Nations Cup / WC qualifiers

[charlgerber]

I think it is a bad idea to make the African Nations Cup finals serve as World Cup qualifiers.

I agree that it should increase the seriousness of the tournament and that it would be a lot less severe on the fixture schedule, but I still don't feel this is the right thing to do.

Is the 2004 Nations Cup the WC qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup? In my opinion, the WC qualifiers should be decided a lot closer to the WC. A lot can happen in the more than 2 years that is now effectively the break before the WC.

I also think the teams need more competition to compete at the WC finals. They need the team-building and travelling as squad that goes with the WC qualifying campaign.

I predict African football will be the worse for this arrangement.

[saabrian]

I agree. In order to reduce fixture congestion, I think the more sensible option would be to make the CAN once every four years. That avoids a situation where you have CAN qualifiers and WC qualifiers in the same period.

I don't think the CAN really suffers from a lack of respect from the national federations, in contrast to CONCACAF's Gold Cup. I think if there were fewer fixtures, European clubs might be less reluctant to release players.

[Baza]

Its a pity the CAF need the money - hence keeping it every 2 years..The qualifiers for 2006 Nations Cup are the ones used for the World Cup (not 2004). They are going to qualify the 4 semi finalists and then work a way for the other nation, from the quarters to qualify. They problem is how they draw the World Cup before knowing who qualifies from Africa?
An easier way for the qualifications to work is not to group teams but to have a knock out system, like they used to have instead of trying to fit in lots of matches..

[MasterShake29]

I believe that when the plan was announced, FIFA indicated they would move the draw back to accomodate the Nations Cup, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[saabrian]

Originally posted by MattBurlew
I believe that when the plan was announced, FIFA indicated they would move the draw back to accomodate the Nations Cup, so it shouldn't be a problem.

But which CAN will be used as the qualifier: 2004 or 2006? If they use 2006, the draw will be REALLY late.

[MasterShake29]

I beleive 2006. Seems to me the 2002 draw was quite early (even if it always is that way), so it may not be that big of a problem.

[IASocFan]

For 2002 and 1998, the draw was held the previous December, after the last playoff qualifiers - which were in November.

[ursula]

Here's a short article from the BBC that states that indeed the 2006 ANC is to be used for WC qualifying for Germany 2006. It also says that this October will be the meeting to determine who hosts the competition. I presume once the host gets named than the actual schedule will be announced and we'll have an idea when the grouping for Germ,any 2006 will then be announced. Algeria, Libya, Ivory Coast, or Egypt are in the running.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/2210071.stm

[desertfox2]

I really believe that this is a very dumb idea. I mean, first of all, these are 2 completely different tournaments. CAN shouldn't have added significance. Also, if the semi-finalists are the team going to the World Cup Finals, will they even care if they win the African Cup of Nations? So I mean right there that is disgracing the tournament. Plus, the host nation would have such a huge advantage at qualifying which isn't fair to everyone else. I mean, I know they are having fixtures problems but this is just insane if you ask me.

[BrianCappellieri]

SoccerNet (http://www.soccernet.com/global/news/2002/0904/20020904nationscup.html)Tough Nations Cup start for Nigeria and South Africa

World Cup finalists Nigeria and South Africa face difficult starts to their African Nations Cup qualifying campaigns with tough away games at the weekend as the battle for places at the 2004 finals begins.

[BrianCappellieri]

SoccerNet (http://www.soccernet.com/global/news/2002/0909/20020909ancwrap.html)South Africa cling on for 0-0 draw against Ivory Coast

South Africa held on for an important away point when they drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast in their opening African Nations Cup Group 11 qualifier on Sunday.

[mr magoo]

there would hell on if they decided to make the European championship the qualifiers for the world cup just to reduce fixture conjestion. Who ever decided on the ruling (sp) needs there head sorted out.

[MasterShake29]

Well, the Nations Cup is held every two years, and CAF did not want to change that, while the Euro is held every four years. So that's why the decision was made.

