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Post by Shireblogger on Aug 16, 2020 7:52:34 GMT 1
The new format for CONCACAF's qualifying competition has been confirmed and it's a bit different from the one that was previously rumoured. It will work like this: Teams are seeded 1-35, based on the FIFA world rankings. The top 5 seeds receive a bye to Round 3. The other 30 teams start in Round 1, where they will be drawn into six groups of five. In each group, teams will only play each other once, with two home games and two away. The six group winners will progress to Round 2, which will be a two-leg knockout to be played in March. The three winners will join the top seeds in Round 3, which will be a single group of eight. The top 3 qualify for the World Cup and the team finishing 4th goes forward to the intercontinental playoffs. Brilliantly designed to give four of the top five seeds the strongest possible chance of getting to the finals. For everyone else - have some fun in your qualifying group.
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Post by Panda on Aug 16, 2020 15:31:10 GMT 1
The top 3 or 4 were always going to reach the final round anyway as there's such a gulf in quality once you get beyond the top few teams. At least the lower ranked teams now get to play some meaningful World Cup matches, rather than losing a two-legged tie and then doing nothing for four years.
Where it probably does benefit the top teams is the extra games in the final round as they're playing 14 instead of 10, giving a bit more room for error and making it less likely someone like the USA will mess up like they did last time.
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Post by Panda on Aug 19, 2020 23:12:00 GMT 1
CONCACAF 1st Round draw: First matches to be played in October.
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Post by Panda on Oct 7, 2020 18:36:36 GMT 1
Qualifying finally resumes this week with a double header to get the South American competition underway.
All other confederations will resume/begin no earlier than March, after this month's planned fixtures for Asia and CONCACAF were postponed.
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Post by Panda on Oct 9, 2020 4:04:33 GMT 1
SOUTH AMERICASouth American qualifying gets underway with wins for two of the teams that qualified in 2018. Lionel Messi's early penalty was enough for Argentina to beat Ecuador. Maxi Gomez scored an injury time winner for Uruguay against Chile. Fellow 2018 qualifiers Peru earned a point in Paraguay (who haven't qualified since 2010), with both teams scoring in the last 10 minutes. The other games in the opening round of fixtures see Colombia play Venezeula and Brazil host Bolivia.
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Post by Panda on Oct 10, 2020 19:24:30 GMT 1
SOUTH AMERICAPos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts | 1 | | 1 | +5 | 3 | 2 | | 1 | +3 | 3 | 3 | | 1 | +1 | 3 | 4 | | 1 | +1 | 3 | 5 | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | | 1 | -1 | 0 | 8 | | 1 | -1 | 0 | 9 | | 1 | -3 | 0 | 10 | | 1 | -5 | 0 |
Brazil get their quest to lift the trophy for the sixth time off to a perfect start with a crushing 5-0 win over the lowest-ranked team Bolivia. Roberto Firmino scored twice for the home side. Colombia are also off to a winning start, beating Venezuela, who are looking to make their debut at the finals, 3-0 with all the goals coming in the first half.
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Post by Panda on Oct 14, 2020 16:50:05 GMT 1
SOUTH AMERICAPos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts | 1 | | 2 | +7 | 6 | 2 | | 2 | +2 | 6 | 3 | | 2 | +3 | 4 | 4 | | 2 | +1 | 4 | 5 | | 2 | +1 | 3 | 6 | | 2 | -1 | 3 | 7 | | 2 | -1 | 1 | 8 | | 2 | -2 | 1 | 9 | | 2 | -4 | 0 | 10 | | 2 | -6 | 0 |
Neymar became Brazil's second-highest all-time goalscorer behind Pele, scoring a hat-trick (including two penalties) as his side came from behind to beat Peru. Argentina also came from behind to beat Bolivia, leaving the two South American giants as the only sides with two wins out of two. Ecuador picked up their first points with a dominant win over Uruguay, who gave the scoreline a more flattering look with two late Luis Suarez penalties. Alexis Sanchez scored for the second game in a row for Chile but they were denied their first win by Radamel Falcao's stoppage time equaliser for Colombia. Paraguay picked up their first win thanks to late goal against Venezuela.
