Вперёд! 2018 World Cup Qualifiers

Bosoxen · Oct 9, 2015

Needless to say, Argentina looked pretty toothless without Messi. Losing Aguero early in the first half didn't help, either.

Coincidentally, both Chile and Ecuador scored both of their goals late in the game. Exciting stuff. I love the CONMEBOL style of play.

Conigliaro's Potential · Oct 13, 2015

How on earth did the referee judge that field to be playable?

Zososoxfan · Oct 15, 2015

Argentina looked pitiful again against Paraguay. No Messi and no Aguero, but you still have Di Maria, Lavezzi, Tevez, and other young talent up front like Vietto (totally my binky, but still). The defense is still talented with Otamendi, Zabaleta, and Funes Mori. In midfield, it's just ho hum Mascherano and Pastore. In other words, I think Tata is doing a piss poor job with this group. I don't know much about Mas or Kranevitter, but Mas in particular looked not so good. I'd like to see Pereyra get more run. The team looked disorganized at the back and lackluster in the final third. They were losing possession in the midfield consistently. Lots of credit to Paraguay though, who was running and pressing like crazy throughout. Diaz is an excellent manager.

I used to love S. American soccer because it was a throwback to physical soccer like back in the 80s and 90s. But, after following European club play, I have to say it makes the sport much more plodding and touch and go. Even though it will never happen, I would prefer to CONMEBOL refs start giving out cards earlier to give the game the ability to breathe a bit more.

dirtynine · Dec 3, 2015

Not 2018-related, but this is interesting.

@GrantWahl: "Relatively under the radar today: It's likely that World Cup 2026 will be expanded from 32 to 40 teams."

dirtynine · Dec 3, 2015

I don't love it, and yeah, it'll probably lead to some unwatchable blowouts. If they were to do this, my idea would be a pre-tournament before the World Cup. 24 teams qualify directly to the Finals and are seeded into 8 groups. The final seed in each group is still up for grabs. For those last spots, 16 teams play a pre-World Cup mini-stage. 4 groups of 4, best two from each group (8 teams total) advance and fill out the last spots in the Finals. Then you have your traditional 32-team tournament.

Pros: best teams don't have to risk injuring good players against minnows; the initial mini-tournament would pit teams of relatively similar calibre against one another so it might actually be quite watchable; and you could give a few "warmup" games to each host city.

swiftaw · Dec 3, 2015

Titans Bastard said:
And some 2nd place teams not advancing from the group stage!

I heard it would be 8 groups of 5, rather than 10 groups of 4, so the top two in each group would advance (as now).

Cellar-Door · Dec 3, 2015

So bascally they are ensuring the top teams advance by adding some terrible AFC teams to the bottom of the pot?

swiftaw · Dec 3, 2015

Cellar-Door said:
So bascally they are ensuring the top teams advance by adding some terrible AFC teams to the bottom of the pot?

England would still find some way to screw it up

The other downside of an odd number in each group is one team will finish their fixtures before the other four.

Infield Infidel · Dec 3, 2015

swiftaw said:
I heard it would be 8 groups of 5, rather than 10 groups of 4, so the top two in each group would advance (as now).

8 groups of 5 would be super unbalanced schedule-wise. Teams 1 and 5 in each group would play 4 consecutive matches while teams 2, 3 and 4 would each get a bye and much needed rest.

for 40, the best route is 10 groups of 4, with group winners and top two 2nd place teams advancing directly to round of 16, and the other 8 2nd place teams play-off for the last 4 spots.

Also, I love dirtynine's pre-tourney scramble. If they could figure out a way to increase the time before the WC it would be awesome

ninjacornelius · Dec 3, 2015

Someone on Twitter brought up the fact that a 40 team tournament means that more minnows would be mathematically eliminated before the end of the group stage, which could make match fixing more rampant. Combined with the unfortunate precedent of some federations not paying their players promptly (or at all), and this could lead to some serious shenanigans.

coremiller · Dec 3, 2015

swiftaw said:
England would still find some way to screw it up

The other downside of an odd number in each group is one team will finish their fixtures before the other four.

FIFA has tried to avoid this after the infamous 1982 Anschluss match, where West Germany and Austria knew they could both advance with a 1-0 West German win due to Algeria's earlier results. Austria let West Germany score in the first ten minutes and then both teams stopped trying.

