Top Scorers in Europe that are now on their way to Qatar
Gareth Bale's deflected freekick on Sunday afternoon was enough to seal Wales' place at the FIFA World Cup, their first appearance on football's grandest stage for over 60 years. As well as scenes of jubilation, the full-time whistle in Cardiff also brought down the curtain on UEFA's World Cup Qualifying campaign and now all 13 qualifying nations from the continent have been determined. In fact, there are only two spots in Qatar left to be determined, with Australia, Peru and the UAE set to battle it out for the final spot in Group D, and Costa Rica and New Zealand fighting for the fourth spot in Group E.
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The Netherlands will be in Group A alongside the champions of Africa, Senegal, who could prove to be a stern test for Louis Van Gaal's side. As could hosts Qatar, who are also in Group A. Memphis Depay netted the most for the Dutch and was the joint top scorer in the whole of qualifying.
Aaron Ramsey top-scored for Wales during qualifying, however, he has looked a shadow of his former self during his recent loan spell with Rangers, missing the crucial spot-kick as they lost the Europa League final on penalties. The Red Dragons' 1-0 victory over Ukraine has slotted them into Group B alongside old rivals England, but they will have a job on their hands keeping captain and top scorer Harry Kane quiet, who bagged an impressive 12 goals en route to Qatar.
Poland are the sole European representative in Group C, and there are no prizes for guessing who their main man is. Captain and goalscorer supreme Robert Lewandowski top-scored and also sealed this season's Golden Shoe Award by netting a mighty 56 goals in 54 games throughout the course of the 21/22 campaign for club and country.
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Photo by Visit Qatar on Unsplash
A repeat of the 2010 semi-final is on the cards in Group E as Spain - victors in that meeting in South Africa 12 years ago - face off with the 2014 champions Germany. Barcelona winger Ferran Torres netted the most for La Roja while his former Manchester City teammate, Ilkay Gundogan, netted five times for Die Mannschaft, the same amount as both Serge Gnabry and Timo Werner.
Romelu Lukaku might be going down in history as the worst signing of all time since his 113m move to Chelsea from Inter Milan last summer, however, he was in fine fettle for Belgium throughout the qualification process, topping their scoring charts with five goals. The Red Devils will be joined in Group F by 2018's beaten finalists, Croatia. The Player of the tournament that time around was Luka Modric, and he once again showed his class by finishing top-scorer aged 36.
Serbia and Switzerland, who also shared a group four years ago, are once again drawn together, alongside tournament favourites Brazil. All three of them met in Russia, with the Selecao progressing with the Swiss to the knockout rounds. Aleksandr Mitrovic top-scored for Serbia and his last-minute winner away at Portugal was one of the biggest upset wins in qualifying. Borussia Monchengladbach's Breel Embolo topped the list for the Rossocrociati.
Europe's final representative at the World Cup is none other than Portugal, surprise surprise it was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who fired the most, whose international tally now stands at a mammoth 117.
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