“ political group, but I’m not political,” Iran’s Croatian coach, Dragan Skocic, said.
And the ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which spilled into the Doha convention center, were evident in the final team drawn in the group.
They will later face the teams who open the tournament earlier in the day: African champion Senegal and the Netherlands, whose coach Louis van Gaal said last week it was a “ridiculous” decision to award the World Cup to this tiny nation.
Group C could see a meeting of the most recent FIFA Best winners with Lionel Messi’s Argentina drawn to play Robert Lewandowski’s Poland.
South America nations discovered before the draw that a $10 million bonus awaits from their confederation for being the first world champion from CONMEBOL since Brazil in 2002.
“To all the leaders and all the people of the world,” Infantino added, “stop the conflicts and the wars.