely on the 31-year-old Depay and the 33-year-old Weghorst. Liverpool's Gakpo is still unable to take the lead.

In Group H, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria share 12 points, and Romania has 7 points. Among them, Austria has one game less. There will be no team that advances in advance in the past two weeks. This group is the least lacking of top teams among the 12 groups. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria will strive for the top two. However, Romania does not have to worry. According to the results of the UEFA Nations League, Romania ranks first in Level C and can already lock in the qualification for the play-offs through this method. It is worth mentioning that after Rangnick left Manchester United, he quickly led Austria to advance to the European Cup and won the first place in the European Cup group in front of the Netherlands and France. Now he is expected to help Austria qualify for the World Cup for the first time after the new millennium. Did Manchester United really miss the famous coach?

In Group I, Norway has 15 points, Italy and Israel share 9 points, with Italy having one game less. Norway has a bye in the past two weeks, so there is only one game. If it defeats Israel and Italy has two games without a win, Norway can advance early. Of course, this situation is difficult to happen. However, even if Norway fails to advance in advance, it is inevitable that Italy will fall into the play-offs for the third consecutive time. This is because Italy's goal difference is as many as 16 goals behind Norway. Even if they beat Norway at home in the final round, it will be difficult to reverse this gap. In the last round, Haaland scored five goals and achieved an 11-1 victory, which almost eliminated Italy's hope of ranking first in the group. How valuable it is to have an excellent center.

In Group J, North Macedonia has 11 points, and Belgium and Wales have 10 points. Belgium has one game less. There will be no team that advances in advance in these two weeks. When it comes to North Macedonia, everyone is familiar with it. They defeated Italy in the play-offs three years ago, preventing the latter from qualifying for the World Cup. Belgium's only unbeaten victory also came from this team. Since Wales is still disrupting the situation, although Belgium has not won all the games, it still has the advantage of having fewer matches. If it wins the remaining four games, it can advance to the World Cup. Even if it draws with North Macedonia, the chance is still great. However, the aging of Belgium is a problem that cannot be ignored. Fortunately, De Bruyne proved in Serie A that as long as he does not stay in the highly competitive Premier League, the effect is still obvious.

In Group K, England has 15 points, Albania has 8 points, and Serbia has 7 points, of which Serbia has one game less. Everyone still remembers, when was the last time England lost in a World Cup qualifying match? Sixteen years ago, England, led by Capello, suffered a defeat after advancing early. Goalkeeper Green received a red card, which directly ended Croatia's World Cup dream. Some people believed that this was to "revenge" Croatia for preventing England from qualifying for the European Cup a year ago. For five consecutive tournaments, England has remained undefeated in 36 qualifiers. There is only one game in the past two weeks. As long as it defeats Latvia and Serbia cannot defeat Albania, England can advance to the World Cup.

In Group L, Croatia and the Czech Republic have 12 points together. The Czech Republic is 11 goals behind. The other three teams have almost lost hope of promotion, with Croatia having one game less. Since the Czech Republic faces the Faroe Islands next week, there is almost no problem in taking all three points, so it is difficult for a team to advance early in these two weeks. This week, the Czech Republic plays Croatia at home, which is a key match for group promotion. Croatia once won a five-goal victory at home. Unless the Czech Republic can retaliate at home, beat its opponents by a big margin, and recover its significantly lagging goal difference, it will not be difficult for Croatia to advance directly to the World Cup.

It can be seen that among the following six groups, England's chances of advancing to the World Cup in these two weeks are still not small, and the other teams should leave the suspense until the last two rounds. In addition to Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Croatia have a high chance of finishing first in the group. Austria, coached by Rangnick, faced Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in the last round, which should be the most critical game of this group.