World Cup 2014 Qualification

dfx-

Rivaldo-esque lifeline for Mexico's qualification:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPh2nPfUZXc

astonaidan

grenache wrote: »

Bendtner scored twice for the Danes tonight in a 2-2 draw against Italy, who equalised in the last minute through Aqualani. Juve must be wondering why Bendtner could never do that when they had him on loan last season.

He would have been doing well to do it having never got off the bench

citytillidie

Weekend results

Africa
Burkina Faso 3 V 2 Algeria
Ivory Coast 3 V 1 Senegal
Ethiopia V Nigeria
Tunisia V Cameroon

Europe
Group A
Croatia 1 V 2 Belgium
Wales 1 V 0 FYR Macedonia

Group B
Denmark 2 V 2 Italy
Malta 1 V 4 Czech Republic
Armenia 2 V 1 Bulgaria

Group C
Faroe Islands 1 V 1 Kazakhstan
Germany 3 V 0 Republic of Ireland
Sweden 2 V 1 Austria

Group D
Netherlands 8 V 1 Hungary
Andorra 0 V 4 Romania
Estonia 0 V 2 Turkey

Group E
Iceland 2 V 0 Cyprus
Albania 1 V 2 Switzerland
Slovenia 3 V 0 Norway

Group F
Luxembourg 0 V 4 Russia
Portugal 1 V 1 Israel
Azerbaijan 2 V 0 Northern Ireland

Group G
Bosnia-Herzegovina 4 V 1 Liechtenstein
Lithuania 2 V 0 Latvia
Greece 1 V 0 Slovakia

Group H
Moldova 3 V 0 San Marino
England 4 V 1 Montenegro
Ukraine 1 V 0 Poland

Group I
Spain 2 V 1 Belarus

North America
Honduras 1 V 0 Costa Rica
USA 2 V 0 Jamaica
Mexico 2 V 1 Panama

South America
Ecuador 1 V 0 Uruguay
Colombia 3 V 3 Chile
Venezuela 1 V 1 Paraguay
Argentina 3 V 1 Peru

smackbunnybaby

Australia may have qualified, but coach, Holger Osieck, won't be on the plane following another unacceptable friendly loss. This time a 6-0 thumping in Paris.

eigrod

Disgraceful behaviour by Elmander last night. Should be ashamed of himself.

If he'd headbutted the referee no jury in the world convict him.

Jelle1880

patmac wrote: »

Well done to Belgium 2 goals from Lukaku ensured qualification to Brazil, Croatia will be in the play offs

Second goal could have been disallowed because he kind of pushed the defender in the face, but the way he got the ball, the speed,...

Bonus: The party after the final whistle

RGM

dfx- wrote: »

Rivaldo-esque lifeline for Mexico's qualification:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPh2nPfUZXc

Mexico would currently be sitting outside qualification with one game to go if this didn't happen.

Considering that, one of the all-around best goals CONCACAF has ever seen.

RikkFlair

Would be nice to see Iceland hang on to their playoff spot, I can't remember them ever making a playoff before. Away to Norway in last game though, they'll need a result.

Charisteas

RikkFlair wrote: »

Would be nice to see Iceland hang on to their playoff spot, I can't remember them ever making a playoff before. Away to Norway in last game though, they'll need a result.

Even more impressive considering that they were in the bottom pot for seeding after being ranked as the 6th worst team in Europe. Ironically Norway were in the highest pot. Gotta love those FIFA rankings :pac:

ArmaniJeanss

FT Ethiopia 1, Nigeria 2 in the first leg, hard to see Ethiopia turning this one round. Led 1-0 for a while.

klose

RikkFlair wrote: »

Would be nice to see Iceland hang on to their playoff spot, I can't remember them ever making a playoff before. Away to Norway in last game though, they'll need a result.

Yeah would be pretty cool to see em get a play off place and get to the WC as ,they've feck all population! They've a few good players in gylfi and sigthorssen (sp?) they've another good striker in the eredivisie as well i believe

Their group is probably the easiest group ive ever seen in european qualifying though.

aramush

RikkFlair wrote: »

Would be nice to see Iceland hang on to their playoff spot, I can't remember them ever making a playoff before. Away to Norway in last game though, they'll need a result.

