gaijin
29 Mar 2005, 02:21 PM
How the action is shaping up world-wide for the road to Germany in 2006.
----------------------------------------*~Europe~*--------------------------------------------
The top team in each group gains automatic qualification. They will be joined by the best two runners-up. The remaining six teams will be drawn in a playoff against each other. Playing two legs home and away in November.
Group 1
1.Netherlands 5 4 1 0 12- 3 13
2.Czech Rep. 5 4 0 1 10- 5 12
3.Romania 6 3 1 2 10- 7 10
4.Finland 6 3 0 3 13-10 9
5.Macedonia 6 1 2 3 6- 7 5
6.Armenia 6 1 1 4 4-13 4
7.Andorra 6 1 1 4 3-13 4
Results:
Romania 0-2 Netherlands
[Cocu 2, Babel 85]
Czech Republic 4-3 Finland
Armenia 2-1 Andorra
[Hakobyan 32, Khachatryan 73; F. Silva 53]
Holland took a commanding lead of Group after a standard and hard-earned victory over Romania in Bucharest. Elsewhere, Finland and the Czech Republic played out a 7 goal thriller in Teplice. Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and Jan Polak giving the home-side a 3-1 lead, but a superb comeback from the Finns looked to have given them a crucial away point, only for substitute Vratislav Lokvenc to steal the win. In the other match, minnows Armenia and Andorra squared off in Yerevan mainly to scrap out the place for last spot. Despite taking the lead in the first half, Andorra fought back, and the home-side needed a Romik Khachatryan goal to get the win.
Top Scorer:
Alexei Eremenko Jr (Finland) - 5
Group 2
1.Ukraine 6 4 2 0 11- 3 14
2.Greece 6 3 2 1 10- 6 11
3.Denmark 6 2 3 1 10- 6 9
4.Turkey 6 2 3 1 8- 5 9
5.Albania 6 2 0 4 3- 9 6
6.Georgia 5 1 2 2 6- 8 5
7.Kazakhstan 5 0 0 5 2-13 0
Results:
Denmark 3-0 Kazakhstan
[Moller 10, 47, Poulsen 34]
Turkey 2-0 Albania
[Ates (pen) 3, Bequiri (og) 5]
Georgia 1-3 Greece
[Astiani 23; Kapsis 43, Vryzas 45, Giannakopoulos 54]
Ukraine lead the group despite not playing and will look to keep their unbeaten record intact when they host Denmark in Kyiv on Wednesday. The Danes picked up a rudimentary 3 points against basement dwellers Kazakhstan, with Peter Moller, the late-call up to the National team squad, scoring twice. In Istanbul, Turkey looked to get back on track with a easy 2-0 win over Albania. Greece however suffered a huge shock in Tbilisi, when Malkhaz Astiani gave the home side a 23rd minute lead. But two quick-fire goals before half-time put the Greeks back into the ascendancy, with Botlon’s Stelios Giannakopolous rounding off the win in the second half.
Top Scorer:
Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) - 5
Group 3
1.Portugal 5 4 1 0 20- 3 13
2.Slovakia 5 4 1 0 17- 4 13
3.Russia 5 3 1 1 12- 9 10
4.Latvia 5 2 1 2 10-12 7
5.Estonia 6 2 1 3 9-13 7
6.Liechtenstein 6 1 1 4 9-16 4
7.Luxembourg 6 0 0 6 4-24 0
Results:
Liechtenstein 1-2 Russia
[T. Beck 40; Kerzhakov 23, Karyaka 36]
Estonia 1-2 Slovakia
[Oper 58; Mintal 59, Reitner 66]
With Portugal not playing. Both Russia and Slovakia looked to gain ground on the leaders. Russia had the easier task, or so it would seem, against surprise package Leichtenstein, playing out of their skins at the minute. Had it not been for Mario Frick’s last minute miss from close-range, they could have been toasting yet another scalp in one of their most productive qualification campaigns ever. The Slovaks kept up with the pace and pulled off a neat 2-1 win in Tallinn. Despite falling behind to Adreas Oper’s goal, a quick response by the Bundelsiga’s topscorer Marek Mintal and Lubomir Reitner, gave them three priceless points.
Top Scorer:
Pauleta (Portugal) - 6
[b]Group 4
1.Ireland 5 2 3 0 7- 2 9
2.France 5 2 3 0 4- 0 9
3.Israel 5 2 3 0 7- 5 9
4.Switzerland 4 1 3 0 9- 3 6
5.Cyprus 5 0 1 4 4-11 1
6.Faroe Islands 4 0 1 3 2-12 1
Results:
France 0-0 Switzerland
Israel 1-1 Ireland
[Suan 90; Morrisson 6]
4 teams still remain locked at the top. Both Ireland, France and Israel on 9 and the Swiss with 6 and a game in hand. After all four played off on Saturday, we are none the wiser who will take the qualification spots. A stalemate at the Stade de France, meant that the away side will be more than happy with the result. As a consequence, the 1998 World Champions are without a home win or a home goal in the campaign and will need to turn the current trend around, if they want to play in Germany. Ireland could have moved clear at the top of the group, after a well-taken Clinton Morrison goal looked to have given them all the points in Tel-Aviv, but substitute Abbas Suan‘s, long-range shot snatched them a point. France travel to Israel midweek, while the Swiss host Cyprus.
Top Scorer:
Johann Vonlanthen (Switzerland) - 4
Group 5
1.Italy 5 4 0 1 9- 5 12
2.Norway 4 2 1 1 6- 3 7
3.Slovenia 4 2 1 1 4- 3 7
4.Belarus 3 1 1 1 8- 5 4
5.Scotland 4 0 2 2 1- 4 2
6.Moldova 4 0 1 3 1- 9 1
Result:
Italy 2-0 Scotland
[Pirlo 35, 85]
With only one game played in Group 5, Italy moved 5 points clear at the top making up for their shock 1-0 loss away to Slovenia earlier in the campaign. Two magnificently struck free-kicks from Milan’s Andrea Pirlo sent Scotland packing in Milan. They need a minor miracle now to have any chance of even getting the playoff spot.
