Okocha was one of those who conducted the World Cup draw even though his country, Nigeria did not qualify for the tournament
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former Super Eagles midfielder, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha was one of the ex-internationals who conducted the 2022 World Cup draw in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
Others are Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthäus (Germany), Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (Iran), Bora Milutinović (Serbia/Mexico), Rabah Madjer (Algeria), and Tim Cahill (Australia).
The draw was held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar after 29 of the 32 countries expected to participate in the World Cup have been confirmed.
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The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups, each group comprising four countries, and they are all expected to play three games at the group stages, after which the knockout rounds will begin.
African representatives Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon, and Ghana were drawn into groups A, D, F, G, and H respectively.
The 2022 World Cup tournament is expected to kick off later in the year on November 21 and will end on December 18.
Below is the breakdown of the groups:
GROUP A
Qatar
Ecuador
Senegal
Netherlands
GROUP B
England
Iran
USA
Wales / Scotland / Ukraine
GROUP C
Argentina
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Poland
GROUP D
France
Peru / Australia / UAE
Denmark
Tunisia
GROUP E
Spain
Costa Rica / New Zealand
Germany
Japan
GROUP F
Belgium
Canada
Morocco
Croatia
GROUP G
Brazil
Serbia
Switzerland
Cameroon
GROUP H
Portugal
Ghana
Uruguay
Korea
Reigning champions France are in Group D while Brazil, who returned to number one in the Fifa world rankings on March 31, are in Group G.
Wales, seeking to reach their first World Cup since 1958, will have to overcome the winners of Scotland and Ukraine in the play-off final in June.
However, that semi-final – which had been scheduled to take place on March 24 at Hampden – was postponed because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
