2018 World Cup Qualification

citytillidie

Qualification has already started and some teams today will be knocked out.

Asia Zone

Playing today 2nd legs
Nepal V India (Agg 0-2)
Mongolia V Timor-Leste (Agg 1-4)
Macau V Cambodia (Agg 0-3)
Brunei V Chinese Taipei (Agg 1-0)
Bhutan V Sri Lanka (Agg 1-0)

2nd leg date TBD
Pakistan V Yemen (Agg 1-3)

Mushy

I think it was Bhutan who got their first ever victory in a competitive match in the first leg.

Zebra3

citytillidie wrote: »

Qualification has already started and some teams today will be knocked out.

Asia Zone

Playing today 2nd legs
Nepal V India (Agg 0-2)
Mongolia V Timor-Leste (Agg 1-4)
Macau V Cambodia (Agg 0-3)
Brunei V Chinese Taipei (Agg 1-0)
Bhutan V Sri Lanka (Agg 1-0)

2nd leg date TBD
Pakistan V Yemen (Agg 1-3)

Matches long since over.

Forza Bhutan.

citytillidie

CONCACAF
Round 1
Games with Agg() have a 2nd leg to play
Bermuda V Bahamas (Agg 5-0)
Dominica V British Virgin Islands (Agg 3-2)
Barbados V US Virgin Islands Agg 4-1
St Kitts and Nevis V Turks and Caicos Islands Agg 12-4
Anguilla V Nicaragua (Agg 0-5)
Cayman Islands V Belize (Agg 0-0)
Montserrat V Curaçao (Agg 1-2)

Round 2 draw
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines V Guyana
Antigua and Barbuda V Saint Lucia
Puerto Rico V Grenada
Canada V British Virgin Islands or Dominica
Dominican Republic V Belize or Cayman Islands
Guatemala V Bahamas or Bermuda
Aruba V Barbados
Saint Kitts and Nevis V El Salvador
Curaçao or Montserrat V Cuba
Nicaragua or Anguilla V Suriname

AFC
Round 1
India V Nepal Agg 2-0
Yemen V Pakistan Agg 3-1
Timor-Leste V Mongolia Agg 5-1
Cambodia V Macau Agg 4-1
Chinese Taipei V Brunei Agg 2-1
Sri Lanka V Bhutan Agg 1-3

citytillidie

Updates

AFC
Second Round Group Draw

Group A
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Palestine
Timor-Leste
Malaysia

Group B
Australia
Jordan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan
Bangladesh

Group C
China
Qatar
Maldives
Bhutan
Hong Kong

Group D
Iran
Oman
India
Turkmenistan
Guam

Group E
Japan
Syria
Afghanistan
Singapore
Cambodia

Group F
Iraq
Vietnam
Thailand
Indonesia
Chinese Taipei

Group G
South Korea
Kuwait
Lebanon
Myanmar
Laos

Group H
Uzbekistan
Bahrain
Philippines
North Korea
Yemen

Group Winners and 4 best 2nd place teams go into 3rd round

CAF
1st Round draw on July 25th

CONCACAF
2nd Round Draw
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines V Guyana
Antigua and Barbuda V Saint Lucia
Puerto Rico V Grenada
Dominica V Canada
Dominican Republic V Belize
Guatemala V Bermuda
Aruba V Barbados
Saint Kitts and Nevis V El Salvador
Curaçao V Cuba
Nicaragua V Suriname

CONMEBOL
Fixtures to be set on July 25th

OFC
1st Round Group
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Samoa
Tonga

Winners go into 2nd round

UEFA
Group draw on July 25th

Collie D

citytillidie wrote: »

Updates

AFC
Second Round Group Draw

Group A
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Palestine
Timor-Leste
Malaysia

Group B
Australia
Jordan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan
Bangladesh