Top Scorer:
Milenko Acimovic (Slovenia) - 3
Group 6
1.England 5 4 1 0 11- 3 13
2.Poland 5 4 0 1 18- 5 12
3.Austria 5 2 2 1 10- 8 8
4.N. Ireland 5 0 3 2 5-12 3
5.Wales 5 0 2 3 5-10 2
6.Azerbaijan 5 0 2 3 1-12 2
With all home-nations in action, both Poland and England looked to move forward and speed up their process for tickets for the World Cup In Germany against less favourable opposition. A second half revival by England meant they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over rivals Northern Ireland at Old Trafford. Poland went one better, or shall I say 4 better, as they crushed lowly Azerbaijan 8-0, with Tomasz Frankowski grabbing a hat-trick. The result was not enough to go above England, but kept them in touch at the top, just a point behind the group leaders. In Cardiff, Wales' faint hopes of qualification were dealt a damaging blow, as Austria inflicted a quick-fire late-show. Veteran striker Ivica Vastic and Martin Stranzl in the last 8 minutes of the match made the home-side rue their missed opportunities.
Top Scorer:
Tomasz Frankowski (Poland) - 4
Group 7
1.Serbia-Mont. 4 3 1 0 10- 0 10
2.Spain 4 2 2 0 8- 1 8
3.Lithuania 4 2 2 0 6- 1 8
4.Belgium 4 1 1 2 5- 6 4
5.Bosnia-Herz. 3 0 2 1 2- 5 2
6.San Marino 5 0 0 5 0-18 0
Result
Belguim 4-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
[E. Mpenza 15, 54, Daerden 44, Buffel 76; Bajramovic 1]
Only one match on the Saturday, with Belgium trying to gain ground on Lithuania, Spain and Serbia. A 4-1 win gifted the Belgians their maiden win in Group 7 against the plucky Bosnians. All eyes will be turned on Wednesdays action, when Serbia and Montenegro play Spain, in a battle of the leaders, which could decide the outcome of the group. Belgium will also look to make it two in two as they play minnows San Marino.
Top Scorer:
Edgaras Jankauskas (Lithuania) - 3
Group 8
1.Sweden 5 4 0 1 17- 2 12
2.Croatia 4 3 1 0 10- 2 10
3.Bulgaria 4 2 1 1 9- 7 7
4.Hungary 4 2 0 2 5- 8 6
5.Iceland 5 0 1 4 4-14 1
6.Malta 4 0 1 3 1-13 1
Results
Bulgaria 0-3 Sweden
[Ljungberg 17, 90 (pen), Edman 73]
Croatia 4-0 Iceland
[Kovac 39, 76, Simiunic 71, Prso 90]
Sweden took the initative in Sofia, with a 3-0 win over Group 8 hopefuls Bulgaria. The result leaves the Swedes top of the Group 2 ahead of Croatia, who easily beat Iceland 4-0 in Zagreb. Croatia now have a game in hand in second and have a better head to head record against the Swedes thanks to their 1-0 win in Sweden in the opening stages of the group. With Bulgaria now languishing 3rd after that bitter blow, they will have to hope that they can regain their form with a win in Hungary, and that Malta will do the unthinkable and beat Croatia away on Wednesday.
Top Scorers:
Frederik Lumber (Sweden) - 5
Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria) - 5
Best Runners up:
NB: The best runner-up is decided as thus - The teams are graded on their results against teams that have finished 1st, 3rd and 4th. The team with greater number of points therefore qualifies. At this stage it is hard to gauge how this will work out, due to the fact that we don’t know who will finish where and because they haven’t played all the teams yet.. The easiest way to see how it will get there, is to work out the point-average of the 2nd placed teams (I.e - the number of points divided by the number of games.)
Slovakia - 2.6 (13 points out of 5)
Croatia - 2.5 (10 out of 4)
Czech Republic - 2.4 (12 points out of 5)
Poland - 2.4 (12 points out of 5)
If both Poland and the Czech Republic have the same point average at the end, then it will be down how they fared against the various placed teams. It does seem complicated. But we can easily see how it will work by using the point average system. The 1-3-4 system is used mainly as a tiebreaker. Generally speaking, if you have a high point average it is inevitable that you have had good results against your nearest rivals. Although this isn’t an exact rating, it gives us a good idea.
Using the 1-3-4 method.
P W D L pts
Croat 3 2 1 0 7
Czech 3 2 0 1 6
Poland 3 2 0 1 6
Greece 3 1 2 0 5
Spain 2 1 1 0 4
Slovak 2 1 1 0 4
As you can see, the above is slightly unfair, given that Slovakia haven't played Portugal yet. Although Croatia is top of the pile given their win in Sweden. However the others in that table haven’t played all other teams yet, which invalidates it somewhat. The point average method, gives us the best outlook as to who will become the best runners up. It is not to be taken as the actual method to decide the best-runner up. This will become much clearer when we near the latter stages.
----------------------------------------*~South-America~*---------------------------------
The top four teams gain automatic qualification, with the fifth placed team going into a playoff with the playoff winner of the Oceania qualification group. The match will be played home and away for a place in Germany.
