MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – The Belarusian national football team will meet the national teams of Jordan and Canada in friendly matches in March, BelTA learned from Belarusian Football Federation.
On 21 March head coach Georgy Kondratyev’s side will take on Jordan in the capital Amman, which will be the first ever match against this national team for Belarus.
In 4 days in Doha, Qatar, Belarus will face Canada for the second encounter in their head-to-head history. On 29 March 2011 Canada met Belarus in Antalya, Turkey, to record a 1-0 friendly victory.
In the FIFA February ranking Belarus are 65th, while Canada are 72nd with Jordan occupying the 92nd position.
Belarus will play friendly matches as part of the preparation for the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. On 3 June Belarus encounter Estonia in the last friendly before travelling to Helsinki to play the World Cup qualifier against Finland on 7 June. The return match against Finland will take place in Belarus on 11 June.
In 2013 Belarus will play two more World Cup qualifying games. Georgy Kondatyev’s side will encounter France at home on 10 September and world and European champions Spain away on 11 October.
In the 2012 part of the qualifying campaign Belarus played four matches. On 7 September they lost to Georgia at home 0-1. Four days later they fell to France in Paris 1-3. The Spain encounter in Minsk, Belarus, on 12 October proved to be a 0-4 dismantling. The Georgia return match on 16 October brought Belarus the first 2-0 home victory.
2014 World Cup qualifying group I standings are as follows:
1. Spain 7 points (3 played; goal difference 6-1)
2. France 7 points (3; 5-2)
3. Georgia 4 points (4; 2-4)
4. Belarus 3 points (4; 3-8)
5. Finland 1 point (2; 1-2).
In the next group I matches France will take on Georgia on 22 March, while Spain will host Finland. On 26 March France meet Spain at home.
The top teams in each 2014 World Cup European zone qualifying group will advance to the final tournament, while the best eight of nine second-placed teams will meet in the play-off round to decide two more European participants of World Cup 2014. The final World Cup tournament will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.
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