Group C
China
Qatar
Maldives
Bhutan
Hong Kong

Group D
Iran
Oman
India
Turkmenistan
Guam

Group E
Japan
Syria
Afghanistan
Singapore
Cambodia

Group F
Iraq
Vietnam
Thailand
Indonesia
Chinese Taipei

Group G
South Korea
Kuwait
Lebanon
Myanmar
Laos

Group H
Uzbekistan
Bahrain
Philippines
North Korea
Yemen

Group Winners and 4 best 2nd place teams go into 3rd round

CAF
1st Round draw on July 25th

CONCACAF
2nd Round Draw
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines V Guyana
Antigua and Barbuda V Saint Lucia
Puerto Rico V Grenada
Dominica V Canada
Dominican Republic V Belize
Guatemala V Bermuda
Aruba V Barbados
Saint Kitts and Nevis V El Salvador
Curaçao V Cuba
Nicaragua V Suriname

CONMEBOL
Fixtures to be set on July 25th

OFC
1st Round Group
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Samoa
Tonga

Winners go into 2nd round

UEFA
Group draw on July 25th

Groups E and H not exactly great for the away fans with Syria/Afghanistan and North Korea/Yemen in the groups

Collie D

Any particular reason the draw is on so early? Usually December, isn't it?

Oat23

Collie D wrote: »

Groups E and H not exactly great for the away fans with Syria/Afghanistan and North Korea/Yemen in the groups

All those with the exception of NK will be played at neutral venues.

ArmaniJeanss

Collie D wrote: »

Any particular reason the draw is on so early? Usually December, isn't it?

The draw for Brazil was July, had been later in the year for World Cups previous to that.
Theres no real perfect time for it with all the confederations starting their qualifying at different stages of the cycle - December would suit/fit UEFA more but would mean a lot of countries in other confederations would have been eliminated before the main draw even took place.

ArmaniJeanss

Places per confederation could yet be interesting - in theory UEFA should have 13 slots plus Russia as host, Africa 5, Asia 4.5, Concacaf 3.5, CONMEBOL 4.5, Oceania .5.
But our Sepp has been hinting at the other confederations (Africa in particular) that if they make a good case then an extra place or two could be theirs at UEFA and Conmebols expense. Its fairly farcical really as even Africas best ever performance last time (two of five getting as far as the last 16) wouldn't actually justify an increase of places under any mathematical merit system. UEFA has gone on the attack by asking for an extra place but its really just a play to maintain the status quo.

Will all be decided at a pre draw meeting next week, so one to keep an eye on anyway.

****
Funnily enough I always think the world cup places fight has the potential to be the big football schism down the line (rather than brown envelope scandals or Nepalese deaths) - If FIFA keep pushing Europe and South America around then eventually they may see merit in withdrawing and starting their own rival competition.

citytillidie

Places will remain the same as last world cup

1st round of group games for Asia has completed today here are the results

Malaysia 1 V 1 Timor-Leste
Saudi Arabia 3 V 2 Palestine
Tajikistan 1 V 3 Jordan
Bangladesh 1 V 3 Kyrgyzstan
Hong Kong 7 V 0 Bhutan
Maldives 0 V 1 Qatar
Guam 1 V 0 Turkmenistan
Oman 2 V 1 India
Afghanistan 0 V 6 Syria
Cambodia 0 V 4 Singapore
Thailand 1 V 0 Vietnam
Lebanon 0 V 1 Kuwait
Laos 2 V 2 Myanmar
Yemen 0 V 1 North Korea
Philippines 2 V 1 Bahrain

Indonesia have been kicked out

North America games have been spaced out over the past few days and tonight scores so far
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 V 2 Guyana
Antigua and Barbuda 1 V 3 Saint Lucia
Puerto Rico V Grenada
Dominica 0 V 2 Canada
Dominican Republic 1 V 2 Belize
Guatemala V Bermuda
Aruba 0 V 2 Barbados
St Kitts and Nevis 2 V 2 El Salvador
Curaçao 0 V 0 Cuba
Nicaragua 1 V 0 Suriname

2nd legs will be over the weekend

Collie D

Unofficial seedings for UEFA section of the draw. Ireland fourth as expected in same pot as Faroes. NI and Scotland up to third, England stay in top pot and are joined by Wales - huge leap considering they were in bottom pot if I remember correctly for the last World Cup.

