Madrid, Gianluigi Donnarumma’s Italy and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal are two of the bigger names faced with having to negotiate their way through a playoff in order to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, England and Germany have all already confirmed their participation at the tournament, with Qualification groups D, E, and G still to be wrapped up.

That means that Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Wales, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Austria, Russia, Poland, and North Macedonia have already confirmed their respective playoff places, and they could be joined by either Finland or Ukraine from Group D, or Netherlands, Turkey or Norway from Group G.

The sides will be split into two pots for the 26 November draw, with the six highest-ranking teams from the groups going into pot one as seeded sides. Italy and Portugal will be among the seeded sides, meaning they cannot meet in the semi-final stage of the playoffs.

The playoffs will be split into three paths – A, B, and C. Each path will consist of semi-finals and a final, meaning three teams from 12 will advance – one from each path.

Ukraine and Russia cannot play one another, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.

Source: Oman News Agency