What Chances Does Wales Have In Qualifying For The 2022 Football World Cup In Qatar?

The tiny nation still has a ray of hope in making it to the most popular sporting competition in the globe. World Cup Finals 1958 was the last time Wales made it to the grand arena. Their recent narrow win of 1-0 against Estonia on 11 October keeps the Welsh’s hopes of a World Cup berth alive and kicking.

But their inability to beat the Czech’s last week has made things tricky. The Wales football team has a lot going on in their heads as they approach the last two of their World Cup qualifier games in Group E. Let’s take a look into what it takes for them to make the cut that matters above everything in the footballing world.

The promising news is that there are still 13 places that are up for grabs to make the flight to Qatar in 2022. Among those 13, 10 group winners will automatically qualify, whereas the other three teams’ fate will be decided in the play-offs round.

Football statisticians are pulling out their probability charts during this exciting phase of international football for Wales. The chances of qualification depend on a lot of factors and outcomes in the final stage of qualifiers. This aspect of thrilling suspense and eagerness for victory has spiked up the sports betting segment in Wales in recent months. Fortunately, sports betting enthusiasts can safely place their bets in the best betting sites across the UK by visiting SBO.net. Players are offered only the most trusted and reliable betting sites handpicked by their punters based on various factors of consideration that includes welcome bonuses, operating license, and range of sports.

Belgium, on the other hand, is on the brink of automatically qualifying. A victory against the Estonians in the qualifying match during November will seal the deal for them. However, if the Belgians only manage to pull off a draw against the 111th ranked country, there is a chance that Wales can match them in points. The Welsh need to beat Belarus, followed by Roberto Martinez’s formidable side for that scenario to unfold. Wales does possess the home advantage for both these matchups.

Things can get even more exciting if Estonia manages to upset Belgium in the clash on 13 November. This scenario would be a winner takes all matchup in Cardiff after three days.

However, history shows that the odds of the scenario mentioned above are bleak. The last time Belgium lost a World Cup qualifier match at home was way back in 2010. They have not lost a single qualifier in six years too. And the last time they lost back-to-back games in this category was over a decade ago.

Nonetheless, the chances of attaining second place in the group seem much more pragmatic. Although they have the same points as the Czech, an additional game in hand could mean that  

Wales can surpass them with a win over Belarus. The Czechs will battle it out against Estonia in Prague, which happens to be on the same day when Wales will host Belgium. The critical parameter here would be the goal difference where the Welsh faces a slight disadvantage of trailing by two goals compared to the Czech Republic.

Wales can put any dependencies on the Czechs performance aside for the second place if they manage to acquire four points in the remaining two games. Although, if they lose to Belgium, they can still reach the third position and make it to the play-offs.

Wales had a decent outing in the recently concluded UEFA Nations League finals. Winning their group made them the fifth-ranked side behind Belgium, Italy, Spain, and France.

The leaders of the pack, France and Spain, can only make progress next month when their fixtures turn up. But things are pretty smooth for each of them, with just one win needed to qualify. Only one of them needs to end up in the top two positions to confirm the play-off berth for Wales.

The play-offs scheduled for March 2022 no longer follow the traditional home and away legs against a single opponent. In contrast, Wales would have to emerge victorious in a semifinal and final game to make it to Qatar. The key focus for Wales is now to make it in the second spot with as many points as they can muster to heighten their chances of booking a seat at the world’s most-watched sporting event next year.