1.Argentina 12 7 4 1 23-12 25
2.Brazil 12 6 5 1 20-11 23
3.Ecuador 12 6 1 5 17-13 19
4.Paraguay 12 4 4 4 14-16 16
-------------------------------------
5.Uruguay 12 4 3 5 17-24 15
-------------------------------------
6.Colombia 12 3 5 4 12-11 14
7.Chile 12 3 5 4 11-12 14
8.Venezuela 12 4 2 6 13-17 14
9.Peru 12 3 4 5 13-14 13
10.Bolivia 12 3 1 8 12-22 10
Results:
Bolivia 1-2 Argentina
[Castillo 50; Figueroa 58, Galletti 63]
Venezuela 0-0 Colombia
Chile 1-1 Uruguay
[Mirosevic 47; Reguerio 4]
Ecuador 5-2 Paraguay
[Valencia 32, 50, Mendez 45, 48, Ayovi (pen) 76; Cardozo (pen) 9, Cabanas 14]
Brazil 1-0 Peru
[Kaka 73]
South American giants Brazil and Argentina both took steps to qualification with crucial wins. Argentina fighting back from 1-0 down to nab a crucial win in La Paz. Brazil, the current holders snuck a win against Peru thanks to a well-worked goal by Milan’s Kaka. The other two remaining spots for the World Cup, remains wide open, with practically everyone in a position to get qualification. Venezuela and Colombia both locked each other out, as an extra two points for either side, would have pushed them into direct qualification spots. Ecuador produced a stunning comeback in Quito in a 7 goal thriller. Paraguay going two up in the space of 5 minutes, but Antonio Valencia and Edison Mendez firing them into a 5 goal blitz to grab three precious points. They now occupy third place and will look to cement this, with a win in Peru. A defeat for the home side there, could mean the end of their hopes of qualifying. There is all to play for too at La Paz, with the bottom side Bolivia taking on Venezuela. A defeat for the home-side will surely mean the end of their dreams for Germany. Whereas Venezuela can look to climb the extremely open table. Brazil will therefore look to maintain the 4 point gap in second place when they travel to Uruguay. Argentina will try and carry on their success at the top of the league, when they entertain Colombia, in need of points.
Top Scorer:
Ronaldo (Brazil) - 9
------------------------------------------------*~Asia~*-----------------------------------------
The top two teams in each group qualify directly for the World Cup. The two third placed teams will playoff in two legs for the right to playoff against the fourth placed North and Central American team.
Group A
1.Saudi Arabia 2 1 1 0 3- 1 4
2.South Korea 2 1 0 1 2- 2 3
------------------------------------
3.Kuwait 2 1 0 1 2- 3 3
------------------------------------
4.Uzbekistan 2 0 1 1 2- 3 1
Results:
Kuwait 2-1 Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia 2-0 South Korea
[Khariri 29, Al-Qahtani (pen)75]
Uzbekistan were left flummoxed in Kuwait City, when they slumped to defeat. After grabbing a point at home to Saudi Arabia in the last round, they remain bottom with just the point. Saudi Arabia took a stranglehold over nearest rivals South Korea with a well earned 2-0 at home. They now remain top of the group with 4 points. Midweek, the Saudis travel to little neighbours Kuwait, while the South Koreans entertain Uzbekistan.
Top Scorer:
Basher Abdullah (Kuwait) - 2
Group B
1.Bahrain 2 1 1 0 2- 1 4
2.Iran 2 1 1 0 2- 1 4
------------------------------------
3.Japan 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
------------------------------------
4.North Korea 2 0 0 2 2- 4 0
Results:
North Korea 1-2 Bahrain
[Pak Song-Kwan 62; Husain Ali 7, 58]
Iran 2-1 Japan
[Hashemian 25, 75; Fukunishi 66]
Bahrain stunned North Korea with a 2-1 win in Pyongyang. They now lead the group after Iran had beaten Japan. The group still remains wide open, with Japan now entertaining surprise package Bahrain, whilst Iran tackle North Korea in Tehran.
Top Scorers:
Husain Ali (Bahrain) - 2
Vahid Hashemian (Iran) - 2
----------------------------------------*~Africa~*----------------------------------------
Only the Group winner gains qualification for the World Cup in Germany. Its first or nothing.
[b]Group 1
1.Senegal 6 4 1 1 15- 6 13
2.Zambia 6 4 1 1 8- 4 13
3.Togo 5 3 1 1 6- 2 10
4.Congo-Brazz. 6 2 0 4 6- 9 6
5.Liberia 6 1 1 4 2-13 4
6.Mali 5 0 2 3 3- 6 2
Results:
Senegal 6-1 Liberia
[Fadiga 17, Diouf 42 (pen), 84, Faye 52, Henri Camara 69, M. N’Diaye 73; Tondo 88]
Zambia 2-0 Congo-Brazzaville
[Tana 2, Mbesuma 44]
Mali A-A Togo *
[Coulibaly 16; Salifou 83, Maman 90]
* Match abandoned at 2-1 to Togo. The Togo team took a 90th minute lead, when the home crowd rioted and invaded the pitch. It will be almost certain that the AFC will rule in Togo’s favour, the outcome of any punishment for Mali, has yet to be decided.
Despite the ugly scenes at Bamako, it is both Zambia and Senegal that lead the pack. The 2002 World Cup hereos lead the way with a 6-1 crushing of poor Liberia. The English Premiership stars stole the show, with 5 of them scoring. Zambia however remain the only team likely to upset Senegal’s lead at the top. The surprise team of Group 1 will look to overtake the Lions when they play away to Togo and the leaders play in the Congo in June.
Top Scorer:
Collins Mbesuma (Zambia) - 4
Group 2
1.South Africa 6 4 0 2 7- 6 12
2.Cape Verde 6 3 1 2 6- 6 10
3.Ghana 6 2 3 1 7- 3 9
4.Congo-Kinsh. 6 2 3 1 6- 5 9
5.Burkina Faso 6 2 0 4 6- 8 6
6.Uganda 6 1 1 4 3- 7 4
Results:
Burkina Faso 1-2 Cape Verde
[Dagano 70; Morais 48, 88]
South Africa 2-1 Uganda
[Fortune (pen) 19, Pienaar 71; Obua (pen) 62]
Congo-Kishasa 1-1 Ghana
[Nonda 51; Gyan 31]
South Africa lead the pack as they continue to grind through the group. They are followed in to by the surprise challenge of Cape-Verde, who beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Ouagadougou. Both Ghana and Congo are on 9 points after they both blanked each other. South Africa will look to jump clear at the top when they travel to Cape-Verde. Both Congo and Ghana may look to capitalise on the outcome of that game, when they play at home to Uganda and Burkina Faso respectively.