Switzerland, Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Albania and Cyprus.. Still can't understand how those teams got into the same group, they're all average sides, anyone of them could have qualified. FIFA based seedings is a joke, well FIFA ranking in general is. How could Norway possibly be a first seed if they haven't qualified for a major tournament since 2000?

roanoke

aramush wrote: »

How could Norway possibly be a first seed if they haven't qualified for a major tournament since 2000?

Despite including a weighted historical coefficient the FIFA rankings are very much a case of "well what have you done lately?" In the case of Norway they were able to jump nearly 50 places in the ranking in only 2.5 years thanks to a very good run over that period.

When Egil Olsen returned as manager in Jan 2009 Norway were 59th (exactly where Ireland are now) and reached a peak of 11th in May 2011 (almost perfectly in time for the WC draw).

It should be noted though that Norway managed this impressive climb by winning a *lot* of games over that period. They registered a competitive win against Portugal and friendly wins against France, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and even Ireland (back when that was actually worth something) among others.

Norway's w/d/l record over their ascent period was p23 w15 d3 l5. All this translates to points and places on the ladder.

Norway are clearly no longer doing whatever it was that got them to 11th in the first place, but at the time of the draw they were arguably well worth their place as a 1st seed.

noodler

aramush wrote: »

Switzerland, Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Albania and Cyprus.. Still can't understand how those teams got into the same group, they're all average sides, anyone of them could have qualified. FIFA based seedings is a joke, well FIFA ranking in general is. How could Norway possibly be a first seed if they haven't qualified for a major tournament since 2000?

Its a pretty straightforward mathematical system.


I mean we were first seeds for the Euro 2004 qualifiers after qualifying for the 2002 world cup yet not qualifiying for anything previously for 8 years.

Its simply the luck of the draw for that group.

Massively impressed with Switzerland and Greece always managing to qualify for the major championships. It really goes to show what can be accomplished even with a lack of individual talents.

Swiss, by my reckoning have qualified for 2004, 2006, co-hosted 2008, qualified in 2010, and now 2014.

Greece is 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012.

citytillidie

Tuesday's Games

Africa
Ghana 6 V 1 Egypt

North America
Costa Rica 2 V 1 Mexico
Jamaica 2 V 2 Honduras
Panama 2 V 2 USA

South America
Uruguay 3 V 2 Argentina
Paraguay 1 V 2 Colombia
Chile 2 V 1 Ecuador
Peru 1 V 1 Bolivia

Europe
Group A
Belgium 1 V 1 Wales
Scotland 2 V 0 Croatia
Serbia 5 V 1 Macedonia

Group B
Bulgaria 0 V 1 Czech Republic
Denmark 6 V 0 Malta
Italy 2 V 2 Armenia

Group C
Sweden 3 V 5 Germany
Faroe Islands 0 V 3 Austria
Republic of Ireland 3 V 1 Kazakhstan

Group D
Hungary 2 V 0 Andorra
Romania 2 V 0 Estonia
Turkey 0 V 2 Holland

Group E
Cyprus 0 V 0 Albania
Norway 1 V 1 Iceland
Switzerland 1 V 0 Slovenia

Group F
Azerbaijan 1 V 1 Russia
Israel 1 V 1 Northern Ireland
Portugal 3 V 0 Luxembourg

Group G
Greece 2 V 0 Liechtenstein
Lithuania 0 V 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Latvia 2 V 2 Slovakia

Group H
England 2 V 0 Poland
San Marino 0 V 8 Ukraine
Montenegro 2 V 5 Moldova

Group I
France 3 V 0 Finland
Spain 2 V 0 Georgia


European Qualifiers
Belgium
Italy
Germany
Holland
Switzerland
Russia
Bosnia
England
Spain

Playoffs
Seeded
Croatia
Portugal
Greece
Sweden

Unseeded
France
Ukraine
Romania
Iceland

North American Qualifiers
USA
Costa Rica
Honduras

South American Qualifiers
Argentina
Colombia
Chile
Ecuador

Inter-confed playoffs
Jordan V Uruguay
Mexico V New Zealand

aramush

roanoke wrote: »

[...]