Paully D

Best possible group:

Wales
Slovakia
Greece
Ireland
Kazakhstan/Moldova
Andorra

Worst possible group:

Germany
France/Italy
Sweden
Ireland
Armenia
Georgia

All in all I think there's a very fair chance of getting a reasonable group. Half of pots 2 and 3 offer teams that there's no reason to fear and pots 5 and 6 obviously being almost full of them.

major bill

Paully D wrote: »

Best possible group:

Wales
Slovakia
Greece
Ireland
Kazakhstan/Moldova
Andorra

Worst possible group:

Germany
France/Italy
Sweden
Ireland
Armenia
Georgia

All in all I think there's a very fair chance of getting a reasonable group. Half of pots 2 and 3 offer teams that there's no reason to fear and pots 5 and 6 obviously being almost full of them.

even the ''best'' possible group I wouldnt be so confident, We had no reason to fear the Scots yet look where we are. Wales would beat us even Greece won't stay **** for long

Brussels Sprout

This may have gone under the radar but the first qualifier for the next World Cup (which as it stands is still going to be in Russia) was actually played over 3 months ago despite the fact that the official World Cup Qualification draw isn't being held until the 25th of July.

Since then both the Asian (AFC) and North/Central America & Carribean (CONCACAF) confederations have progressed to their second round.

Today there's a full schedule of matches in the AFC

Japan look to be heading for a surprise 0-0 at home to Singapore while Australia are kicking off their campaign later on away to Kyrgzstan.

Football has a long way to come in India as they were beaten by the tiny island dependency of Guam 2-1 earlier this morning.

tolosenc

And if anyone is interested, Ireland currently look set to occupy Pot 4 for UEFA qualification (with Slovenia, Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Norway, Montenegro, Finland and Belarus).

We could be looking at anything from Germany, England, Bosnia, Ireland, Armenia, Luxembourg to Romania, Greece, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Moldova, San Marino...

nullzero

I'll be first to state the obvious;Ireland won't be there.

keano_afc

Another nightmare draw on the cards for us.

England will draw Greece, NI, Moldova, Gibraltar, The Shire and Narnia.

Shanotheslayer

keano_afc wrote: »

Another nightmare draw on the cards for us.

England will draw Greece, NI, Moldova, Gibraltar, The Shire and Narnia.

Not sure it matters who they'd draw, they'd still get there.

citytillidie

*Cough*http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=94718473 *Cough*

citytillidie

AFC Match Day 2 Results
Timor-Leste 0 V 1 United Arab Emirates
Malaysia 0 V 6 Palestine
Bangladesh 1 V 1 Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan 1 V 2 Australia
Hong Kong 2 V 0 Maldives
Bhutan 0 V 6 China
Guam 2 V 1 India
Turkmenistan 1 V 1 Iran
Japan 0 V 0 Singapore
Cambodia 0 V 1 Afghanistan
Chinese Taipei 0 V 2 Thailand
Laos 0 V 2 Lebanon
Myanmar 0 V 2 South Korea
North Korea 4 V 2 Uzbekistan
Yemen 0 V 2 Philippines

CONCACAF
2nd Round 2nd Leg Results / Games
Guyana 4 V 4 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Agg 6-6) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines win on Away goals
Saint Lucia 1 V 4 Antigua and Barbuda (Agg 4-5)
Grenada V Puerto Rico (Agg 0-1)
Canada 4 V 0 Dominica (Agg 6-0)
Belize 3 V 0 Dominican Republic (Agg 5-1)
Bermuda 0 V 1 Guatemala (Agg 0-1)
Barbados 1 V 0 Aruba (Agg 3-0)
El Salvador 4 V 1 St Kitts and Nevis (Agg 6-3)
Cuba 1 V 1 Curaçao (Agg 1-1) Curaçao win on away goals
Suriname 1 V 3 Nicaragua (Agg 1-4)

Kidchameleon

keano_afc wrote: »

Another nightmare draw on the cards for us.

England will draw Greece, NI, Moldova, Gibraltar, The Shire and Narnia.

In all seriousness, we'd finish third in a group like that. As bad as Greece are at the moment we would give them too much respect.