The Price Is Wrong · Mar 24, 2016

Argentina @ Chile right now. The Argentines are fielding a lineup with Messi, Aguero and Di Maria up front... and are trailing 1-0 only 11" in, on a nice header off a corner. Five games into CONMEBOL qualifiers and ARG sits at 7th out of 10, with only 4.5 spots available...

...and Di Maria ties it in the 18th on a crazy bending strike from tight quarters. Wow.

Tangled Up In Red · Mar 24, 2016

2-1 Argentina now... Per match cast, Chile already with 2 subs in 21 minutes. Trouble.

Zososoxfan · Mar 25, 2016

Fun match yesterday between Argentina and Chile. Chile played well at first, but a turnover led to a nice Di Maria curler (with his right) and then poor defending on a set piece led to a nice scissor volley by Mercado to give Argentina a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Chile was missing a lot of important players so not too much should be extrapolated from this early qualifier. Argentina sorely missed suspended Mascherano, as Kranevitter and Biglia struggled to settle the defense. Otamendi was leading the defense at CB and Rojo plays very well for the national team. Mercado obviously had the big goal, but also played solid D. Funes Mori played alongside Otamendi. Biglia lost his mark on the corner that led to the Chile goal. In midfield, Argentina's passing wasn't as slick as it should've been, and when they possessed the ball, it rarely led to good chances. Argentina was much stronger on the break, where Messi and Banega found Aguero and especially Di Maria in space. It should be said that Sabella had Argentina play old school. Very conservative, and let Argentina's exceptional attacking talent pip one or two goals and then clam up. For results, it is very effective, but it does not lead to beautiful football by any means. Martino seems to have more aggressive attacking ideas, but they aren't all that creative and the defense certainly suffers from less discipline. I would do anything to have Sampaoli or Simeone put this team into more of a pressing squad, but those are both long shots. At least some River players are on the team again after not being present for too long.

dirtynine · Mar 30, 2016

Are Syria and Iraq playing home games? I can't imagine many visiting countries eager to venture into those situations.

Zososoxfan · Mar 30, 2016

Argentina beat Bolivia last night in Cordoba 2-0. Messi scored a penalty and Mercado continues his torrid goal pace. Di Maria went out with a minor injury. Mascherano completely changed how well the midfield played (playing poor Bolivia didn't hurt either). Higuain is playing incredibly well right now. Very focused and sharp. But he will never be forgiven for costing Argentina 2 major trophies.

Messi playing as a #10 is how this team is best constructed to play. He basically plays at the top of a diamond (in front of Mascherano, and 2 of Banega/Pastore/Biglia) with Di Maria/Lavezzi providing width and Higuain/Aguero in the middle.

The corpse of Demichelis was also seen moping around near the Argentina net. Martino played Zabaleta doppleganger Pinola at CB and Rojo continues to be quality at LB. He combined well with Banega, Di Maria, and Messi down the flank. Atleti youngster Angel Correa also came on for a bit. Perhaps Bosox can provide some insight to the few games he's played for Atleti this year. Augusto Fernandez came on again. I believe he started the season with Atleti too, but was loan (sold?) to Celta. Lastly, I'm curious to see what other players get called up in the future - will we see the return of Pastore? Will Vietto make it onto this deep attacking unit? Dybala, Lamela, Icardi, Pereyra, Musacchio, Ulloa, and Lanzini should also get looks at some point.

dirtynine · Mar 30, 2016

Titans Bastard said:
Iraq has been playing in Iran and Syria has been playing in Oman.

Thanks. Makes sense.

Mugsy's Jock · Mar 30, 2016

Nobody will care about this, but like the old joke in which an old man is asked by a priest why he is confessing to having incredible sex with a teenage whore, "I'm telling everybody".

Went to an amazing World Cup qualifier the other night, where the Philippines Azkals (I think that means "Ghost Dogs") took on heavily-favored North Korea. Philippines was actually already eliminated from World Cup competition, but was playing for a spot in the Asia Cup and also to save head coach Thomas Dooley's job (yes, that Thomas Dooley, from the USMNT). North Korea needed the game to advance in World Cup qualifying, so this American had ample anti-rogue-nation rooting interests beyond my fondness for the Philippines.