Top Scorer:
Moumouni Dagano (Burkina Faso) - 3
Group 3
1.Ivory Coast 6 5 0 1 13- 3 15
2.Cameroon 6 3 2 1 9- 6 11
3.Egypt 6 3 1 2 15-10 10
4.Libya 6 3 1 2 8- 8 10
5.Benin 6 0 2 4 6-14 2
6.Sudan 6 0 2 4 3-13 2
Results:
Cameroon 2-1 Sudan
[Geremi 35, Webo 90+; Tambal 42]
Ivory Coast 3-0 Benin
[Kalou 12, Drogba 18 (pen), 59]
Egypt 4-1 Libya
[Mido 55, Meteab 57, 80, Ahmed Hassen 77; El-Fergani 52]
Cote d’ivoire and their array of vast European based talent took a four point lead at the top of the group 3. Cameroon on the other hand are struggling to get to grips and required an injury time goal from Achille Webo to get three points over the bottom side Sudan. With the indomitable lions looking for the leaders to slip up, there is also Egypt and Libya are also in with a shout of qualification despite the latter losing 4-1 to their near rivals in Cairo. Cameroon will look to grab another three points to lowly Benin, whilst Egypt play Sudan. Ivory Coast will also try and hamper Libya’s hopes of progression whilst trying to keep their lead at the top.
Top Scorers:
Aruna Dindane (Cote d’Ivoire) - 5
Didier Drogba (Cote d’Ivoire) - 5
Group 4
1.Nigeria 6 4 1 1 9- 2 13
2.Angola 6 3 2 1 5- 4 11
3.Zimbabwe 6 2 2 2 6- 6 8
4.Rwanda 6 2 1 3 5- 7 7
5.Gabon 6 1 3 2 8- 9 6
6.Algeria 6 0 3 3 2- 7 3
Results:
Nigeria 2-0 Gabon
[Aghahowa 84, Kanu 86]
Algeria 0-1 Rwanda
Zimbabwe 2-0 Angola
[Kawondera 60, Mwaruwaru 71]
Nigeria required two late goals from Kanu and Aghahowa to keep them top of Group 4. Angola the team in second place, suffered a major blow when they went down 2-0 to Zimbabwe. Algeria continue their nightmare World cup campaign with a loss at home to Rwanda. Nigeria will look to stay ahead of the pack when they take on Rwanda away, whilst Angola make look to capitalise by heaping more misery on Algeria. Zimbabwe play host to Gabon.
Top Scorer:
Said Abed (Rwanda) - 3
[b]Group 5
1.Morocco 6 3 3 0 10- 4 12
2.Kenya 5 3 0 2 8-10 9
3.Tunisia 5 2 2 1 15- 6 8
4.Guinea 6 2 2 2 9- 6 8
5.Botswana 6 2 0 4 5-11 6
6.Malawi 6 0 3 3 6-16 3
Results:
Kenya 1-0 Bostwana
[Oliech 45]
Morocco 1-0 Guinea
[Hadji 65]
Tunisia 7-0 Malawi
[Guemamdi 2, Santos 13, 52, 76, 77, Clayton (pen) 60, Ghodhbane 79]
Morocco maintain their unbeaten record after a tight 1-0 win over Guinea. The result proves crucial as it sends Guinea back down to 4th place. The main result of the day came in Tunis, as Brazilian born Santos scored four goals to give the current African Cup of Nations holders a 7-0 drubbing over bottom side Malawi. Kenya, who are trying to replay all their postponed matches after their exclusion from FIFA competition are looking to scythe down the North African teams’ lead at the top. With a game in hand, they will look to beat Guinea in Conakry, whilst the Tunisians play in Botswana and Morocco playing Malawi.
Top Scorer:
Francileudo dos Santos (Tunisia) - 5
----------------------------------*~North-and-Central-America~*------------------------------
The top three teams qualify automatically. The fourth team will play a playoff against the winner of the third-placed Asian playoff.
1.Mexico 2 2 0 0 4- 2 6
2.Guatemala 2 1 1 0 5- 1 4
3.Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
---------------------------------------
4.USA 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
---------------------------------------
5.Panama 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1
6.Trinidad/Tobago 2 0 0 2 2- 7 0
Results:
Costa Rica 2-1 Panama
[Wilson (pen) 40, Myrie 90; Brown (pen) 58]
Guatemala 5-1 Trinidad and Tobago
[Ramirez 16, Ruiz 29, 37, Pezzarossi 77, 81; Edwards 31]
Mexico 2-1 USA
[Borgetti 30, Zinha 33; Lewis 59]
Costa Rica bounced back from their opening defeat to Mexico with a 2-1 win over surprise entrants Panama. Guatemala, the other surprise package crushed Trinidad and Tobago 5-1 with American based Carlos Ruiz scoring twice to maintain their unbeaten record. In the match-up of the day, the USA travelled south to neighbours Mexico. The home side triumphed thanks to two quick-fire goals in the first half. They now lead the pack with a 100% record. Midweek, the USA will look to bounce back when they take on Guatemala in Alabama. Mexico will look for another win to add to their streak when they travel to Panama. Trinidad and Tobago will look for their maiden win, when they take on Costa Rica at home.
Top Scorers:
Jaime Lozano (Mexico) - 2
Eddie Lewis (USA) - 2
Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala) - 2
----------------------------------------*~Oceania~*----------------------------------------
With the qualification group having already taken place last summer, both the Solomon Islands and Australia will now playoff in September, both home and away for a playoff place against the fifth placed South American team, sometime in November.
