2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying

[BigHewer]

With World Cup qualifying well underway, competition for the 31 spots up for grabs is heating up. 

Which teams will make it and who will miss out? Who would you like to see in (or not in)? Let’s get into it here.

Another round of Asian qualifiers last night. Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Iran are in the automatic spots. Japan already in deep trouble and could miss out for the first time since ‘94 if they don’t lift their game.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/fifa.worldq.afc

 

[King Cotton]

1 hour ago, BigHewer said:

Which teams will make it and who will miss out? Who would you like to see in (or not in)? Let’s get into it here.

Nice one, @BigHewer . . . I can see this topic getting pretty lively. To my footie shame though, I'd struggle to name more than ten potential - in my view, that is - WC winners and that's now one more than 3 years ago when Croatia did the unmentionable  ! I never even looked at Croatia as a major threat, pre-2018.

[BigHewer]

1 hour ago, King Cotton said:

Nice one, @BigHewer . . . I can see this topic getting pretty lively. To my footie shame though, I'd struggle to name more than ten potential - in my view, that is - WC winners and that's now one more than 3 years ago when Croatia did the unmentionable  ! I never even looked at Croatia as a major threat, pre-2018.

Painful memories brought up so early in the discussion, KC… you’re on a rampage today

I had Croatia down to exit in the group stages last time, underestimated them big time.

This World Cup could be very open, but I agree, it’s hard to come up with more than 10 potential winners. 

But… they’ve all still got to qualify first..

[King Cotton]

1 hour ago, BigHewer said:

Painful memories brought up so early in the discussion, KC… you’re on a rampage today

Yes, not like me at all. I'm blaming the can of Leo Strong Brew that I had last night  !

[BigHewer]

2 hours ago, King Cotton said:

Yes, not like me at all. I'm blaming the can of Leo Strong Brew that I had last night  !

Yeah, Leo will do that to you

[Rain]

Keeping an eye on the South American qualifying rounds. 

Surprising and spunky Ecuador [ranked 64th in the world]. Looks like they're in!!

[Benroon]

Why do they even make Australia play games ? They are a shoe in to every tournament when  their 'opposition' is the Maldives, Iraq and other completely hapless football teams that don't have a prayer !

[Rain]

14 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Why do they even make Australia play games ? They are a shoe in to every tournament when  their 'opposition' is the Maldives, Iraq and other completely hapless football teams that don't have a prayer !

Yet, never made a mark in any Cup play. They've only qualified on five occasions - never advancing. 

If Australia was to compete in another region qualifier tournament  - they wouldn't come close to making the grade. 

In defence of the good Aussies - it's not their game.

They excel, at the world class, at other things - rugby, cricket, etc. 

 

[Lowseasonlover]

4 minutes ago, Rain said:

Yet, never made a mark in any Cup play. They've only qualified on five occasions - never advancing. 

If Australia was to compete in another region qualifier tournament  - they wouldn't come close to making the grade. 

In defence of the good Aussies - it's not their game.

They excel, at the world class, at other things - rugby, cricket, etc. 

 

They were producing good players at one time then they dropped right off

[Lowseasonlover]

To early for me to make predictions but Im usually pretty good I did have France down as a contender Spain are looking good, Belgium just never quite get over the line same as the Dutch, you can never write off the Germans, as for England under Southgate best we can hope for is a semi anything after that is a bonus

[BigHewer]

23 minutes ago, Rain said:

Keeping an eye on the South American qualifying rounds. 

Surprising and spunky Ecuador [ranked 64th in the world]. Looks like they're in!!

I definitely agree, Rain. And they still have  Venezuela home and away. 26 points should be enough for a play off spot, but they’ll get that at a minimum, I think.

[Benroon]

19 minutes ago, Rain said:

Yet, never made a mark in any Cup play. They've only qualified on five occasions - never advancing. 

If Australia was to compete in another region qualifier tournament  - they wouldn't come close to making the grade. 

In defence of the good Aussies - it's not their game.

They excel, at the world class, at other things - rugby, cricket, etc. 

 

But its also not fair to the minnows they demolish every time in qualifying. I remember FIFA were actually looking at this problem and were going to put them amongst more serious teams but I think that died a death.

[Benroon]

15 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

They were producing good players at one time then they dropped right off

Harry Kewell and ......... ? 