My first trip to Rizal Stadium -- an artificial turf field in a broken down old cement stadium with zero concessions and just one bathroom. [Though the bathroom was cleaner than I'd have guessed.] Capacity is something like 20,000...the announced attendance was 7,351 -- which I was told was really good for the PhMNT.

North Korea had the run of play in the first half, but Azkals scored an out-of-nowhere goal in the 40th minute to take a 1-0. Sadly, North Korea equalized on the last play of the first half, and the malaise carried over as the Young-Uns went up 2-1 off a goal-mouth scramble barely two months into the second half. North Korea continued to carry play, and were every bit the chippy/whiney/injury-faking assholes you wanted them to be if you were rooting against them.

With 12 minutes left to go, Dooley brought on Iain Ramsey and the excellently-named James Younghusband in attack, and in the 83rd minute they combined with Manny Ott to even things up. Which was nearly as cool as what happened in the 90th minute, when Ramsey netted the game-winner.

Seeing a home team win an upset come-from-behind international football match was really stirring. And North Korea is out of World Cup 2018. Cool.

DJnVa · Mar 31, 2016

Mugsy's Jock said:
And North Korea is out of World Cup 2018. Cool.

Someone is totally getting killed in North Korea after that.

The Price Is Wrong · Apr 12, 2016

Hard to believe that motley crew gets 4.5 bids, same as CONMEBOL, so that f'ing Uzbekistan may make the finals while Brazil is (currently, after 6 of 18 matches) on the outside looking in.

Highest world ranks for the above crew: Iran (51), Japan (54), South Korea (69), Uzbekistan (71), UAE (80), nobody else below #92.

4 of the 10 CONMEBOL countries are ranked in the top 10, then Uruguay at 20, Ecuador at 31, and the other 4 are ranked 50-70.

Thanks, Sepp.

Tangled Up In Red · Jun 24, 2016

Titans Bastard said:
Group B
Zambia
Cameroon
Algeria
Nigeria
Group B looks like the toughest. Algeria, Cameroon, and Nigeria have all qualified for the last two World Cups, but only one can make it through this round.

And didn't Zambia win the ACN just a couple years ago?

Infield Infidel · Jun 25, 2016

Yes Zambia won Africa cup of nations in 2012. Group B is brutal. Group A is so weak. There were four pots, Tunisia was weakest in pot 1 and Libya was the weakest team in pot 4. Libya (FIFA ranking 115) is by far the weakest side left.

Not only that but Libya has been playing their home matches in Tunisia. I wonder how they'll deal with that, pretty weird to have home matches played in the road team's country.

Cellar-Door · Sep 1, 2016

Titans Bastard said:
UAE won in Japan today, the biggest surprise of the day in the AFC.

Qatar lost 2-0 in Iran and started two Frenchmen of North African descent, an Algerian, two Brazilians, a Cape Verdean, and a Uruguayan -- and four Qataris.

Apparently the ref was a mess in the Japan game, missed a clear Japan goal (no goaline tech in AFC) and didn't give two penalties.

trekfan55 · Sep 2, 2016

Watching Panama-Jamaica. 1-0 Panama at halftime. Win and they're in the Hex. Won't say more, too scared.

Edit: 2-0 Final!! Hex here we come again

CodPiece XL · Sep 4, 2016

Denmark just took a deserved lead against Armenia. The game is on FS2 for anyone wanting their soccer fix. Poland are one up against Kazakhstan.

Tangled Up In Red · Sep 4, 2016

Skrtel with a second t
yellow for a stomp on Kane. 0-0 after 60, England at Slovakia.

CodPiece XL · Sep 4, 2016

Skrtel looked as if he was trying to get sent off in the second half. Manager should have hooked him. He's nuts but what else is new.

Cellar-Door · Sep 4, 2016

Nice to see Big Sam continue the English traditions: Poor squad choices, baffling substitiutions shitting the bed when favored.

I honestly can't believe he made 3 attacking subs and didn't bring on Antonio, the only winger he has who can actually score goals with his head.

CodPiece XL · Sep 4, 2016

I just knew that was going to happen.

Вперёд! 2018 World Cup Qualifiers

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