World Cup 2022 LIVE: Denmark and Australia squad announcement and latest England news

“The situation makes you angry. How can it not?” asked Jurgen Klopp. It is no secret that he is a critic of a winter World Cup, but his anger was not merely a consequence of the congested fixture list or the injuries that seem to have resulted from it.

The Liverpool manager is aggrieved about the initial award of the tournament to Qatar, amid a backdrop of alleged corruption within the Qatari bid that continues to be denied. There is also the lack of scrutiny he feels their bid attracted both before it succeeded and since, and the human rights implications of building stadia in the scorching heat of the summer. He feels it is unfair to ask footballers and managers to make political stances when he believes the media failed. He laments the controversial vote in 2010, to the subterfuge and lack of accountability when many of the 21 voters were indicted or found guilty of corruption or banned for ethics violations.

“I watched an old documentary about the whole situation, about when it got announced that Russia and Qatar are the places for the next World Cups,” he said. “I think it was the first time in history they announced two in one go. We all know how it happened and that we can still let it happen, with no legal thing afterwards. Now it is open, now everybody knows, but still it was hidden and you think: ‘How can that all happen?’ It was 12 years ago. It’s nothing to do with Qatar. They won the World Cup and now it is there. But in the moment you put it there, all the things that followed it up were clear. And the people who were involved at that time should have known.

The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) echoed Fifa’s message of focusing on the football at the World Cup in Qatar, saying the time has come for “disagreements to take a back seat” with the tournament kicking off in two weeks.

“The Conmebol and its ten Member Associations calls on the football world to support the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022,” Conmebol said in a statement on Monday.

It looks likely that Thiago Silva will be the only other player in the squad – along with Neymar – to have represented Brazil at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. He is sure to be included in Tite’s squad and is still seen as one of the best centre-backs in the world despite being 38-years-old.

The Chelsea defender is excellent on the ball, is physically strength and reads the game extremely well, quickly closing off spaces in the back line. During his time with the Blues he has won the Champions League, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Former Chelsea captain, John Terry said of Thiago: “I absolutely love him. To play so well at his age in the best league in the world is incredible. I wish I could have played like him. He does everything so well without taking any risks while keeping things simple.”

One half of a formidable defensive partnership alongside Thiago Silva the 28-year-old Marquinhos is in his prime and brings a host of experience from one of Europe’s top leagues. He’s spent nine years at Paris Saint-Germain and made 250 appearances for the club but it’s his presence in the national side that could define his career.

Marquinhos is extremely agile, can cover plenty of ground and is comfortable on the ball. He has starred regularly for Brazil for many years and is seen as a true a leader on the pitch. With Brazil’s attacking talent guaranteed to score goals a long run through the tournament could come to down how solidly they are defensively and Marquinhos has a big role to play in that.

The 30-year-old has been Brazil’s go-to star since 2014 and his influence on the team has only grown in recent years. The PSG forward is technically gifted and has made an incredible start to the season with the French side.

Neymar should be given the freedom to operate anywhere in the attacking third at the World Cup in Qatar and will play alongside a young, passionate forward partner which may just bring out the best in him.

Lucas Paqueta scored the only goal in Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Colombia in November 2021, confirming his side’s place at Qatar 2022.

The 25-year-old possesses all the skills required for effective build-up and attacking play and his place in the Brazil starting line-up is more or less guaranteed.

He developed an excellent understanding with Neymar in particular during the Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign, registering many goals and assists along the way and will likely be an important cog to transition Brazil from defence into attack.

Tottenham’s Brazilian forward Richarlison watched his home side on tv when they went to the Russia for the 2018 World Cup and hoped to play a part in the next one.

Since 2018 Richarlison has made himself a key part of the national side with only Neymar scoring more goals for this country than the 25-year-old. Richarlison has scored 16 in total including a penalty in the final of the 2019 Copa America in Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Peru at the Maracana which was something of a rite of passage.

“From the moment I put on the Seleção jersey, I felt good. I score goals, I make assists, I do it all for this jersey. I hope it stays that way. I was the top scorer at the Olympics, so I think it really suits me,” he explained.

“I would say that my favourite goal was the one from the Copa America final, because that’s how we won the title, and the Maracana stadium was jam-packed.

“I was only 22. My friends asked if I was crazy for taking that penalty. I said no, because I had trained for it. I’m the third penalty taker on the team. Neymar is ahead of me, but he wasn’t at the tournament. Coutinho had left the field so that left me.

“My first World Cup… it’s like a dream. Before, I only watched it on TV. I was a national team fan during the last World Cup, and now I’m going to be on the pitch fighting for every ball, for every tackle, so that we come out on top.”

Jesus and Martinelli had both missed out on Brazil’s previous squad in September, despite Arsenal’s strong start to the campaign.

Firmino, who was included in Brazil’s 2018 squad, has scored eight times for Liverpool this season but misses out on a recall.

Blatter was Fifa president in 2010 when its executive committee controversially voted to award the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectfully.

Qatar has faced criticism over its treatment of migrant workers and discriminative LGBT+ laws, while the tournament also had to be moved to November and December due to heat.

Fifa’s decision to stage the World Cup in Qatar has also been the subject of scepticism after several members of the executive committee who voted in 2010 were later convicted or indicted in criminal or ethics cases.

A Qatar World Cup ambassador has told German television broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage in the mind”, as the Gulf state prepares to host the global tournament in less than two weeks.

In an interview filmed in Doha and to be screened later on Tuesday, former Qatari international Khalid Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country.

Some soccer players have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling to the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against.

The country expects more than one million visitors for the World Cup.

The Australian Socceroos are the first team involved in the 2022 World Cup to speak out about the conditions, workers rights and treatment of LGBTQ+ people in Qatar and have called for the World Cup to bring lasting positive change to the host nation.

Check out their statement in this video:

Australia did not exactly cruise through ‘Asian’ qualifying for this World Cup, finishing third in their group behind the two automatic qualifiers Saudi Arabia and Japan, and only just edging out fourth-placed Oman to reach a play-off. There, they narrowly saw off the United Arab Emirates to book a spot in the inter-continental play-offs with Peru, and that match would become famous for goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne’s dancing on the goalline as he made the crucial penalty shootout save to send the Socceroos to their fifth successive World Cup.

They did it by playing 8 per cent of their qualifying games away from home. Tough border laws meant Australia didn’t host any international games for more than two years, so 16 of their 20 qualifiers were on the road in an extra-long campaign that started in September 2019. The Aussies are already comfortable with the conditions in Qatar, where they were unbeaten in four qualifiers for 2022 and where they’ve won 10, drawn three and lost two games since 2008.

The Socceroos will open Group D against defending World Cup champion France in a familiar situation: Australia lost to France 2-1 in their opening group game four years ago in Russia. The Australians then play Tunisia before taking on Denmark — another group rival in 2018. They have not won a World Cup game since 2010, however, and realistically will need to beat Tunisia in match two if they are to give themselves a shot at reaching the knockout rounds.