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----------------------------------------*~Europe~*--------------------------------------------
The top team in each group gains automatic qualification. They will be joined by the best two runners-up. The remaining six teams will be drawn in a playoff against each other. Playing two legs home and away in November.
Group 1
1.Netherlands 5 4 1 0 12- 3 13
2.Czech Rep. 5 4 0 1 10- 5 12
3.Romania 6 3 1 2 10- 7 10
4.Finland 6 3 0 3 13-10 9
5.Macedonia 6 1 2 3 6- 7 5
6.Armenia 6 1 1 4 4-13 4
7.Andorra 6 1 1 4 3-13 4
Results:
Romania 0-2 Netherlands
[Cocu 2, Babel 85]
Czech Republic 4-3 Finland
Armenia 2-1 Andorra
[Hakobyan 32, Khachatryan 73; F. Silva 53]
Holland took a commanding lead of Group after a standard and hard-earned victory over Romania in Bucharest. Elsewhere, Finland and the Czech Republic played out a 7 goal thriller in Teplice. Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and Jan Polak giving the home-side a 3-1 lead, but a superb comeback from the Finns looked to have given them a crucial away point, only for substitute Vratislav Lokvenc to steal the win. In the other match, minnows Armenia and Andorra squared off in Yerevan mainly to scrap out the place for last spot. Despite taking the lead in the first half, Andorra fought back, and the home-side needed a Romik Khachatryan goal to get the win.
Top Scorer:
Alexei Eremenko Jr (Finland) - 5
Group 2
1.Ukraine 6 4 2 0 11- 3 14
2.Greece 6 3 2 1 10- 6 11
3.Denmark 6 2 3 1 10- 6 9
4.Turkey 6 2 3 1 8- 5 9
5.Albania 6 2 0 4 3- 9 6
6.Georgia 5 1 2 2 6- 8 5
7.Kazakhstan 5 0 0 5 2-13 0
Results:
Denmark 3-0 Kazakhstan
[Moller 10, 47, Poulsen 34]
Turkey 2-0 Albania
[Ates (pen) 3, Bequiri (og) 5]
Georgia 1-3 Greece
[Astiani 23; Kapsis 43, Vryzas 45, Giannakopoulos 54]
Ukraine lead the group despite not playing and will look to keep their unbeaten record intact when they host Denmark in Kyiv on Wednesday. The Danes picked up a rudimentary 3 points against basement dwellers Kazakhstan, with Peter Moller, the late-call up to the National team squad, scoring twice. In Istanbul, Turkey looked to get back on track with a easy 2-0 win over Albania. Greece however suffered a huge shock in Tbilisi, when Malkhaz Astiani gave the home side a 23rd minute lead. But two quick-fire goals before half-time put the Greeks back into the ascendancy, with Botlon’s Stelios Giannakopolous rounding off the win in the second half.
Top Scorer:
Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) - 5
Group 3
1.Portugal 5 4 1 0 20- 3 13
2.Slovakia 5 4 1 0 17- 4 13
3.Russia 5 3 1 1 12- 9 10
4.Latvia 5 2 1 2 10-12 7
5.Estonia 6 2 1 3 9-13 7
6.Liechtenstein 6 1 1 4 9-16 4
7.Luxembourg 6 0 0 6 4-24 0
Results:
Liechtenstein 1-2 Russia
[T. Beck 40; Kerzhakov 23, Karyaka 36]
Estonia 1-2 Slovakia
[Oper 58; Mintal 59, Reitner 66]
With Portugal not playing. Both Russia and Slovakia looked to gain ground on the leaders. Russia had the easier task, or so it would seem, against surprise package Leichtenstein, playing out of their skins at the minute. Had it not been for Mario Frick’s last minute miss from close-range, they could have been toasting yet another scalp in one of their most productive qualification campaigns ever. The Slovaks kept up with the pace and pulled off a neat 2-1 win in Tallinn. Despite falling behind to Adreas Oper’s goal, a quick response by the Bundelsiga’s topscorer Marek Mintal and Lubomir Reitner, gave them three priceless points.
Top Scorer:
Pauleta (Portugal) - 6
[b]Group 4
1.Ireland 5 2 3 0 7- 2 9
2.France 5 2 3 0 4- 0 9
3.Israel 5 2 3 0 7- 5 9
4.Switzerland 4 1 3 0 9- 3 6
5.Cyprus 5 0 1 4 4-11 1
6.Faroe Islands 4 0 1 3 2-12 1
Results:
France 0-0 Switzerland
Israel 1-1 Ireland
[Suan 90; Morrisson 6]
4 teams still remain locked at the top. Both Ireland, France and Israel on 9 and the Swiss with 6 and a game in hand. After all four played off on Saturday, we are none the wiser who will take the qualification spots. A stalemate at the Stade de France, meant that the away side will be more than happy with the result. As a consequence, the 1998 World Champions are without a home win or a home goal in the campaign and will need to turn the current trend around, if they want to play in Germany. Ireland could have moved clear at the top of the group, after a well-taken Clinton Morrison goal looked to have given them all the points in Tel-Aviv, but substitute Abbas Suan‘s, long-range shot snatched them a point. France travel to Israel midweek, while the Swiss host Cyprus.
Top Scorer:
Johann Vonlanthen (Switzerland) - 4
Group 5
1.Italy 5 4 0 1 9- 5 12
2.Norway 4 2 1 1 6- 3 7
3.Slovenia 4 2 1 1 4- 3 7
4.Belarus 3 1 1 1 8- 5 4
5.Scotland 4 0 2 2 1- 4 2
6.Moldova 4 0 1 3 1- 9 1
Result:
Italy 2-0 Scotland
[Pirlo 35, 85]
With only one game played in Group 5, Italy moved 5 points clear at the top making up for their shock 1-0 loss away to Slovenia earlier in the campaign. Two magnificently struck free-kicks from Milan’s Andrea Pirlo sent Scotland packing in Milan. They need a minor miracle now to have any chance of even getting the playoff spot.
