AS England were being annihilated by Hungary, there was a much more important match being played across the globe.
While Gareth Southgate’s tired squad were ripped apart in Wolverhampton, Costa Rica were battling past New Zealand in Saudi Arabia.
England have the toughest World Cup group with an averaging Fifa ranking of 14.75 With their 1-0 win, the Central Americans snatched the 32nd and final spot in the 2022 World Cup.
Now, finally, the full lineup for this winter’s tournament is complete.
And England have the HARDEST group, according to the world rankings.
The Three Lions are ranked fifth in the world, with USA (15th), Wales (18th) and Iran (21st) not far behind.
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Fans turn on Southgate as Three Lions suffer worst home loss since 1928 That means Group B has an average ranking of 14.75 – far and away the toughest in the tournament.
The nearest contenders for the Group of Death moniker is Group E – featuring Spain (7th), Germany (12th), Japan (23rd) and Costa Rica (31st), with a mean ranking of 18.25,
At the other end of the scale, Group A is comfortably the easiest.
Hosts Qatar were among the top seeds for the tournament as hosts – but thanks to their world ranking of 51, that skews the entire group.
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The Middle Eastern nation are joined by Holland (10th), Senegal (20th) and Ecuador (46th) for an average ranking of just 31.75.
Group H also looks to be a doddle for the big-boys, with a mean ranking of 27.5.
Portugal (8th) and Uruguay (13th) look dead-certs to qualify, with South Korea (29th) and Ghana (60th) miles back in the Fifa standings.
England would ordinarily be expected to storm through the group on the back of reaching the 2018 World Cup semis and the Euro 2020 final just last summer.
MORE YEARS OF HURT AHEAD? But on the back of a dreadful fortnight, the Three Lions have gone from being considered one of the favourites in Qatar to looking worryingly out of form.
Southgate heavily rotated his squad across the four games – which included two defeats to Hungary and draws against Germany and Italy.
But boasting a near-fully-fit squad, there are understandably concerns among fans.
England sit dead-last in their Nations League group with their final two matches coming in September.
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I have 6 children but 4 aren’t real – many don’t understand the joy it brings The Three Lions travel to Italy before hosting Germany in their final games before the World Cup starts in November.
The two games will be a fairer reflection of where Southgate and Co stand ahead of the tournament, with the players fully focused on the season, rather than with one eye on the beach after a gruelling 2021-22.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
