First appearance! Germany and Spain embark on the World Cup journey, the Netherlands faces the "problem" team

This week, the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers will rekindle the battle, and 24 teams from the first 6 groups will usher in their first qualifiers. On the first day, two traditional giants in Germany and Spain made a collective appearance, and on the same day, there was a competition between the Netherlands and Belgium.

At present, 13 teams, including the host, have advanced to the World Cup ahead of schedule, but for Europe, the qualifiers have just begun, and six of the groups have not played any game yet, which seems a bit incredible.

There are two main reasons for this situation. First, the European competition system is very simple. The top 12 groups of the teams go directly to the World Cup, and the second place participates in the play-offs. There are 6 groups that have not started yet. There are only 4 teams in the same group, and each team has only 6 games in total, and all of them can be completed in the next three months. In other words, if 5 wins and 1 draw, winning 5 games is enough to participate in the World Cup. South American teams should be envious of this scene. Think about it, Argentina and Brazil have to span two years, and have a total of 18 World Cup qualifiers.

Secondly, the European League ended all this summer, and Portugal won the championship for the second time. Portugal, Spain, France and Germany, which are entering the semi-finals, cannot have time to participate in other competitions. Therefore, the European qualifiers are divided into two parts, with the first 6 groups and each with 4 teams. The first European qualifiers will start this week, and the next 6 groups will each with 5 teams. The European qualifiers will start in March this year.

In the early morning of Friday, many traditional giants appeared, including Germany and Spain, among which the first European qualifiers. Germany is divided into Group A, with Luxembourg, Slovakia and Northern Ireland in the same group, facing Slovakia in the first game. In terms of strength, none of the three opponents are strong, and it should not be very difficult to win the top spot. However, due to the small number of games, the inability to win any game will have serious consequences.

From the roster, Wiltz is the one who is familiar to everyone, including Walter Mad who just transferred to Newcastle at a high price. Bayern Munich No. 10 Musiara is still absent, and Havertz is also injured. Sane, who left Bayern, was not selected. In addition to Slovakia, Germany will face Ireland next week. If there are two consecutive victories, there will be no big suspense in advance.

Spain is in Group E, with Bulgaria, Türkiye and Georgia in the same group. It faces Bulgaria in the first round and faces Türkiye next week, both games will be away games. It is similar to Germany, and this group does not have a strong opponent. As long as you deal with it carefully, it is still not a big problem for Spain to advance. Spain's past results in the qualifiers can be trusted and secure. There is not much controversy in Spain's roster. Earlier, Gavey withdrew from the national team of this issue due to injury, Golden Globe winner Rodri is also on the list, and there are also stars like Yamal on the front line. Looking at Spain's midfield and frontcourt, it's so talented, enviable, and so luxurious. Raya, who performed well in the Premier League, may be difficult to compete with Simon for the starting position of the goalkeeper.

The Netherlands was in a group of five teams and had already started the European qualifiers. They scored 10 goals in two rounds, easily defeating Finland and Malta. With two games less, they were only 1 point behind Finland, and the same score as Poland, which played one game less. In this round, the Netherlands will face Poland at home. This is a "problem" team full of topics. Since Finland did not have any games on the same day, as long as it wins, the Netherlands will be able to reach the top.

Previously, Lewandowski was revoked and he once withdrew from the Polish national team, but now it seems that nothing has happened. Lewandowski returned to the roster and became the captain again. The only difference is that Probilds announced his resignation as head coach and "stop loss" for a storm of conflict between generals and coaches. However, the impact cannot be changed. Poland without Lewandowski lost to Finland, and the promotion situation is quite serious, and there is no need to lose in the face of the Netherlands.

Belgium, which has also started the European qualifiers, drew with North Macedonia in the first game, and was tied by the opponent in the second game with three goals. It was only after De Bruyne's goal in the 88th minute that he narrowly defeated Wales. Fortunately, since North Macedonia and Wales only won 2 games per game in four games, Belgium did not have much impact, and fell behind the top 4 points in two games in less games. It is still difficult to top the list if they defeat Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan in the past two weeks, but it is expected to fall behind the top 1 point in less games, and the situation will become quite optimistic.

Due to injury, neither Lukaku nor Villa midfielder Onana was selected for the roster. Lamens, a young player who just transferred to Manchester United, did not join the adult national team. Of course, neither opponent is strong. Even without a super shooter, the team led by De Bruyne should be able to easily score all six points.

Over the weekend, traditional giants including France, Italy, England, and Portugal will appear one after another. Fans should not miss it.