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Post by Panda on Nov 30, 2020 16:31:34 GMT 1
Catch-up time... SOUTH AMERICAPos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts | 1 | | 4 | +10 | 12 | 2 | | 4 | +4 | 10 | 3 | | 4 | +7 | 9 | 4 | | 4 | +1 | 6 | 5 | | 4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | | 4 | 0 | 4 | 7 | | 4 | -5 | 4 | 8 | | 4 | -4 | 3 | 9 | | 4 | -6 | 1 | 10 | | 4 | -7 | 1 |
The big 2 of Brazil and Argentina continue their good starts to the campaign. Ecuador enjoy a very good week to move into 3rd but Colombia have an absolute nightmare with two heavy defeats and drop to 7th. The competition resumes in March.
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Post by Panda on Nov 30, 2020 16:47:45 GMT 1
Meanwhile, the seedings have been announced for the European qualifying draw, which takes place next Monday. There will be 10 groups - 5 groups of 6 and 5 groups of 5. The final four in the Nations League: Belgium, France, Italy and Spain are guaranteed to be in a 5-team group. The 10 group winners will qualify automatically. The 10 runners-up will go into the playoffs along with the two highest ranked teams from the Nations League who don't finish in the top 2 of their qualifying group. The playoffs will be split into three "paths", each containing four teams, with semi-finals and finals and the three winners qualifying for the World Cup. POT 1 Belgium France England Portugal Spain Italy Croatia Denmark Germany Netherlands POT 2 Switzerland Wales Poland Sweden Austria Ukraine Serbia Turkey Slovakia Romania POT 3 Russia Hungary Ireland Czech Republic Norway Northern Ireland Iceland Scotland Greece Finland POT 4 Bosnia & Herzegovina Slovenia Montenegro North Macedonia Albania Bulgaria Israel Belarus Georgia Luxembourg POT 5 Armenia Cyprus Faroe Islands Azerbaijan Estonia Kosovo Kazakhstan Lithuania Latvia Andorra POT 6 Malta Moldova Liechtenstein Gibraltar San Marino
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Post by Panda on Dec 1, 2020 14:15:35 GMT 1
With the European seedings confirmed, we can, for the first time, take a look at the projected qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. This list is based on a combination of current standings and world rankings. ** = debutant * = team didn't qualify in 2018 HOSTS QATAR ** EUROPE Belgium France England Portugal Spain Italy * Croatia Denmark Germany Netherlands * Switzerland Wales * Poland SOUTH AMERICA Brazil Argentina Ecuador * Paraguay * CONCACAF Mexico United States * Jamaica * AFRICA Senegal Tunisia Algeria * Nigeria Morocco ASIA Japan South Korea Australia Iraq * INTERCONTINENTAL PLAYOFFS Uruguay Costa Rica The draw for the intercontinental playoffs hasn't been made yet. If South America is drawn against CONCACAF, the final spot is currently projected to go to Syria. 2018 qualifiers currently missing out: Iceland Russia Serbia Sweden Colombia Peru Panama Egypt Iran Saudi Arabia
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Post by Panda on Dec 5, 2020 15:30:20 GMT 1
ASIA2nd round, Group E: Pos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts | 1 | | 6 | +15 | 16 | 2 | | 5 | +7 | 12 | 3 | | 5 | -9 | 4 | 4 | | 5 | -2 | 3 | 5 | | 5 | -11 | 1 |
In the only Asian qualifier to be played this year, Qatar pick up an easy win that means Bangladesh are eliminated.
