Confederation playoffs change, one game instead of two, Sokeres, Australia

The Australian national team could be forced into a one-sided match for the World Cup due to a reported change in the qualifying format for the quadrennial event.

Of New Zealand HeraldThe report FIFA favors a new format that would move the qualifying phase between the confederations from a two-way round-trip to two single matches played in a neutral stadium.

Australia are currently third in the World Cup qualifiers, 11 points behind Saudi Arabia (16) and Japan (12) with four games to go.

Watch the CONMEBOL 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers live exclusively with beIN SPORTS, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial>

In third place, Australia, in third place, would face the other group – likely the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon or Iraq – in a play-off (already cut from a two-game draw in due to Covid), with the winner advancing to continental qualifications.

The qualifiers are currently between a team from Asia, North and Central America (CONCACAF), South America (CONMEBOL) and Oceania, with the two winners of the match taking the last two places in the World Cup.

According to the new format announced, instead of playing domestically and abroad, relations between the federations will see a draw match, most likely in Qatar, where the 2022 World Cup will be held.

Some of Australian football’s most famous moments, good and bad, happened during these qualifiers.

In 2006, the Australian team lost 0-1 to Uruguay, but won 1-0 at home, then secured a place in the tournament via penalties. Most recently in 2018, the Australian national team qualified after beating Honduras 0-0 away and 3-1 at home.

But there was also pain, as Australia lost 3-1 on aggregate to Uruguay in the 2002 World Cup, 3-3 (away goals) to Iran in 1998, 2 -1 overall against Argentina in 1994 and 2-0. In total in Scotland for 1986.

The World Cup qualifiers will be held in March at the Oceanic in Qatar, with New Zealand preferring to continue for the fourth consecutive time. The CONMEBOL team will most likely be a team from Colombia, Peru, Chile, Uruguay or Bolivia, while the CONCACAF country will most likely be a team from Canada, USA, Mexico or from Panama.

There will be a draw to see which confederations play against each other later this month. Qualifying will take place in June 2022, before the World Cup in November and December.

Including Qatar, the host country, 13 countries have so far qualified for the World Cup: Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as Brazil and Argentina within the Confederation of America.

The 2022 World Cup will be the last with 32 teams, after FIFA agreed to expand to 48 teams for 2026.