Omackeral

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

Football has a long way to come in India as they were beaten by the tiny island dependency of Guam 2-1 earlier this morning.

This had always shocked me. A nation with around 1,000,000,000 people and strong links to Britain historically can't produce 20 players of decent standard.

citytillidie

Well FIFA rankings for July are out which could leave the Pots for the draw on the 25th like this

POT 1: Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Croatia.
POT 2: Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
POT 3: Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, N Ireland, Serbia, Greece.
POT 4: Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia.
POT 5: Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova.
POT 6: Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra

It shall be confirmed later today

citytillidie

Here is how it would be if it was done using UEFA rankings

Pot 1: Germany, Spain, England, Netherlands, Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, Croatia
Pot 2: Ukraine, Switzerland, Slovakia, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Denmark
Pot 3: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Wales, Norway, Slovenia, Turkey
Pot 4: Israel, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Estonia, Armenia
Pot 5: Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Belarus, Latvia, Georgia, FYR Macedonia
Pot 6: Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, kazakhstan, Malta, Andorra, San Marino

Brian017

Wales in Pot 1 is beyond a farce

Zebra3

Brian017 wrote: »

Wales in Pot 1 is beyond a farce

Wales > Italy.

Wales > France.

There are no words.

OwaynOTT

Omackeral wrote: »

This had always shocked me. A nation with around 1,000,000,000 people and strong links to Britain historically can't produce 20 players of decent standard.

But the emigration to India was different to that other British dominions. A higher class of people whet there and usually not to stay, there were no settlers and the aristocracy had a large say there . Soldiers, administrators, clergy and doctors, of those most would return to Britain and Ireland after their stay in India.
I'd also wonder how many of them would play association football.
To be honest South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada all have big populations too but aren't exactly tearing up international football.

Stevecw

citytillidie wrote: »

Well FIFA rankings for July are out which could leave the Pots for the draw on the 25th like this

POT 1: Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Croatia.
POT 2: Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
POT 3: Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, N Ireland, Serbia, Greece.
POT 4: Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia.
POT 5: Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova.
POT 6: Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra

It shall be confirmed later today

So we are the same level as Faroe Islands now according to that! Something is a bit wrong with Fifa rankings really Georgia are 6th seeds, they'd more than likely beat Faroe Islands home & away.
Are Gibraltar not allowed play in World Cup qualifiers? Surely they'd be a Pot 6 team?

ILikeBananas

Stevecw wrote: »

Something is a bit wrong with Fifa rankings really Georgia are 6th seeds, they'd more than likely beat Faroe Islands home & away.

The Faroes have beaten Greece, who were the top seeds in their group home and away in this Euro qualifying campaign. When was the last time we beat a top seed in any qualifiers? Have we ever beaten a top seeded team away from home? When was the last time we even beat a second or third seeded team away from home?

Stevecw wrote: »

Are Gibraltar not allowed play in World Cup qualifiers? Surely they'd be a Pot 6 team?

They are members of UEFA but not FIFA. Spain have effectively vetoed their entry. They've taken their case to the court of arbitration for sport.

dan1895

OwaynOTT wrote: »

But the emigration to India was different to that other British dominions. A higher class of people whet there and usually not to stay, there were no settlers and the aristocracy had a large say there . Soldiers, administrators, clergy and doctors, of those most would return to Britain and Ireland after their stay in India.
I'd also wonder how many of them would play association football.
To be honest South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada all have big populations too but aren't exactly tearing up international football.

Australia has a population of about 24,000,000, New Zealand 4,500,000 and Canada nearly 36,000,000. Nowhere near the numbers of India and all with a much better international football presence than India.

OwaynOTT

Omackeral wrote: »

This had always shocked me. A nation with around 1,000,000,000 people and strong links to Britain historically can't produce 20 players of decent standard.

dan1895 wrote: »

Australia has a population of about 24,000,000, New Zealand 4,500,000 and Canada nearly 36,000,000. Nowhere near the numbers of India and all with a much better international football presence than India.