Top Scorer:
Milenko Acimovic (Slovenia) - 3
Group 6
1.England 5 4 1 0 11- 3 13
2.Poland 5 4 0 1 18- 5 12
3.Austria 5 2 2 1 10- 8 8
4.N. Ireland 5 0 3 2 5-12 3
5.Wales 5 0 2 3 5-10 2
6.Azerbaijan 5 0 2 3 1-12 2
With all home-nations in action, both Poland and England looked to move forward and speed up their process for tickets for the World Cup In Germany against less favourable opposition. A second half revival by England meant they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over rivals Northern Ireland at Old Trafford. Poland went one better, or shall I say 4 better, as they crushed lowly Azerbaijan 8-0, with Tomasz Frankowski grabbing a hat-trick. The result was not enough to go above England, but kept them in touch at the top, just a point behind the group leaders. In Cardiff, Wales' faint hopes of qualification were dealt a damaging blow, as Austria inflicted a quick-fire late-show. Veteran striker Ivica Vastic and Martin Stranzl in the last 8 minutes of the match made the home-side rue their missed opportunities.
Top Scorer:
Tomasz Frankowski (Poland) - 4
Group 7
1.Serbia-Mont. 4 3 1 0 10- 0 10
2.Spain 4 2 2 0 8- 1 8
3.Lithuania 4 2 2 0 6- 1 8
4.Belgium 4 1 1 2 5- 6 4
5.Bosnia-Herz. 3 0 2 1 2- 5 2
6.San Marino 5 0 0 5 0-18 0
Result
Belguim 4-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
[E. Mpenza 15, 54, Daerden 44, Buffel 76; Bajramovic 1]
Only one match on the Saturday, with Belgium trying to gain ground on Lithuania, Spain and Serbia. A 4-1 win gifted the Belgians their maiden win in Group 7 against the plucky Bosnians. All eyes will be turned on Wednesdays action, when Serbia and Montenegro play Spain, in a battle of the leaders, which could decide the outcome of the group. Belgium will also look to make it two in two as they play minnows San Marino.
Top Scorer:
Edgaras Jankauskas (Lithuania) - 3
Group 8
1.Sweden 5 4 0 1 17- 2 12
2.Croatia 4 3 1 0 10- 2 10
3.Bulgaria 4 2 1 1 9- 7 7
4.Hungary 4 2 0 2 5- 8 6
5.Iceland 5 0 1 4 4-14 1
6.Malta 4 0 1 3 1-13 1
Results
Bulgaria 0-3 Sweden
[Ljungberg 17, 90 (pen), Edman 73]
Croatia 4-0 Iceland
[Kovac 39, 76, Simiunic 71, Prso 90]
Sweden took the initative in Sofia, with a 3-0 win over Group 8 hopefuls Bulgaria. The result leaves the Swedes top of the Group 2 ahead of Croatia, who easily beat Iceland 4-0 in Zagreb. Croatia now have a game in hand in second and have a better head to head record against the Swedes thanks to their 1-0 win in Sweden in the opening stages of the group. With Bulgaria now languishing 3rd after that bitter blow, they will have to hope that they can regain their form with a win in Hungary, and that Malta will do the unthinkable and beat Croatia away on Wednesday.
Top Scorers:
Frederik Lumber (Sweden) - 5
Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria) - 5
Best Runners up:
NB: The best runner-up is decided as thus - The teams are graded on their results against teams that have finished 1st, 3rd and 4th. The team with greater number of points therefore qualifies. At this stage it is hard to gauge how this will work out, due to the fact that we don’t know who will finish where and because they haven’t played all the teams yet.. The easiest way to see how it will get there, is to work out the point-average of the 2nd placed teams (I.e - the number of points divided by the number of games.)
Slovakia - 2.6 (13 points out of 5)
Croatia - 2.5 (10 out of 4)
Czech Republic - 2.4 (12 points out of 5)
Poland - 2.4 (12 points out of 5)
If both Poland and the Czech Republic have the same point average at the end, then it will be down how they fared against the various placed teams. It does seem complicated. But we can easily see how it will work by using the point average system. The 1-3-4 system is used mainly as a tiebreaker. Generally speaking, if you have a high point average it is inevitable that you have had good results against your nearest rivals. Although this isn’t an exact rating, it gives us a good idea.
Using the 1-3-4 method.
P W D L pts
Croat 3 2 1 0 7
Czech 3 2 0 1 6
Poland 3 2 0 1 6
Greece 3 1 2 0 5
Spain 2 1 1 0 4
Slovak 2 1 1 0 4
As you can see, the above is slightly unfair, given that Slovakia haven't played Portugal yet. Although Croatia is top of the pile given their win in Sweden. However the others in that table haven’t played all other teams yet, which invalidates it somewhat. The point average method, gives us the best outlook as to who will become the best runners up. It is not to be taken as the actual method to decide the best-runner up. This will become much clearer when we near the latter stages.
----------------------------------------*~South-America~*---------------------------------
The top four teams gain automatic qualification, with the fifth placed team going into a playoff with the playoff winner of the Oceania qualification group. The match will be played home and away for a place in Germany.
