Qatar 2022 - World Cup Group E

Spain, Germany, Japan and the Intercontinental Playoff 2 winner will make up World Cup Group E at Qatar 2022.

SPAIN

Confederation: UEFA
FIFA ranking: 7
Team nickname: La Roja
Previous World Cup appearances: 15
Honours: World Cup: 2010 European Championship (3): 1964, 2008, 2012
Head coach: Luis Enrique
Star players: Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Pedri (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Juventus)

Since winning three consecutive major titles between 2008 and 2012 (two Euros and one World Cup), Spain’s dominance has diminished somewhat – they’ve failed to progress past the World Cup Round of 16 since winning their first title in 2010 – but a strong run to the semi-final at Euro 2020 (where they lost on penalties to Italy) and finishing as runners-ups  at the 2021 Nations League (lost 2-1 to France) have reignited hopes of a resurgence.

Luis Enrique returned to the role as head coach in Nov. 2019, having resigned four months prior due to personal reasons and caused a stir in Spain when selecting his squad for Euro 2020 when he failed to name any Real Madrid players for the first time at a major tournament in the nation’s history and was accused of anti-Blancos bias.

Emerging talent remains key for Spain and names such as Pedri (Barcelona), Gavi (Barcelona) and Yeremi Pino (Villarreal) look well placed to light up the 2022 World Cup.

Kevin Kilbane's take: “Spain were in a little bit of a transition going into the Euro. We watched to see how they would get on and they actually did better than I expected, in all honesty. Pedri is the new superstar in the Spanish side. He played every game at the Euro, he’s been at the Olympics since the Euro and he’s played a majority of games at Barcelona this season. What a player this guy is and what a talent he is that Spain has found. We’re looking at Luis Enrique – will he still be in charge when the World Cup comes about? I expect him to be. He’s been linked with Manchester United and a number of other top coaching jobs around the world, but I expect him to still be in that job and with Pedri and one or two others and the experience they’ve got throughout that team, I fully expect Spain to be one of the contenders.”

Head-to-head v Canada: 2-0

GERMANY

Confederation: UEFA
FIFA ranking: 12
Team nickname: Die Mannschaft
Previous World Cup appearances: 19
Honours: World Cup (4): 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014 European Championship (3): 1972, 1980, 1996 Confederations Cup: 2017
Head coach: Hansi Flick
Star players: Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)

After 15 years and one World Cup triumph under Joachim Low, the Hansi Flick era has begun for Germany. Die Mannschaft are yet to lose under their new coach, who was assistant under Low for eight years, winning all seven matches (scoring 31 goals and conceding only two).

After a comfortable qualifying campaign in what was a weak group, Flick's Germany heads into the World Cup largely untested aside from a March friendly against the Netherlands two days before the 2022 World Cup draw.

Having won the World Cup in 2014, Germany will be desperate to improve on their 2018 showing in which they were knocked out of the initial group stage for the first time after losses to Mexico and Korea Republic.

Steven Caldwell's take: “Germany have certainly got talent, but I think there’s some debate there about their best XI and best formation. But I think they’ll be better than they were at the Euro and I think they’ll be quite dangerous. The one to look out for for me is Kai Havertz, who’s having a great season at Chelsea.”

Head-to-head v Canada: 2-0

JAPAN

Confederation: AFC
FIFA ranking: 23
Team nickname: Samurai Blue
Previous World Cup appearances: 6
Honours: Asian Cup (4): 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011
Head coach: Hajime Moriyasu
Star players: Takumi Minamino (Liverpool), Junya Ito (Genk), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)

Japan have qualified for a seventh straight World Cup, but will be hoping to end a pattern which, should it continue, would see them knocked out at the group stage. Japan's previous six campaigns have ended as such: group stage, Round of 16, group stage, Round of 16, group stage, Round of 16.

The Samurai Blue nearly provided one of the biggest shocks in recent World Cup history in 2018 when leading Belgium 2-0 with just over 20 minutes remaining in the Round of 16 in Rostov-on-Don, but goals from Jan Vertonghen, Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli turned the game around.

Hajime Moriyasu took charge of the side after the tournament in Russia and led them to the 2019 Asian Cup final where they were beaten 3-1 by Qatar. As a player in 1993, Moriyasu featured for the national side in a match known as "The Agony of Doha" in which a 91st-minute equalizer by Iraq’s Jaffar Omran denied Japan qualification to a first ever World Cup. Moriyasu will be looking to settle that score at the 2022 tournament.

Kevin Kilbane's take: “Japan would be a team you’d expect to be the strongest coming out of Asia and that’s the way it’s been over the last few campaigns. A really strange result was seeing them get a draw against Vietnam recently (in qualifying). That was a strange result given how strong they are within the region, but they have played a great brand of football. They haven’t necessarily, I think most people would say, lived up to their billing. I think past Japan teams might have expected to get out of the group comfortably and go on deep into the tournament, but that’s not quite happened. But that just goes to show the strength of world football.”

Head-to-head v Canada: 2-0

IC PLAYOFF 2