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Post by Panda on Jan 13, 2015 18:33:46 GMT 1
It seems to get earlier and earlier every time, doesn't it? Haven's World Cup Qualifying Thread is back and that's because the process gets underway this week, when the draw for the early rounds of the CONCACAF competition is made in Miami. CONCACAF has adjusted its format again - this time there will be three knockout rounds and two group stages, compared to just one knockout round and three group stages last time. The 35 eligible teams have been seeded based on their ranking at the end of the 2014 World Cup and will enter the competition in accordance with their ranking. 14 teams play in Round 1, 20 in Round 2 and 12 in Round 3. The six winners from Round 3 join the top six seeds in Round 4, where they will be split into three groups of four. The top two in each group go forward to CONCACAF's traditional "Hex" round, where the qualifiers for 2018 will be decided. The first matches are scheduled to take place on 23 March. Meanwhile, Asia has also revealed a new format which will see World Cup qualifying combined with qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup. They're due to make their draw on 10 February, with games starting on 12 March. Everything else will be decided at the main qualifying draw in Russia on 25 July. These are the seedings for the CONCACAF zone: (1-6: bye to 4th round) 1. Costa Rica 2. Mexico 3. United States 4. Honduras 5. Panama 6. Trinidad & Tobago (7-8: bye to 3rd round) 7. Jamaica 8. Haiti (9-21: bye to 2nd round) 9. Canada 10. Cuba 11. Aruba 12. Dominican Republic 13. El Salvador 14. Suriname 15. Guatemala 16. St. Vincent & The Grenadines 17. St. Lucia 18. Grenada 19. Antigua & Barbuda 20. Guyana 21. Puerto Rico (22-35: start in 1st round) 22. St. Kitts & Nevis 23. Belize 24. Montserrat 25. Dominica 26. Barbados 27. Bermuda 28. Nicaragua 29. Turks & Caicos Islands 30. Curacao 31. US Virgin Islands 32. Bahamas 33. Cayman Islands 34. British Virgin Islands 35. Anguilla
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Post by suedehead on Jan 13, 2015 21:15:25 GMT 1
Good to see this back so soon!
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Post by Shireblogger on Jan 13, 2015 22:37:56 GMT 1
Is it too soon to start speculating about whether England can make the quarter-finals or the semi-finals ?
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Post by Panda on Jan 16, 2015 2:15:43 GMT 1
CONCACAF 1st Round draw: (team listed first at home in first leg)
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Post by Panda on Jan 16, 2015 2:38:12 GMT 1
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frag
Member
*Paranoid Android*
I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Posts: 25,043
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Post by frag on Jan 20, 2015 13:04:55 GMT 1
This came around quick! Time for a sweepstake?
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Post by Panda on Feb 10, 2015 14:24:45 GMT 1
The draw for Asia's first round has been made. The 46 teams have been seeded and the bottom 12 will play in the opening knockout round with the six winners joining the top 34 seeds in the second round, which will consist of eight groups of five. The eight winners plus the best four runners-up will qualify for the final round (as well as the 2019 Asian Cup) which has been expanded to 12 teams. The seedings are based on January's world rankings (which seems a bit odd as it means they don't take last month's Asian Cup into account, unless the teams are re-seeded after the first round): (1-34: bye to second round) 1. Iran 2. Japan 3. South Korea 4. Uzbekistan 5. United Arab Emirates 6. Qatar 7. Oman 8. Jordan 9. China 10. Australia 11. Saudi Arabia 12. Bahrain 13. Iraq 14. Palestine 15. Lebanon 16. Kuwait 17. Philippines 18. Maldives 19. Vietnam 20. Tajikistan 21. Burma 22. Afghanistan 23. Thailand 24. Turkmenistan 25. North Korea 26. Syria 27. Kyrgyzstan 28. Malaysia 29. Hong Kong 30. Singapore 31. Indonesia 32. Laos 33. Guam 34. Bangladesh (35-46: start in 1st round) 35. India 36. Sri Lanka 37. Yemen 38. Cambodia 39. Taiwan 40. East Timor 41. Nepal 42. Macau 43. Pakistan 44. Mongolia 45. Brunei 46. Bhutan
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Post by Panda on Feb 10, 2015 14:31:09 GMT 1
Asian 1st round draw: This will be the first ever World Cup qualifying match for Bhutan. Brunei are managed by former Blackburn boss Steve Kean and will be playing their first World Cup matches since 2001. 1st legs: 12th March 2nd legs: 17th March So these will be the first matches of the 2018 World Cup, just before the CONCACAF preliminaries.
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Post by Shireblogger on Feb 10, 2015 14:33:32 GMT 1
Incredible that a nation as populous as India is ranked below Guam. And Pakistan below the football-hotbed that is Macau. Reinforces how big cricket is in the sub-continent.
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Post by Panda on Feb 10, 2015 14:38:03 GMT 1
Incredible that a nation as populous as India is ranked below Guam. And Pakistan below the football-hotbed that is Macau. Reinforces how big cricket is in the sub-continent. Pakistan's always been rubbish at football but India did seem to be on the rise a few years ago. Guam's ranking has risen due to their performance in the qualifying competition for the East Asian Cup, where they beat Mongolia and the Northern Mariana Islands and drew with Macau, then had a win over Taiwan and a draw with Hong Kong in the next round, to finish 3rd behind group winners North Korea. Worth remembering as well that Macau is a former Portuguese colony, so there's bound to have been some influence there.