1.Argentina 12 7 4 1 23-12 25
2.Brazil 12 6 5 1 20-11 23
3.Ecuador 12 6 1 5 17-13 19
4.Paraguay 12 4 4 4 14-16 16
-------------------------------------
5.Uruguay 12 4 3 5 17-24 15
-------------------------------------
6.Colombia 12 3 5 4 12-11 14
7.Chile 12 3 5 4 11-12 14
8.Venezuela 12 4 2 6 13-17 14
9.Peru 12 3 4 5 13-14 13
10.Bolivia 12 3 1 8 12-22 10
Results:
Bolivia 1-2 Argentina
[Castillo 50; Figueroa 58, Galletti 63]
Venezuela 0-0 Colombia
Chile 1-1 Uruguay
[Mirosevic 47; Reguerio 4]
Ecuador 5-2 Paraguay
[Valencia 32, 50, Mendez 45, 48, Ayovi (pen) 76; Cardozo (pen) 9, Cabanas 14]
Brazil 1-0 Peru
[Kaka 73]
South American giants Brazil and Argentina both took steps to qualification with crucial wins. Argentina fighting back from 1-0 down to nab a crucial win in La Paz. Brazil, the current holders snuck a win against Peru thanks to a well-worked goal by Milan’s Kaka. The other two remaining spots for the World Cup, remains wide open, with practically everyone in a position to get qualification. Venezuela and Colombia both locked each other out, as an extra two points for either side, would have pushed them into direct qualification spots. Ecuador produced a stunning comeback in Quito in a 7 goal thriller. Paraguay going two up in the space of 5 minutes, but Antonio Valencia and Edison Mendez firing them into a 5 goal blitz to grab three precious points. They now occupy third place and will look to cement this, with a win in Peru. A defeat for the home side there, could mean the end of their hopes of qualifying. There is all to play for too at La Paz, with the bottom side Bolivia taking on Venezuela. A defeat for the home-side will surely mean the end of their dreams for Germany. Whereas Venezuela can look to climb the extremely open table. Brazil will therefore look to maintain the 4 point gap in second place when they travel to Uruguay. Argentina will try and carry on their success at the top of the league, when they entertain Colombia, in need of points.
Top Scorer:
Ronaldo (Brazil) - 9
------------------------------------------------*~Asia~*-----------------------------------------
The top two teams in each group qualify directly for the World Cup. The two third placed teams will playoff in two legs for the right to playoff against the fourth placed North and Central American team.
Group A
1.Saudi Arabia 2 1 1 0 3- 1 4
2.South Korea 2 1 0 1 2- 2 3
------------------------------------
3.Kuwait 2 1 0 1 2- 3 3
------------------------------------
4.Uzbekistan 2 0 1 1 2- 3 1
Results:
Kuwait 2-1 Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia 2-0 South Korea
[Khariri 29, Al-Qahtani (pen)75]
Uzbekistan were left flummoxed in Kuwait City, when they slumped to defeat. After grabbing a point at home to Saudi Arabia in the last round, they remain bottom with just the point. Saudi Arabia took a stranglehold over nearest rivals South Korea with a well earned 2-0 at home. They now remain top of the group with 4 points. Midweek, the Saudis travel to little neighbours Kuwait, while the South Koreans entertain Uzbekistan.
Top Scorer:
Basher Abdullah (Kuwait) - 2
Group B
1.Bahrain 2 1 1 0 2- 1 4
2.Iran 2 1 1 0 2- 1 4
------------------------------------
3.Japan 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
------------------------------------
4.North Korea 2 0 0 2 2- 4 0
Results:
North Korea 1-2 Bahrain
[Pak Song-Kwan 62; Husain Ali 7, 58]
Iran 2-1 Japan
[Hashemian 25, 75; Fukunishi 66]
Bahrain stunned North Korea with a 2-1 win in Pyongyang. They now lead the group after Iran had beaten Japan. The group still remains wide open, with Japan now entertaining surprise package Bahrain, whilst Iran tackle North Korea in Tehran.
Top Scorers:
Husain Ali (Bahrain) - 2
Vahid Hashemian (Iran) - 2
----------------------------------------*~Africa~*----------------------------------------
Only the Group winner gains qualification for the World Cup in Germany. Its first or nothing.
[b]Group 1
1.Senegal 6 4 1 1 15- 6 13
2.Zambia 6 4 1 1 8- 4 13
3.Togo 5 3 1 1 6- 2 10
4.Congo-Brazz. 6 2 0 4 6- 9 6
5.Liberia 6 1 1 4 2-13 4
6.Mali 5 0 2 3 3- 6 2
Results:
Senegal 6-1 Liberia
[Fadiga 17, Diouf 42 (pen), 84, Faye 52, Henri Camara 69, M. N’Diaye 73; Tondo 88]
Zambia 2-0 Congo-Brazzaville
[Tana 2, Mbesuma 44]
Mali A-A Togo *
[Coulibaly 16; Salifou 83, Maman 90]
* Match abandoned at 2-1 to Togo. The Togo team took a 90th minute lead, when the home crowd rioted and invaded the pitch. It will be almost certain that the AFC will rule in Togo’s favour, the outcome of any punishment for Mali, has yet to be decided.
Despite the ugly scenes at Bamako, it is both Zambia and Senegal that lead the pack. The 2002 World Cup hereos lead the way with a 6-1 crushing of poor Liberia. The English Premiership stars stole the show, with 5 of them scoring. Zambia however remain the only team likely to upset Senegal’s lead at the top. The surprise team of Group 1 will look to overtake the Lions when they play away to Togo and the leaders play in the Congo in June.
Top Scorer:
Collins Mbesuma (Zambia) - 4
Group 2
1.South Africa 6 4 0 2 7- 6 12
2.Cape Verde 6 3 1 2 6- 6 10
3.Ghana 6 2 3 1 7- 3 9
4.Congo-Kinsh. 6 2 3 1 6- 5 9
5.Burkina Faso 6 2 0 4 6- 8 6
6.Uganda 6 1 1 4 3- 7 4
Results:
Burkina Faso 1-2 Cape Verde
[Dagano 70; Morais 48, 88]
South Africa 2-1 Uganda
[Fortune (pen) 19, Pienaar 71; Obua (pen) 62]
Congo-Kishasa 1-1 Ghana
[Nonda 51; Gyan 31]
South Africa lead the pack as they continue to grind through the group. They are followed in to by the surprise challenge of Cape-Verde, who beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Ouagadougou. Both Ghana and Congo are on 9 points after they both blanked each other. South Africa will look to jump clear at the top when they travel to Cape-Verde. Both Congo and Ghana may look to capitalise on the outcome of that game, when they play at home to Uganda and Burkina Faso respectively.
