Vice-world champions and the most expensive goalkeeper on the planet: who will the Russian national football team play with in the qualification of the 2022 World Cup

Troubled Croatia

The draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifying round can be called successful for the Russian national team.

The domestic team, which got into only the third basket of the first two, received quite acceptable rivals - Croatia and Slovakia.

Also, Stanislav Cherchesov's charges will have to meet with Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.

The coach himself was pleased with the results of the ceremony. 

“I can't say, plus or minus, that before the draw we ended up in the third basket, as it is not known what would have happened if we were in the second.

Perhaps I would have to compete with Germany.

I would also like to note that we avoided difficult and long flights, which is important from the point of view of logistics.

In general, we are waiting for the schedule and are starting to prepare directly for the most important qualifying matches, "the RFU press service quotes Cherchesov. 

The favorites of the group, at first glance, are the Croats, because they reached the final of the previous World Cup.

However, after the World Cup in Russia, there were many changes in the team.

First, the main goalkeeper Daniel Subasic, one of the main stars Ivan Rakitic and the top scorer Mario Mandzukic finished their career in the national team.

Second, other leaders have aged.

In particular, the owner of the Golden Ball Luka Modric is 35 years old, and Dejan Lovren and Ivan Perisic are 31 each. The head coach of the vice-world champion Zlatko Dalic has to rejuvenate the squad, and this process is not painless. 

The Croats did not perform very well twice in the League of Nations.

Two years ago, they took the last place in the group with Spain and England, having been defeated on the road by the Pyrenees with a score of 0: 6.

And in 2020, the Balkan team scored only three points in rivalry with France, Portugal and Sweden and was ahead of the Scandinavians only thanks to additional indicators. 

And in the qualification of the European Championship 2020, Croatia experienced problems, although it took first place in its group.

For example, Dalich's wards parted with Azerbaijan and Wales and lost to Hungary.

In the Croatian national team, the players who are well known to Russian fans are gradually coming to the fore.

In the center of the field, the teams are playing Nikola Vlašić from CSKA and former Spartak midfielder Mario Pashalich.

In the line of defense, along with Lovren, there is a place for Rubin's defender Philip Uremovich. 

However, not all the former leaders of the team found adequate replacement.

For example, Dalich lacks a hammering forward.

In addition, the vice-champions of the world regularly make mistakes in defense.

It is no coincidence that Croatia conceded 16 goals in six matches of the last season of the League of Nations.

Thus, the Russian national team may well count on revenge for the offensive defeat in the quarterfinals of the home World Cup. 

“We played a brilliant match with Croatia at the World Championship, and we owe this team a favor.

There is a generational change in the Croatian national team, young, interesting players appear.

It is very important that the Croats are stable, well-played and represent a formidable force as a team, ”Cherchesov said.

Slovakia Missing Stars from the Sky and Cloud-Dependent Slovenia

Most recently, Russia also met with Slovakia.

In 2016, the teams crossed paths in the final stage of the European Championship.

Then the domestic team was defeated (1: 2) and eventually took the last place in its quartet.

The Slovaks reached the 1/8 finals, where they lost to Germany - 0: 3.

Since then, this team of stars has not been enough from the sky.

She did not make it to the world championship, and made it to the continental championship only through an additional qualifying tournament.

And even then the wards of Stefan Tarkovich were lucky.

In the semifinals, they beat Ireland on penalties, and in the final in extra time - Northern Ireland.

Slovakia performed extremely poorly in the League of Nations.

In 2018, the national team took the last place in the group with Ukraine and the Czech Republic, and in 2020 - with the Czech Republic, Scotland and Israel and flew to the third most powerful division.

Nevertheless, the team has several famous footballers.

So, in defense, Inter's central defender Milan Shkrinjar is indispensable, whom the Transfermarkt portal estimates at € 50 million. In the middle of the field, Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli) and Ondrej Duda (Cologne) stand out. 

The main local star Marek Hamsik is still in the ranks.

Despite the transfer to China's Dalian Yifang, the 33-year-old midfielder continues to take the national team to the field with a captain's armband.

In addition, the 35-year-old former Zenit and Dynamo defender Tomas Gubochan, who is currently playing for Omonia, Cyprus, took part in the last two matches of the Slovaks this year. 

Domestic fans will not want to remember the last confrontation with Slovenia, because in 2009 it was this modest team that did not let the Russian national team, which was at its peak after winning the bronze medal of Euro 2008, to the World Cup.

Then in Moscow, Guus Hiddink's wards won - 2: 1 thanks to a double by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, but in Maribor they were defeated with a minimum score and did not make it to the world championship.

Slovenes did not qualify for major tournaments after that.

In qualifying for Euro 2020, they finished only fourth in their group, and the failure in the League of Nations prevented them from making their way to the additional qualifying tournament.

But the new season of the League of Nations, Matjaz Kek's wards had a success, gaining 14 points out of 18 possible and conceding only one goal, and advanced to Division B.

It was under the leadership of Keck that the team beat Russia in the 2010 World Cup play-offs and played at the World Cup.

But the main star of the national team at the moment is the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, Jan Oblak (€ 90 million, according to Transfermarkt).

In attack, the team's game is played by 32-year-old Josip Ilicic from Atalanta.

The rest of the Slovenian footballers are not so famous.

But Russian fans should be familiar with Sochi defender Mikha Mevlya, without whom it is difficult to imagine the national team's center of defense, and Yaka Biyol, rented from CSKA Hannover.

“We don't know the national teams of Slovakia and Slovenia very well yet, we will study them closely.

The teams are not easy, in particular in Legia I played Duda, who is now the main player of the Slovak team.

I would like to note that in all three of these teams, almost all players play in foreign clubs, which already speaks volumes.

There can be no question of any underestimation, "said Cherchesov.

Modest Cyprus and Malta

If the three teams mentioned above are able to take points from the Russian national team, then in the matches with Cyprus and Malta, the domestic squad is obliged to gain the maximum number of points. 

In particular, Cherchesov's wards met with the Cypriots twice in the framework of the Euro 2020 qualification and did not experience any problems.

At home, Russia won with a minimum score thanks to a goal from Alexei Ionov, and on the road sent five unanswered goals to the opponent's goal.

After the failure in the qualifying stage, Ben Shimon was dismissed, but under the leadership of the Belgian Johan Valem, Cyprus failed already in the League of Nations.

The national team of the island nation took the last place in the group with Montenegro, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan and will now participate in the play-offs for the right to remain in Division C.

In general, a contradictory situation has developed in local football.

While the clubs almost every season get to the autumn stage of European competitions, the national team is performing extremely poorly.

The main reason is the large number of foreign players in the national championship.

In addition, the national team is going through a generational change, and many young players have appeared in its composition.  

Malta is only 176th in the FIFA rankings.

For comparison, Cyprus closes the first hundred. 

In the qualifications of the World and European Championships, the Maltese, as a rule, took the last place in the group, gaining a few points.

Only once, in the qualifying stage for the World Cup-94, the team rose from the bottom of the standings thanks to the victory over Estonia. 

However, Davis Manji's wards managed to perform well in the last season of the League of Nations.

In the confrontation with Latvia, the Faroe Islands and Andorra, they suffered only one defeat and won two victories, including over the Balts on the road.

As a result, the Maltese only let the Faroese go ahead.  

It is curious that, if the Russian national team met with the other rivals in the group more than once, then with Malta - only once.

In 1996, the national team beat the opponent in a friendly match (2: 0) thanks to goals from Valery Karpin and Sergey Kiryakov.

Cherchesov also spent 90 minutes that day on the field.