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Post by Panda on Dec 5, 2020 15:32:26 GMT 1
The Haven World Cup Wall: AFG | ALB | ALG | ASA | AND | ANG | AIA | ATG | ARG | ARM | ARU | AUS | AUT | AZE | BAH | BHR | | BRB | BLR | BEL | BLZ | BEN | BER | | BOL | BIH | | BRA | VGB | | BUL | BFA | | CAM | CMR | CAN | CPV | CAY | CTA | | CHI | CHN | | COL | | CGO | COK | CRC | CRO | CUB | CUW | CYP | CZE | COD | DEN | DJI | DMA | DOM | | ECU | EGY | SLV | ENG | EQG | | EST | | ETH | FRO | FIJ | FIN | FRA | GAB | | GEO | GER | GHA | GIB | GRE | GRN | | GUA | GUI | GNB | GUY | HAI | HON | HKG | HUN | ISL | IND | | IRN | IRQ | IRL | ISR | ITA | CIV | JAM | JPN | JOR | KAZ | KEN | KVX | KUW | KGZ | | LVA | LIB | | LBR | LBY | LIE | LTU | LUX | | MAD | MWI | MAS | MDV | MLI | MLT | MTN | | MEX | MDA | MGL | MNE | MSR | MAR | MOZ | MYA | NAM | NEP | NED | NCL | NZL | NCA | NIG | NGA | PRK | MKD | NIR | NOR | OMA | | PLE | PAN | PNG | PAR | PER | PHI | POL | POR | PUR | QAT | ROU | RUS | RWA | SAM | SMR | | KSA | SCO | SEN | SRB | | | SIN | SVK | SVN | SOL | | RSA | KOR | | ESP | | SKN | LCA | VIN | SUD | SUR | 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 |
186 teams are left in the World Cup Europe: 55/55 South America: 10/10 Africa: 40/54 Asia: 35/46 CONCACAF: 35/35 Oceania: 11/11
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Post by Panda on Dec 5, 2020 15:33:52 GMT 1
Eliminations: 11/06/19 - Bhutan (Asia, 1st round) 11/06/19 - Brunei (Asia, 1st round) 11/06/19 - East Timor (Asia, 1st round) 11/06/19 - Laos (Asia, 1st round) 11/06/19 - Pakistan (Asia, 1st round) 27/06/19 - Macau (Asia, 1st round) 08/09/19 - Burundi (Africa, 1st round) 08/09/19 - Lesotho (Africa, 1st round) 08/09/19 - Sierra Leone (Africa, 1st round) 08/09/19 - South Sudan (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Botswana (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Chad (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Comoros (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Eritrea (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Eswatini (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Gambia (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Mauritius (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Sao Tome & Principe (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Seychelles (Africa, 1st round) 10/09/19 - Somalia (Africa, 1st round) 19/11/19 - Chinese Taipei (Asia, 2nd round) 19/11/19 - Guam (Asia, 2nd round) 19/11/19 - Indonesia (Asia, 2nd round) 19/11/19 - Sri Lanka (Asia, 2nd round) 04/12/20 - Bangladesh (Asia, 2nd round)
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Post by Panda on Dec 7, 2020 18:47:34 GMT 1
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Post by Panda on Dec 7, 2020 18:51:42 GMT 1
Pretty good draw for England. Poland and Lewandowski will be tough but not much else to worry about. Decent draw for Wales - if they can take points off Belgium, they have a chance. Very good draw for Scotland, given who they could've got, though they'll be a bit sick of playing Israel by now. Tough draw for Northern Ireland - 2nd would be a very good achievement.
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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: 25,103
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Post by frag on Dec 8, 2020 10:31:06 GMT 1
Pretty good draw for England. Poland and Lewandowski will be tough but not much else to worry about. Decent draw for Wales - if they can take points off Belgium, they have a chance. Very good draw for Scotland, given who they could've got, though they'll be a bit sick of playing Israel by now. Tough draw for Northern Ireland - 2nd would be a very good achievement. England drawn against Poland yet again - about the seventh time in world cup qualifiers? I wonder which is the most common pairing from European qualifying matches? I would think the most played matches overall are likely to be in CONCACAF (USA-Mexico in the final round) or some CONMEBOL pairing, although CONMEBOL haven't always had their all-play-all format.
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Post by Panda on Dec 8, 2020 11:59:51 GMT 1
Pretty good draw for England. Poland and Lewandowski will be tough but not much else to worry about. Decent draw for Wales - if they can take points off Belgium, they have a chance. Very good draw for Scotland, given who they could've got, though they'll be a bit sick of playing Israel by now. Tough draw for Northern Ireland - 2nd would be a very good achievement. England drawn against Poland yet again - about the seventh time in world cup qualifiers? I wonder which is the most common pairing from European qualifying matches? I would think the most played matches overall are likely to be in CONCACAF (USA-Mexico in the final round) or some CONMEBOL pairing, although CONMEBOL haven't always had their all-play-all format. I'll try and look it up at some point. USA-Mexico seems a good bet for the most common match worldwide. It is the 7th time for England-Poland in the World Cup qualifiers, 9th if you count Euros.