Top Scorer:
Moumouni Dagano (Burkina Faso) - 3
Group 3
1.Ivory Coast 6 5 0 1 13- 3 15
2.Cameroon 6 3 2 1 9- 6 11
3.Egypt 6 3 1 2 15-10 10
4.Libya 6 3 1 2 8- 8 10
5.Benin 6 0 2 4 6-14 2
6.Sudan 6 0 2 4 3-13 2
Results:
Cameroon 2-1 Sudan
[Geremi 35, Webo 90+; Tambal 42]
Ivory Coast 3-0 Benin
[Kalou 12, Drogba 18 (pen), 59]
Egypt 4-1 Libya
[Mido 55, Meteab 57, 80, Ahmed Hassen 77; El-Fergani 52]
Cote d’ivoire and their array of vast European based talent took a four point lead at the top of the group 3. Cameroon on the other hand are struggling to get to grips and required an injury time goal from Achille Webo to get three points over the bottom side Sudan. With the indomitable lions looking for the leaders to slip up, there is also Egypt and Libya are also in with a shout of qualification despite the latter losing 4-1 to their near rivals in Cairo. Cameroon will look to grab another three points to lowly Benin, whilst Egypt play Sudan. Ivory Coast will also try and hamper Libya’s hopes of progression whilst trying to keep their lead at the top.
Top Scorers:
Aruna Dindane (Cote d’Ivoire) - 5
Didier Drogba (Cote d’Ivoire) - 5
Group 4
1.Nigeria 6 4 1 1 9- 2 13
2.Angola 6 3 2 1 5- 4 11
3.Zimbabwe 6 2 2 2 6- 6 8
4.Rwanda 6 2 1 3 5- 7 7
5.Gabon 6 1 3 2 8- 9 6
6.Algeria 6 0 3 3 2- 7 3
Results:
Nigeria 2-0 Gabon
[Aghahowa 84, Kanu 86]
Algeria 0-1 Rwanda
Zimbabwe 2-0 Angola
[Kawondera 60, Mwaruwaru 71]
Nigeria required two late goals from Kanu and Aghahowa to keep them top of Group 4. Angola the team in second place, suffered a major blow when they went down 2-0 to Zimbabwe. Algeria continue their nightmare World cup campaign with a loss at home to Rwanda. Nigeria will look to stay ahead of the pack when they take on Rwanda away, whilst Angola make look to capitalise by heaping more misery on Algeria. Zimbabwe play host to Gabon.
Top Scorer:
Said Abed (Rwanda) - 3
[b]Group 5
1.Morocco 6 3 3 0 10- 4 12
2.Kenya 5 3 0 2 8-10 9
3.Tunisia 5 2 2 1 15- 6 8
4.Guinea 6 2 2 2 9- 6 8
5.Botswana 6 2 0 4 5-11 6
6.Malawi 6 0 3 3 6-16 3
Results:
Kenya 1-0 Bostwana
[Oliech 45]
Morocco 1-0 Guinea
[Hadji 65]
Tunisia 7-0 Malawi
[Guemamdi 2, Santos 13, 52, 76, 77, Clayton (pen) 60, Ghodhbane 79]
Morocco maintain their unbeaten record after a tight 1-0 win over Guinea. The result proves crucial as it sends Guinea back down to 4th place. The main result of the day came in Tunis, as Brazilian born Santos scored four goals to give the current African Cup of Nations holders a 7-0 drubbing over bottom side Malawi. Kenya, who are trying to replay all their postponed matches after their exclusion from FIFA competition are looking to scythe down the North African teams’ lead at the top. With a game in hand, they will look to beat Guinea in Conakry, whilst the Tunisians play in Botswana and Morocco playing Malawi.
Top Scorer:
Francileudo dos Santos (Tunisia) - 5
----------------------------------*~North-and-Central-America~*------------------------------
The top three teams qualify automatically. The fourth team will play a playoff against the winner of the third-placed Asian playoff.
1.Mexico 2 2 0 0 4- 2 6
2.Guatemala 2 1 1 0 5- 1 4
3.Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
---------------------------------------
4.USA 2 1 0 1 3- 3 3
---------------------------------------
5.Panama 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1
6.Trinidad/Tobago 2 0 0 2 2- 7 0
Results:
Costa Rica 2-1 Panama
[Wilson (pen) 40, Myrie 90; Brown (pen) 58]
Guatemala 5-1 Trinidad and Tobago
[Ramirez 16, Ruiz 29, 37, Pezzarossi 77, 81; Edwards 31]
Mexico 2-1 USA
[Borgetti 30, Zinha 33; Lewis 59]
Costa Rica bounced back from their opening defeat to Mexico with a 2-1 win over surprise entrants Panama. Guatemala, the other surprise package crushed Trinidad and Tobago 5-1 with American based Carlos Ruiz scoring twice to maintain their unbeaten record. In the match-up of the day, the USA travelled south to neighbours Mexico. The home side triumphed thanks to two quick-fire goals in the first half. They now lead the pack with a 100% record. Midweek, the USA will look to bounce back when they take on Guatemala in Alabama. Mexico will look for another win to add to their streak when they travel to Panama. Trinidad and Tobago will look for their maiden win, when they take on Costa Rica at home.
Top Scorers:
Jaime Lozano (Mexico) - 2
Eddie Lewis (USA) - 2
Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala) - 2
----------------------------------------*~Oceania~*----------------------------------------
With the qualification group having already taken place last summer, both the Solomon Islands and Australia will now playoff in September, both home and away for a playoff place against the fifth placed South American team, sometime in November.
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