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Post by suedehead on Feb 10, 2015 14:46:28 GMT 1
Incredible that a nation as populous as India is ranked below Guam. And Pakistan below the football-hotbed that is Macau. Reinforces how big cricket is in the sub-continent. India's performance in almost any sport that isn't cricket is pretty bad. The number of Olympic medals won by India is extraordinarily low for a country of its size.
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Post by Panda on Feb 10, 2015 14:49:48 GMT 1
Meanwhile, the qualifying format for Africa was agreed last month before the Africa Cup of Nations, and as ever, it's changed from the previous format.
There will be three knockout rounds, starting in October, to whittle the 54-strong field down to 20. The teams will then be divided into five groups of four, with the five winners qualifying for the World Cup.
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Post by Panda on Feb 10, 2015 14:56:28 GMT 1
Incredible that a nation as populous as India is ranked below Guam. And Pakistan below the football-hotbed that is Macau. Reinforces how big cricket is in the sub-continent. India's performance in almost any sport that isn't cricket is pretty bad. The number of Olympic medals won by India is extraordinarily low for a country of its size. The Philippines has always struck me as country with potential due to the size of the population but basketball's popularity seems to massively outweigh that of football. However, the football team has shown considerable improvement in recent years and that is reflected in the rankings. The Dominican Republic is another one I feel has the potential to do well if they get the right organisation and infrastructure in place.
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Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 18:16:02 GMT 1
Presenting the 2018 Haven World Cup Wall: AFG | ALB | ALG | ASA | AND | ANG | AIA | ATG | ARG | ARM | ARU | AUS | AUT | AZE | BAH | BHR | BAN | BRB | BLR | BEL | BLZ | BEN | BER | BHU | BOL | BIH | BOT | BRA | VGB | BRU | BUL | BFA | BUR | BDI | CAM | CMR | CAN | CPV | CAY | CTA | CHA | CHI | CHN | TPE | COL | COM | CGO | COK | CRC | CRO | CUB | CUW | CYP | CZE | COD | DEN | DJI | DMA | DOM | TLS | ECU | EGY | SLV | ENG | EQG | ERI | EST | ETH | FRO | FIJ | FIN | FRA | GAB | GAM | GEO | GER | GHA | GRE | GRN | GUM | GUA | GUI | GBA | GUY | HAI | HON | HKG | HUN | ISL | IND | IDN | IRN | IRQ | IRL | ISR | ITA | CIV | JAM | JPN | JOR | KAZ | KEN | KUW | KGZ | LAO | LVA | LIB | LES | LBR | LBY | LIE | LTU | LUX | MAC | MKD | MAD | MWI | MAS | MDV | MLI | MLT | MTN | MRI | MEX | MDA | MNG | MNE | MSR | MAR | MOZ | NAM | NEP | NED | NCL | NZL | NCA | NIG | NGA | NIR | PRK | NOR | OMA | PAK | PLE | PAN | PNG | PAR | PER | PHI | POL | POR | PUR | QAT | ROU | RUS | RWA | SAM | SMR | STP | KSA | SCO | SRB | SEN | SEY | SLE | SIN | SVK | SVN | SOL | SOM | RSA | KOR | SSD | ESP | SRI | SKN | LCA | VIN | SUD | SUR | SWZ | SWE | SUI | SYR | TAH | TJK | TAN | THA | TOG | TGA | TRI | TUN | TUR | TKM | TCA | UGA | UKR | UAE | USA | URU | VIR | UZB | VAN | VEN | VIE | WAL | YEM | ZAM | ZIM |
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Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 18:33:08 GMT 1
Asian 1st round, 1st leg: Some remarkable results on the opening day of the 2018 qualifying campaign as Brunei, East Timor and Bhutan earn their first ever World Cup victories, the latter in their first World Cup match. Brunei came into the game with a World Cup record of played 12, lost 12. East Timor have a great chance of progressing, having been the first team eliminated from the 2014 World Cup. Round 2 is a group stage so the six winners from this round will be guaranteed another eight games. The second legs are next Tuesday.
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Paddy
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Best newcomer 2009
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Post by Paddy on Mar 12, 2015 21:20:28 GMT 1
Great new graphics MrH
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Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 21:23:18 GMT 1
Thanks Paddy!
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Post by Panda on Mar 12, 2015 22:04:02 GMT 1
We may have our first elimination. Zimbabwe have been expelled from the competition as punishment for failing to pay debts owed to their former manager. Zimbabwe's financially-stricken association is appealing and there is a chance it could be overturned so we'll have to wait and see...
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frag
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I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Posts: 25,043
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Post by frag on Mar 13, 2015 11:01:33 GMT 1
Bhutan won, and thus are (probably) the only team with a 100% win record in qualifying!
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Mar 13, 2015 12:05:32 GMT 1
Loving the scoreboards. Subbuteo meets the 21st century.
India were the Asian powerhouse until the late fifties, they were invited to the 1950 World Cup finals. Wonder if the new league will kickstart interest.
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