[King Cotton]

13 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

They were producing good players at one time then they dropped right off

Too true! 'They were producing some good players at one time' is an understatement when you recall some of the stuff that Tim Cahill did at Everton and before him there were those two Aussies, Viduka and Kewell who starred for Leeds, season after season. Three great players for sure and always so good on the eye.

[King Cotton]

14 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Harry Kewell and ......... ? 

 . . . and Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill, but that's about it I reckon. Three gifted players, though. And there's that goalie, too . . . ah, Schwarzer, that's his name . . . thanks Google!

[BigHewer]

1 minute ago, King Cotton said:

Too true! 'They were producing some good players at one time' is an understatement when you recall some of the stuff that Tim Cahill did at Everton and before him there were those two Aussies, Viduka and Kewell who starred for Leeds, season after season. Three great players for sure and always so good on the eye.

Cahill the best of the crop for mine. Lucas Neill, Jedinak decent, Schwarzer too.

I watched the highlights of Australia vs Oman this morning, not many familiar names there. Ryan in goal, Mooy on the bench. 

[Lowseasonlover]

11 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Cahill the best of the crop for mine. Lucas Neill, Jedinak decent, Schwarzer too.

I watched the highlights of Australia vs Oman this morning, not many familiar names there. Ryan in goal, Mooy on the bench. 

Did that Lucas Neill play for Blackburn?

[BigHewer]

West Ham as I recall..

[BigHewer]

8 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Did that Lucas Neill play for Blackburn?

Oops just googled him. Blackburn as well, dead on

[King Cotton]

32 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

Did that Lucas Neill play for Blackburn?

Yes, that was his best and longest spell, 2001-7, with nearly 200 apps. Quite a hefty full-back player, among whose less happy moments was breaking Jamie Carragher's leg during the 2003-4 home game against Liverpool . . . one of those hero-to-zero moments for his reputation and for some time after that.

Good old Google  !

[BigHewer]

World Cup Qualifying resumes tonight, as we start to get a clearer picture of which teams will join Germany, Denmark and the hosts Qatar.

Europe

Belgium and France are all but through, and England should wrap up qualification with a win over Albania on Saturday. The other five groups are wide open, with some winner takes all fixtures over the international week:

Portugal vs Serbia  
Spain vs Sweden  
Italy vs Switzerland  
Netherlands vs Norway  
Croatia vs Russia  

Which teams are going through?

https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/fifa.worldq.uefa

Asia

Still only mid-way through the third round of qualifying, so all 12 teams still have a chance. Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia currently occupy the four automatic spots. Japan will need to lift their game if they want to avoid a first World Cup no-show since 1994. Pick of the fixtures is Australia vs Saudi Arabia this afternoon Thai time.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/fifa.worldq.afc

 

[BigHewer]

Concacaf

Mexico, USA and surprise team Canada have set the early pace in North America, but still a long way to go.

USA vs Mexico this Saturday will give us a clearer picture of where this group is headed. Would be great to see the USA back in the World Cup after missing out last time.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/fifa.worldq.concacaf

[King Cotton]

Setting the scene superbly, @BigHewer. . . as is your way. Thanks for that !

[BigHewer]

Well, England are now through to the World Cup after their 10-0 drubbing of San Marino. Great to be qualifying directly and not go through the play-offs. Still haunted by the non-qualification USA ‘94.

So now we have 11 teams out of 32 confirmed:

Qatar
Brazil
Belgium Croatia Denmark England France Germany Serbia Spain   Switzerland   

Either Netherlands, Turkey or Norway will be joining these 11 teams tonight. 

European play-offs still to come, and all to play for in the other confederations. Hoping to see USA, Canada, Australia, NZ and Japan all make it.
 

[gummy]

23 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Well, England are now through to the World Cup after their 10-0 drubbing of San Marino. Great to be qualifying directly and not go through the play-offs. Still haunted by the non-qualification USA ‘94.

So now we have 11 teams out of 32 confirmed:

Qatar
Brazil
Belgium Croatia Denmark England France Germany Serbia Spain   Switzerland   

Either Netherlands, Turkey or Norway will be joining these 11 teams tonight. 

European play-offs still to come, and all to play for in the other confederations. Hoping to see USA, Canada, Australia, NZ and Japan all make it.
 

Well at least the Cloggies got through last night, would have been a shame if they had to go through the play-offs