Thanks for explaining!

mike65

This is OT but Germanys U21 side is currently 1-2 against the Faroes!

Charisteas

Greece 45 minutes away from qualification, really need Lithuania to put 10 men behind the ball for the next 45 minutes and get a 0-0 from Bosnia.

Oat23

Ghana 6-1 Egypt after the first leg of the playoff. Didn't expect it to be that bad.

SantryRed

If anyone can, they should tune into Bosnia's game away to Lithuania. 0-0 with 25 mins to go, a win and they're through to their first ever World Cup. Game is getting hectic as Bosnia are starting to get flustered!!

EDIT: Just scored! 1-0 Bosnia.

Mr Cumulonimbus

FT. Lithuania 0 Bosnia-H 1, Greece 2 Liechtenstein 0. Bosnia through, Greece in playoffs.

Azerbaijan 1 Russia 1, Portugal 3 Luxembourg 0. Russia through, Portugal in PO's.

Jelle1880

Brilliant for Bosnia.

Charisteas

Silver lining for Greece is that they will be seeded in the play-offs. Tough pill to swallow if they don't qualify though as they won 8 out of 10 games, kept 8 clean sheets, and conceded only 4 goals.

Zico

Wahey Iceland are through to the play offs.

Barring England conceding that's everything done and dusted now isn't it?

patmac

Deleted User wrote: »

Barring England conceding that's everything done and dusted now isn't it?

Well if Georgia score twice against Spain then maybe France could top the group bit unlikely. Looks like Denmark are going to miss out on the play-offs a bit unfair though.

patmac

patmac wrote: »

Well if Georgia score twice against Spain then maybe France could top the group bit unlikely. Looks like Denmark are going to miss out on the play-offs a bit unfair though.

So like I said, done and dusted :pac:

Charisteas

patmac wrote: »

Looks like Denmark are going to miss out on the play-offs a bit unfair though.

It's bad luck but it's still a fair and decent way to determine the play-offs.

Francie Barrett

You have to feel for Denmark, if it wasn't for the injury time goal they conceded last week, they'd be in the play-off's now.

DUBACC

Anyone know if the Argentina Uruguay game is on live later tonight?

RikkFlair

I wonder if Chile and Ecuador will "agree" to a draw tonight, qualifying them both and consigning Uruguay to the playoffs.

Nemesis

Bosnia for summer (world cup ) holiday !

DUBACC

RikkFlair wrote: »

I wonder if Chile and Ecuador will "agree" to a draw tonight, qualifying them both and consigning Uruguay to the playoffs.

A dodgy deal in South America? Surely not!!

roanoke

DUBACC wrote: »

A dodgy deal in South America? Surely not!!

ArmaniJeanss

citytillidie wrote: »

Playoffs
Seeded
Croatia
Portugal
Greece
Sweden

Unseeded
France
Ukraine
Romania
Iceland

I thinks this is wrong, Ukraines 2 victories this weekend should have moved them ahead of Sweden who'll drop to unseeded.

grenache

Francie Barrett wrote: »

You have to feel for Denmark, if it wasn't for the injury time goal they conceded last week, they'd be in the play-off's now.

Very disappointed for them. Italy would be my main team to support after our own BIG, but have a soft spot for Denmark from way back. That equaliser from Aqualani didn't help, but I can't help but think Denmark's failure to beat Bulgaria home or away also contributed. The most glaring one though was the 4-0 loss in Copenhagen to Armenia. Now that was just bizarre.

On a non-footballing but related note, Danes are by far and away the soundest of the Scandinavian countries. So much warmer than Swedes or Norweigians.

Charisteas

Denmark were unlucky but spare a thought for Panama. With Mexico losing to Costa Rica 1-2, if Panama beat USA they would have beaten Mexico to the final play-off spot. They were winning 2-1 in the 91st minute........... lost 2-3.

