The Fußball Chatter

The International break is over for the year but it was a very important one as World Cup qualifiers resumed with teams across the world either making it to the World Cup directly or advancing to the next round of qualifiers. As of now, 12 teams have qualified for the World Cup next November. Germany, Denmark, Brazil, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Argentina are those that will be playing in Qatar next year with 19 slots still available as qualifiers will resume next year. This will be dwelling on UEFA (Europe) and CAF (Africa) as their round of qualifiers are over with the next round to start in March, which will determine those that will qualify for the World Cup. CONCACAF (North America), AFC (Asia) and COMMEBOL (South America) will resume in their present round of qualifiers in March as well while OFC (Oceania) will start their World Cup qualifying campaign in March next year. UEFA (EUROPE) The latest round of qualifiers in Europe

When Xavi Hernandez left Barcelona in 2015 to play out his final playing days with Qatari side Al-Sadd, it would not be a surprise that the former Spanish international will return to the Camp Nou in some form of capacity, possibly as a manager. Retiring as a player in 2019, he became manager of Al-Sadd, winning five trophies in the process. Now, he has returned to Barcelona as a manager, replacing Ronald Koeman. Pep Guardiola, who managed Xavi during his time at Barcelona, gave his stamp of approval, stating that Xavi has more experience in the dugout than he did before he took over Barcelona. However, there is scepticism around Xavi's appointment, given that Xavi has only managed in Qatar and the huge task he's about to encounter. Various former players have returned to their sides as managers. Zinedine Zidane with Real Madrid, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Manchester United, Frank Lampard with Chelsea and Andrea Pirlo with Juventus. Aside from Zinedine and Guardiola, these appoi