All three of those places were destinations for waves of settlers, India not so much.
India is also much better at cricket than most of those countries. Just because it had a British presence doesn't mean India should be good at soccer.
Cricket was the sport the Indian population took to more than soccer. From about the 1880s, it began to be used as a tool in Indian nationalism.
To say that India should be better than soccer due to the population size Bs connection to Britain ignores the unique colonial history of India.
The type of person who went to India was different than elsewhere, how long they stayed there was different, why the went was different and the impact they had on India was different.

ArmaniJeanss

Draw for the next qualification stages coming at 4pm today on various stations inc rte2 and ssn, UEFA part of it probably sometime after 5.
9 groups, winners qualify and 8 bestie runners up playoff.
Maybe this will finally be the time we get the softest possible path (I guess Romania, Iceland, Albania from the top 3 pots).

Pot 1:Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, England, Wales, Spain, Croatia

Pot 2: Slovakia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Pot 3: Ukraine, Scotland, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Greece

Pot 4: Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia

Pot 5: Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, FYR Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova

Pot 6: Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra

Harry Palmr

Also on the BBC red button from 4 pm.

Putin, Blatter and Platini a rogues gallery

dreamers75

Wales
Czech
Norn I
Ireland
Latvia
Luxem


plz.

Oat23

Putin always looks pi*sed off.

mada999

Why does Putin have the earpiece thing in ? Does he really not speak English, i find it very hard to believe? Is it some kind of powerplay thing ?

spiritcrusher

The hell is this crap?? Just make the damn draw.

Coillte_Bhoy

Heard the European draw is at 5.30

Harry Palmr

Who is the piece of fluff?

Augme

I think I might die of cringe before this finishes.

Oat23

Augme wrote: »

I think I might die of cringe before this finishes.

Don't ever watch the Eurovision if these hosts are making you cringe.

Washington Irving

Here's the rehearsal draw to tide us over

Meglamonia

Washington Irving wrote: »

Here's the rehearsal draw to tide us over

Jesus that would of been tough.

Harry Palmr

Crikey if Ireland get that, they might as well sack the manager now.

AndyBoBandy

I've a funny feeling we will end up with France as in the rehearsal draw!!

happyoutscan

This is meh.

citytillidie

Africa Zone
Round 1
Somalia V Niger
South Sudan V Mauritania
Gambia V Namibia
Sao Tome E Prinicipe V Ethiopia
Chad V Sierra Lone
Comoros V Lesotho
Djibouti V Swaziland
Eritrea V Botswana
Seychelles V Burundi
Liberia V Guinea-Bissau
Central African Republic V Madagascar
Mauritius V Kenya
Tanzania V Malawi

Round 2
Somalia\Niger V Cameroon
South Sudan\Mauritania V Tunisa
Gambia\Namibia V Guinea
Sao Tome E Prinicipe\Ethiopia V Congo
Chad\Sierra Leone V Egypt
Comoros\Lesotho V Ghana
Djibouti\Swaziland V Nigeria
Eritrea\Botswana V Mali
Seychelles\Burundi V Congo DR
Liberia\Guinea-Bissau V Cote D'Ivoire
Central African Republic\Madagascar V Senegal
Mauritius\Kenya V Cape Verde Islands
Tanzania\Malawi V Algeria
Sudan V Zambia
Libya V Rwanda
Morocco V Equatorial Guinea
Mozambique V Gabon
Benin V Burkina Faso
Togo V Uganda
Angola V South Africa

citytillidie

North, Central America and Caribbean Zone
Round 3
Curaçao V El Salvador
Canada V Belize
Grenada V Haiti
Jamaica V Nicaragua
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines V Aruba
Antigua and Barbuda V Guatemala

Round 4
Group A
Mexico
Honduras
Curaçao\El Salvador
Canada\Belize

Group B
Costa Rica
Panama
Grenada\Haiti
JamaicazNicaragua

Group C
United States of America
Trindad and Tobago
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines\Aruba
Antigua and Barbuda\Guatemala

keeponhurling

happyoutscan wrote: »

This is meh.

Then don't watch it!

Can check later who we got

Mr.Nice Guy

This must be what I imagine it's like having a kid and attending one of their school plays. Sitting through all the crap, half-asleep, waiting until your own kid comes on.