All things Football (soccer) related

[warspite1]

World Cup Qualifying:

Best of luck in the second legs to:

Switzerland 1-0 Northern Ireland

Italy 0-1 Sweden

Peru 0-0 New Zealand

A tough ask for all three, but everything will be crossed [:)]

[warspite1]

Unlucky Northern Ireland [:(]

Beaten by a dodgy penalty in the first leg, they then did everything but score in the second. You did yourselves proud even getting to the play-offs boys [&o]

[Orm]

Indeed. Sad story. No one deserves getting kicked out like that. Even sadder when that was the only goal. [:(]

[warspite1]

BIG Game tonight - Come on Sweden - don't muck it up!!!

[warspite1]

At least one penalty to Sweden surely?????

But it can't stay at 0-0 with this number of Italian chances. Come on Sweden put your foot on the ball!!!

[Orm]

It surely could stay 0-0, and I am quite happy with that. [:)]

[warspite1]

SWEDEN - YES!!!!!!

[Orm]

With that opposition, both in the qualification group and in the playoffs, it is a quite impressive feat to pull through. [:)]

[&o]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

At least one penalty to Sweden surely?????

You can not expect to get a penalty that easy when you play in Italy.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Orm

With that opposition, both in the qualification group and in the playoffs, it is a quite impressive feat to pull though. [:)]

[&o]

warpite1

Damn right.

But then the seedings seem weird. Spain get Italy, France get Sweden and Holland and England get er..... England get.....erm...yeah whoever.

Great night for Swedish football. Tactics were spot on against a team that seemingly can't buy a goal.

Personally I've got nothing against Italy - and sad for Buffon - but England have failed to reach three finals so its about time others took some pain too [:D]

[Orm]

I often thought that the seeding seemed flawed. Maybe it will get better now with the new system for friendly matches?

[warspite1]

Next World Cup qualifying I want Spain and Germany paired and Italy and France [:)]

[MagicMissile]

I don´t follow football that much any longer.But Sweden getting through to the World Cup in a group with France and Holland and then knocking out Italy in a qualifier is worth a small shout out [:)]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Next World Cup qualifying I want Spain and Germany paired and Italy and France [:)]

yep

and go we go back to European Cups played with unprotected team allocations and 2 legged knock out rounds? Remember all the farce with the Champions League came from Berlusconi having a hissy fit that AC Milan got knocked in round 2 of the old European Cup and he felt this was 'unfair'.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Next World Cup qualifying I want Spain and Germany paired and Italy and France [:)]

yep

and go we go back to European Cups played with unprotected team allocations and 2 legged knock out rounds? Remember all the farce with the Champions League came from Berlusconi having a hissy fit that AC Milan got knocked in round 2 of the old European Cup and he felt this was 'unfair'.

warspite1

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this system provided it means that England carry on getting drawn against teams that even we can beat.....[;)]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Next World Cup qualifying I want Spain and Germany paired and Italy and France [:)]

yep

and go we go back to European Cups played with unprotected team allocations and 2 legged knock out rounds? Remember all the farce with the Champions League came from Berlusconi having a hissy fit that AC Milan got knocked in round 2 of the old European Cup and he felt this was 'unfair'.

warspite1

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this system provided it means that England carry on getting drawn against teams that even we can beat.....[;)]

ah but there is no system that will protect Scotland ...

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

So, World Cup qualifying enters its final stages in the coming months.

23 of the 32 qualifiers are known and perhaps the most notable absentees are Cameroon, Chile, Holland, and the United States.

Qualified
Russia, Germany, Brazil, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, England, Nigeria, Poland, Egypt, Iceland, Serbia, France, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Panama.

Argentina survived a massive scare to qualify out-right, and of the remaining issues to be settled Croatia, Italy, Ivory Coast and Sweden are perhaps the biggest potential casualties.

Europe
Four to qualify out of:
Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Croatia, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Greece.

Africa
Three places up for grabs:
Tunisia or DR Congo
Morocco or Ivory Coast
Senegal, Burkina Faso or Cape Verde

Two play-off games make up the last two
Honduras (Concacaf) vs Australia (Asia)
Peru (South America) vs New Zealand (Oceania)

warspite1

....and then there were four....

Europe
The four that qualified via the play-offs:
Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Croatia, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Greece.

Africa
The three places up for grabs were taken by:
Tunisia or DR Congo
Morocco or Ivory Coast
Senegal, Burkina Faso or Cape Verde

And so we come to the last two play-offs:
Australia (Asia) 0 - 0 Honduras (Concacaf)
Peru (South America) 0 - 0 New Zealand (Oceania)

Come on you antipodeans!

Bye-bye:
So no USA, no Ivory Coast, no Cameroon, no Chile, no Holland - but most of all - no Italy....

So the qualifiers with just those two more to be decided are:
Russia, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden and Denmark, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

[warspite1]

...and that is it. Sadly New Zealand fell at the final hurdle against Peru, but Australia got through safely against Honduras.

And here are the 32 that will battle it out in Russia next year:

From Europe (UEFA) - Russia (hosts), Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden and Denmark (14) - from Africa (CAF) - Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia (5) - from North and Central America (CONCACAF) - Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama (3) - from South America (CONMEBOL) - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay (5) - from Asia (AFC) - Australia*, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia (5) - from OFC (Oceania) (0)

*Australia play in the Asian confederation as they were frustrated that FIFA denied an automatic World Cup place to Oceania (Australia lost no less than six play-offs - 1966 (to North Korea), 1970 (to Israel), 1986 (to Scotland), 1994 (to Argentina), 1998 (to Iran) and 2002 (to Uruguay). This arrangement suits the Oceania countries as Australia were too powerful and the Aussies exit at least gives someone else (namely New Zealand) a chance to qualify.

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

...but Australia got through safely against Honduras.

I almost lost the will to live watching that game. Fortunately, in the 53rd minute, a Honduran bum massively diverted a free kick into the net and made a whole bunch of Australians very happy.

Two penalties later (ref got it right in both cases) and Australian nerves were finally frayed. Deep into injury time and from a Honduran corner, the goalkeeper decided to come for the ball but then couldn't make up his mind if he should try to catch it or punch it. In the end, he did neither and Honduras scrambled a consolation goal.

The Honduras performance was disappointing. Technically better players than the Australians but they don't have a single creative spark in their squad.

The Australians have a hard working and tight defence, a hard working midfield, and a hard working attack. These guys will always put in a good shift. Again though, they lack creativity in the middle.

Ok... it was a nervy affair and, curiously, the Australians got more nervous each time they scored. The Australians go to the World Cup via a play-off and then via another play-off. No matter how they qualified, they will be tough opposition to break down. Whether or not they have enough of a goal threat remains to be seen. It will not be for a lack of effort though.

Good luck to every team that qualified.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Orm]

I wonder how long New Zeeland will want to stay in OFC. Not much competition for them there.