[saabrian]

Originally posted by mr magoo
there would hell on if they decided to make the European championship the qualifiers for the world cup just to reduce fixture conjestion. Who ever decided on the ruling (sp) needs there head sorted out.

Yeah, well Africa isn't Europe. I think it's fair to say UEFA and European FAs have substantially more resources than CAF and its members!

[photar74]

I think that using the 2006 CAN as the 2006 CAF WCQ has several problems, but is generally a better idea than the qualifying system used for the previous two WCs.

The bigest problem with this format obviously is one of competitive fairness. A major advantage will be given to the host nation, and therefore an almost equally large disadvantage to the three nations grouped with the host. This would be further exasperated if the hosts were to reach the quarterfinals or the fifth place match.

The other major problem would be the reduced importance of the semifinals and final, as these teams will have already qualified for the WC Finals and will probably see a big let down as a result. However, the resulting playoffs between the losing quarterfinalists for the final WC Finals place will probably add at least as much intrigue to the tournament as will be lost.

On the positve side, it will add more prestige to the tournament, as almost the entire footballing world will take notice of the tournament now. The CAF might even be able to get some nice TV deals out of it, which would help them get out of the red.

Also, reducing the number of times each nation has to travel and call in their players will be a great help to the large amount of poor, financially strapped national federations in the CAF.

Further, it should improve the performance of CAF teams at the 2006 finals. With only four months separating qualifiyng from the finals, CAF will have a better chance of sending to Germany its five best teams at the time. This is the case not only because of the time frame involved, but also because two strong teams in a difficult draw will now both have the chance to qualify. If, for example, Senegal and Morocco are drawn in the same group as they were in qualifying for '02, the second place team will now still have a chance to qualify.

While certainly not perfect, I think that overall this is a good move by CAF. It should ease the fixture schudule without in most cases actually reducing the number of matches need to qualify. It should ease the financial burden on poor federations. It should icrease the worldwide prominence of African soccer as it will be the only major interntional event taking place in early 2006. CAF representitives should perform better in the Finals as a result of this, and the confederation as a whole should reap some much needed financial benefits.

[Emara]

I dont think its a totally bad idea, its got its pros and cons.

First, I am very skeptical about CAF being able to control such a tournament now that it has 3 times the importance it had in 2002 or 2004. Did anyone watch the YOUTH ACN ? Its also a qualifier for the youth world cup. Last time it was held in Ethiopia in 2001, it was a complete joke. A scandal ! The whole tournament was played on one pitch. Cameroon and Egypt were judged to have fixed their match ONLY 10 minutes into their game, and thats when the Ethiopian fans (the "experts") decided to simply rush into the pitch and beat up the players. The Ethiopian fans rushed onto the pitch 3 times during the tournament with no security whatsoever.

Anyways..

Its also not a bad idea because teams actually have more than one chance to qualify. In the old system Group C for WC2002 had Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Algeria.. Thats not a fair group at all and I would say all four teams deserved to play in the world cup (in fact, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria have played in the WC before so I am not sure how were they grouped together), but only one team can qualify.

With the new system, if a team finished second in the group stages they will still play the quarters and will have a chance to qualify.

But again, you are faced with the home advantage problem. Look, Mali hosted the ACN last time and they made the SEMI FINALS.. Nigeria/Ghana hosted ACN 2002 and Nigeria made the FINALS.. In ACN98 Burkina Faso hosted the championship and they made the SEMI FINALS.. In ACN96 South Africa hosted and they won it.. etc etc..

[saabrian]

I don't see how you solve the "home advantage problem". South Africa in '96 and Nigeria in 2000 were both quality teams and might have gotten that har without home advantage. Burkina '98 and Mali 2002 were otherwise mediocre teams. But how can you deal with this? Do you hold the African Nations Cup in the Faroe Islands or in the Bahamas?

[Emara]

And who said it "will" or "must" be solved ?

You can't solve it.. Thats probably the biggest problem and thats why you will hear of CAF favouritsm when selecting future ACN hosts because every country now wants to host the ACN.