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Post by Panda on Dec 9, 2020 16:46:56 GMT 1
Most common matches in European World Cup qualifying:
(includes 2022 fixtures, as well as playoffs from past qualifying campaigns)
14 - England v Poland 12 - Belgium v Netherlands, France v Ireland 11 - Bulgaria v France, France v Serbia/Yugoslavia, Serbia/Yugoslavia v Spain 10 - Denmark v Greece, Denmark v Ireland, Luxembourg v Portugal, Luxembourg v Russia/USSR, Luxembourg v Serbia/Yugoslavia, Luxembourg v Switzerland, Norway v Switzerland, Wales v Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia
Each European team's most common opponent:
ALBANIA - Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Northern Ireland, Poland (6) ANDORRA - Hungary, Netherlands (6) ARMENIA - Romania (6) AUSTRIA - Sweden (8) AZERBAIJAN - Northern Ireland (6) BELARUS - Estonia, France, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Ukraine, Wales (4) BELGIUM - Netherlands (12) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA - Belgium, Greece, Spain (6) BULGARIA - France (11) CROATIA - Iceland, Ukraine (6) CYPRUS - Ireland (8) CZECH REPUBLIC/CZECHOSLOVAKIA - Wales (10) DENMARK - Greece, Ireland (10) ENGLAND - Poland (14) ESTONIA - Belgium, Portugal (6) FAROE ISLANDS - Austria, Serbia/Yugoslavia, Switzerland (6) FINLAND - Germany (9) FRANCE - Ireland (12) GEORGIA - Italy (6) GERMANY - Finland (9) GIBRALTAR - Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey (2) GREECE - Denmark (10) HUNGARY - Malta (8) ICELAND - Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Russia/USSR, Turkey (6) IRELAND - France (12) ISRAEL* - Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Luxembourg (6) ITALY - Bulgaria, Georgia, Luxembourg, Scotland, Switzerland (6) KAZAKHSTAN* - Ukraine (6) KOSOVO - Croatia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine (2) LATVIA - Lithuania (6) LIECHTENSTEIN - North Macedonia (6) LITHUANIA - Latvia, Romania (6) LUXEMBOURG - Portugal, Russia/USSR, Serbia/Yugoslavia, Switzerland (10) MALTA - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sweden (8) MOLDOVA - Austria, England, Georgia, Israel, Italy, Poland, Scotland (4) MONTENEGRO - Poland (4) NETHERLANDS - Belgium (12) NORTH MACEDONIA - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Romania (6) NORTHERN IRELAND - Portugal (8) NORWAY - Switzerland (10) POLAND - England (14) PORTUGAL - Luxembourg (10) ROMANIA - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia, Greece (8) RUSSIA/USSR - Luxembourg (10) SAN MARINO - Poland (8) SCOTLAND - Wales (9) SERBIA/YUGOSLAVIA - France, Spain (11) SLOVAKIA - Malta, Slovenia (6) SLOVENIA - Russia, Slovakia (6) SPAIN - Serbia/Yugoslavia (11) SWEDEN - Austria, Malta, Portugal (8) SWITZERLAND - Luxembourg, Norway (10) TURKEY - Netherlands, Russia/USSR (8) UKRAINE - Croatia, Kazakhstan (6) WALES - Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia (10)
EAST GERMANY - Austria (6)
* = European qualifiers only
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Post by Panda on Dec 9, 2020 17:37:08 GMT 1
Each team's most common opponent in South American World Cup qualifying:
ARGENTINA - Bolivia (22) BOLIVIA - Argentina, Uruguay (22) BRAZIL - Paraguay, Venezuela (18) CHILE - Ecuador (25) COLOMBIA - Paraguay (26) ECUADOR - Chile (25) PARAGUAY - Colombia (26) PERU - Colombia (22) URUGUAY - Bolivia, Ecuador (22) VENEZUELA - Bolivia, Uruguay (20)
Brazil v Argentina is the least common match in South American World Cup qualifiers, with just 10 meetings. They hadn't met in a WCQ until CONMEBOL changed the format to have all the teams playing in a single group. Brazil qualified automatically in 1950, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1998 and 2014, while Argentina qualified automatically in 1978, 1982 and 1990. That means the first meeting between the two sides in a World Cup qualifier didn't come until 2000.
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Post by Panda on Dec 9, 2020 17:43:16 GMT 1
I haven't been through all of CONCACAF but I've gone through and counted Mexico v USA matches and got 29, which will become 31 in this campaign. I can't see that being beaten unless some of the Asian teams have repeatedly faced each other in multiple rounds during the same campaign.
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