The Malta national team were pitted against the loser of the UEFA Nations League quarter-final between Spain and the Netherlands, as well as Poland, Finland and Lithuania in Group G of the World Cup qualifiers as the draws of the competition were held at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday.
This is a very challenging draw for the national team who will be up against one of the strongest teams in Europe in either Spain or the Netherlands.
But the other teams in the group will also pose a challenge.
Poland, led by prolific goalscorer Robert Lewandowski, will be looking to at least place second in the group and battle for a place in the World Cup finals through the play-offs that will feature the 12 runner-up sides in the qualifying stage and the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish their European Qualifiers group stage in first or second place.
Finland are likely to prove no pushovers as the Nordics just missed out on qualification to the Euro 2024 finals.
Finland had finished third in their group behind Denmark and Slovenia but then lost to Wales in the play-offs.
Lithuania represent the best opportunity for Malta to pick up points in the group.
The former Soviet Republic are coming from a very disappointing UEFA Nations League campaign which saw them lose all their matches in League C and were relegated to League D.
The first matches of the World Cup qualifiers are scheduled to start in March next year but in the meantime the Malta national team players are still awaiting to discover who will be in charge of the side for this qualifying campaign that will be played in 2025.
Earlier this month, the Malta FA announced that they are currently in the process of setting up a new technical set-up for the senior charge after the contract of interim coaches Davide Mazzotta and Ernesto Chevanton came to an end.
“As their interim term was contractually bound to conclude in November, the Malta FA will now take the necessary time through December and January to evaluate all options for the future. This assessment is aimed at establishing a new organigramme for its technical setup, which will be announced in the new year,” the Malta FA had said.
“While the future coaching appointments remain open for consideration, the Malta FA emphasises that a strategic review will be carried out to ensure the best path forward including the possibility of retaining already engaged technical staff.”
A formal announcement is expected to be made in the first week of January.