764dak

I feel sorry for Panama.

The_Kew_Tour

How many people would feel sorry for us when we lost 1st place for Euro 2000 though ?

Feel bit sorry for them but still

gnfnrhead

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I thinks this is wrong, Ukraines 2 victories this weekend should have moved them ahead of Sweden who'll drop to unseeded.

Ukraine scrape into the seeded pot by a single point.

citytillidie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I thinks this is wrong, Ukraines 2 victories this weekend should have moved them ahead of Sweden who'll drop to unseeded.

Just going with what Sky had up

RikkFlair

Sickener for Panama, but then they had 10 group games and only won 1. Mind you Mexico only won 2 and get a play off, but thats the nature of the CONCACAF group.

patmac

Seeded
Croatia
Portugal
Greece
Ukraine

Unseeded
France
Sweden
Romania
Iceland

Apart from Iceland not much to chose between the 2 groups.

FatherTed

That was very dramatic last night, Mexico were losing and Panama were booking their tickets for the New Zealand playoff. Then this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz1XhaBT45I

The Mexican commentators really go off on their team.

LuckyLloyd

patmac wrote: »

Seeded
Croatia
Portugal
Greece
Ukraine

Unseeded
France
Sweden
Romania
Iceland

Apart from Iceland not much to chose between the 2 groups.

Portugal / France
Ukraine / Sweden
Croatia / Iceland
Greece / Romania

would make it the most fun I think. Basically the French tie will be the big one.

roanoke

RikkFlair wrote: »

Sickener for Panama, but then they had 10 group games and only won 1. Mind you Mexico only won 2 and get a play off, but thats the nature of the CONCACAF group.

I'm hoping New Zealand can beat Mexico in the play-off. I guess on paper Mexico are the favorites, but with w2-d5-l3 over 10 games then can't be that hot.

If Mexico win the tie, I'd wager it's the first time a team had a losing record in a qualifying group and still qualified?

klose

Croatia and poland have both sacked their coaches, bit surprising to hear the croatian coach getting sacked seeing as they are in the play offs but did lose to scotland twice.

Dempsey

klose wrote: »

Croatia and poland have both sacked their coaches, bit surprising to hear the croatian coach getting sacked seeing as they are in the play offs but did lose to scotland twice.

He's been under pressure since he took the job, sounds like the expectations set were too high.

http://sport.stv.tv/football/international/243933-croatia-boss-igor-stimac-offers-to-resign-after-defeat-to-scotland/

"It is a bad defeat. I offered my mandate (resignation) to the president of the Croatian football federation because of the latest results of our team, because everything that surrounds us.

"Never mind that we qualified for the play-offs, I want to show some morale, certain responsibility and if there is anyone in the federation that does not believe in my work I want to give them the chance to change.

"They will have a meeting to discuss it.

"It is all about the positiveness surrounding the football in our country.

"It seems we are not happy in Croatia to qualify for the play-offs.

"We were not happy after the first game even though we beat Macedonia, we were not happy in the second when we drew against Belgium or beating Wales 2-0, they said it was supposed to be 15-0.

"After Wales we went to Macedonia and beat them 2-1 and they said that was not good because they were on the up, we beat Serbia 2-0 and they said we barely survived and the goalkeeper saved us.

"We beat Wales 2-1 and they said we were lucky. That's how it works in Croatia.

"There were a lot of people against me from the beginning."

"I can only wish Mr Strachan all the luck."

764dak

roanoke wrote: »

I'm hoping New Zealand can beat Mexico in the play-off. I guess on paper Mexico are the favorites, but with w2-d5-l3 over 10 games then can't be that hot.

If Mexico win the tie, I'd wager it's the first time a team had a losing record in a qualifying group and still qualified?

Trinidad and Tobago qualified in 2006:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_CONCACAF_Fourth_Round

For 2010, Africa decided to combine WC Qualification and African Cup of Nations Qualification. So South Africa had to participate in it and got knocked out in the second round of qualification but qualified for the WC anyway as the host country. :pac:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CAF)