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- This long series football games, which in total will last almost 3 years. This length of time is due to the huge number of teams in the future World Cup. More than two hundred national teams submitted applications for participation in the championship alone, which became a record for the entire period of the world championships. Therefore, it is not surprising that the qualifying round will last so long.
In the review we will analyze in detail future participants, their chances of getting into final part World Cup, as well as qualification features.
Date
The first games began on 12 March 2015 in the Asian Football Confederation. A week later, matches between CONCACAF teams (Northern and Central America). On October 5, qualifying matches among African and South American teams began, and on August 31, national teams from Oceania competed for the first time. Later, European teams took the start in the championship. This happened on September 6, 2016. Thus, the qualifying round of the World Cup stretched from March 12, 2015 to November 14, 2017, which is a total of more than two years.
Participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup
All 208 FIFA members expressed their desire to participate in the 2018 World Cup, which was a record in the history of the World Cup. At the same time, for the first time in the championship they took part national teams South Sudan, Kosovo, Bhutan and Gibraltar. However, already at the stage of submitting applications and the first games in the qualifying round football family suffered losses. Due to organizational problems and non-compliance with FIFA rules, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Kuwait dropped out of the championship.
However, 205 national teams is too much for any host country, especially since the level of the teams varies greatly. That is why there is a complex sieve of qualifying tournaments.
All participants whose applications were approved by FIFA were distributed into 6 continental clusters:
- Asia;
- Africa;
- North and Central America;
- South America;
- Oceania;
- Europe.
Let's consider each of these territorial zones separately.
Qualifier: Asia
46 members of the Asian Football Confederation took part in the championship. During two qualifying rounds, only 12 teams remained from their number, which were divided into two groups:
Basket A:
- Iran;
- Uzbekistan;
- South Korea;
- Syria;
- Qatar;
- China.
Basket B:
- Saudi Arabia;
- Australia;
- Japan;
- Iraq;
- Thailand.
The Japanese, Koreans, and Australians have the best chances of getting out. These teams are almost constant participants in world championships. However, Iran should not be written off. Football fans probably remember how the Iranians sensationally made it to the final round of the 2014 World Cup, where they pretty much spoiled the blood of Argentina in the group tournament. Therefore, there is no doubt about the qualifications and fortitude of Iranian football players. 
2018 World Cup Qualification: Africa
Results qualifying matches The 2018 World Cup among African teams is much more interesting. Still, the level of teams from the “dark continent” is much higher than that of Asian teams.
During the two qualifying championships, 20 remained from the 53 teams that entered the competition. After the draw, they were distributed into 5 baskets. The most interesting, perhaps, can be called group B:
- Nigeria;
- Cameroon;
- Algeria;
- Zambia.
In this peculiar “group of death” there were two local grandees at once. However, according to the rules, only the winners of their baskets can advance to the World Cup finals. Therefore, willy-nilly, either Cameroon or Nigeria will remain left out of the football festival in Russia.
North and Central America
In fact, there are only two serious groups in this cluster - Mexico and the United States. The Costa Rican national team has demonstrated some success in the football field. Therefore, it is not surprising that all three of these teams made it to the fifth qualifying round. They were also accompanied by three more highly rated teams. Here is a list of all teams that made it to the final qualifying round:
- Mexico;
- Costa Rica;
- Honduras;
- Panama;
- Trinidad and Tobago.
The first 3 teams will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, and the fourth participant will compete for a spot with the best 3rd team of the Asian Confederation.
South America
Unlike previous clusters, South Americans are not divided into groups. All 10 CONMEBOL members will play each other in a two-legged format: one match at home and one away. During the qualification, the first 4 lucky ones will receive the coveted tickets to the World Cup, and the 5th team will play a play-off match with the best team of Oceania. The list of all qualifying participants is as follows:
- Brazil;
- Uruguay;
- Ecuador;
- Colombia;
- Argentina;
- Paraguay;
- Chile;
- Peru;
- Bolivia;
- Venezuela.
Oceania
The most modest qualifying zone in terms of the quality of participants. Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea... The table of participants in the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup from Oceania rather evokes vague memories of school lessons geography than fan interest. However, even here, at the end of the world, football exists. Most professional team counts New Zealand. This team, by the way, can be seen at the 2018 Confederations Cup, which will be held in Russia.
In view of the depressing level of local teams, the best team that passed through the sieve of three qualifying rounds, as a reward receives only the opportunity to play in a play-off match with the 5th team from South America. The winner of the match will go to the World Cup.
Qualifying rounds: Europe
Objectively, this is the strongest continental cluster. 54 teams are traditionally divided into 9 groups. The winners of the basket receive a direct ticket to the World Cup, and 8 best second teams - play among themselves play-offs. This is 4 more vouchers.
The draw for the group round among European teams took place on July 25, 2015. During this process, two interesting baskets were identified:
Group A:
- Sweden;
- France;
- Netherlands;
- Bulgaria;
- Belarus;
- Luxembourg.
Group G:
- Spain;
- Italy;
- Albania;
- Israel;
- Macedonia;
- Liechtenstein.
In Pot A, it will be interesting to watch the struggle between the silver finalists of EURO 2016, the French and the Dutch team, which is going through a painful generational change. Will the not-so-“Clockwork Orange” be able to cope with the young and ambitious Gallic cockerel?
Group G will feature recent rivals in the 1/8 finals of the 2016 European Championship - the national teams of Spain and Italy. Who is stronger: the Spaniards, who have set their sights on building a new young team, or the Italian destructive machine? In general, there is more than enough intrigue!
Afterword
In 2018, two grandiose events await us - and the World Cup. But if the Olympics are just an aftertaste after Sochi, then the World Cup will take place literally outside our windows. Therefore, we have the right to know who will trample Russian lawns in 2018. How are things in Tahiti? Is Honduras qualifying? Does Burkina Faso have a chance of reaching the World Cup finals? For a true fan home championship– these are not idle questions!
| Date | March 12, 2015 – November 14, 2016 |
| Participating teams and | 208 (applied) teams, divided into 6 territorial clusters:
|
| Newcomer teams | South Sudan; Kosovo; Butane; Gibraltar. |
| Total number of teams (based on the results of the qualifying tournament) | 31 (together with host country Russia – 32) |
