European qualifying is too fierce

Unlike South America or Africa, where teams considered fairly good can easily qualify for the 2026 World Cup, the European qualifying round is extremely fierce.

Hungary (left) is not strong enough to overcome Portugal - Photo: Reuters

In the early morning of September 10 (Vietnam time), the big European teams all won their important matches. At home, France came from behind to beat Iceland 2-1 thanks to Mbappe's brilliance. Similarly, Portugal also narrowly beat Hungary with a late goal from Cancelo. Only England impressed when they crushed Serbia 5-0.

The common point of those victories is to end the chance of competing for a direct ticket for the better teams. In Group D, France has broken away with 6 points, 3 points more than Iceland and 5 points more than Ukraine.

In Group F, the situation is similar when Portugal proved to be too strong compared to the efforts of Hungary or Ireland. In Group K, England may have been a bit shaky in the early stages, but they still won all 15 points after 5 matches and did not give Albania or Serbia any chance.

If it were in South America or Africa, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine or Iceland would probably have their sights set on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. But in Europe, that task is too difficult. They are unfortunately drawn into a group with the strongest and most stable teams in the world , and there is no hope that this group will stumble.

The efforts of Iceland and Hungary have recently been exhausted. Although there is still a theoretical chance, now these representatives have set a more reasonable goal, which is to focus on fighting for the second place in the group.

The race is not easy either. Iceland has to compete with Ukraine - a team with many big stars; Serbia has to compete with Albania - also a strong football team in Eastern Europe.

Hungary, meanwhile, face a team with more qualifying experience than them in Ireland. The same can be said for the other groups, with Spain leaving only Georgia and Türkiye a play-off spot, and Belgium making sure not to let North Macedonia or Wales overtake them.

There are 12 groups in the European qualifying round, equivalent to 12 second-placed teams in the play-off round, fighting for just 4 remaining tickets. The race is too fierce in Europe, while in Asia, Africa or South America, a team with a strong army like Ukraine would probably have been able to win a direct ticket.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vong-loai-chau-au-qua-khoc-liet-20250911093949321.htm