UEFA will have 13 spots for the 2010 WC. Two possible systems: 7 groups: winners + 5 best runners-up qualify directly. The other 2 play-off. 8 groups: winners + 2 best runners-up qualify directly. The other 6 play-off. 7 groups Pot 1: Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Czechia, Portugal Pot 2: Serbia, England, Poland, Turkey, Romania, France, Ukraine Pot 3: Greece, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, Israel Pot 4: Spain, Bulgaria, Finland, Scotland, Austria, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina Pot 5: Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania Pot 6: Belarus, Macedonia, Albania, Wales, Georgia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein Pot 7: Iceland, Armenia, Malta, Moldova, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan Pot 8: Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, San Marino 8 groups Pot 1: Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Czechia, Portugal, Serbia Pot 2: England, Poland, Turkey, Romania, France, Ukraine, Greece, Russia Pot 3: Denmark, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, Israel, Spain, Bulgaria, Finland Pot 4: Scotland, Austria, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia Pot 5: Northern Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Macedonia, Albania, Wales, Georgia Pot 6: Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Armenia, Malta, Moldova, Andorra, Azerbaijan Pot 7: Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, San Marino
I don't think 7 groups is likely, because then some teams might play 16 matches. That's a bit to much I think. I guess they will use 8 groups.
In order to eliminate "Best 2nd place" team advancing automatically (I just don't like it). How about one of the following alternatives. Not that UEFA will go for either of these, I'm just looking for other people opinions. Option A: 13 groups of 4 teams in which each team play two games at home against each of the other teams Current pots: Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Czechia, Portugal, Serbia, England, Poland, Turkey, Romania, France Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, Israel, Spain, Bulgaria, Finland, Scotland, Austria Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Macedonia, Albania, Wales Georgia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Armenia, Malta, Moldova, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, San Marino Advantages: - Total of 12 games in 12 game dates, less than other proposals. - One or two bad results will not eliminate a team. - The best team from each group is very likely to advance. Disadvantages: - The draw is going the key in determining the qualifiers. - Very few groups are likely to be competitive. - Having to play 4 games against the same team in a little over a year. Option B: 9 groups with 9 second place teams going into a play off, 4 seeded and 5 unseeded teams. 6 teams play home & away and the last three teams play each other only once (each team gets a single home game, like the UEFA U-21 qualifiers in 2006). The format will be: Unseeded 1 - Seeded Unseeded 2 - Unseeded 1 Seeded - Unseeded 2 Current pots: Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Czechia, Portugal, Serbia, England Poland, Turkey, Romania, France, Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Denmark, Norway Slovakia, Switzerland, Israel, Spain, Bulgaria, Finland, Scotland, Austria, Ireland Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus Macedonia, Albania, Wales, Georgia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Armenia, Malta Moldova, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, San Marino Advantages: - 10 match days for group play plus 2 game (3 match days) for 2nd place teams. - This will work well if Montenegro and Gibraltar take part in the 2010 WCQ (nine groups of 6 teams). Disadvantages: - unorthodox playoff format for one of the spots.
Some interesting ideas there Sagy... I quite like Option A from the point of view of having less games overall, and if you've played the same team three times already, the fourth game could be quite an interesting tactical battle. It could also be quite good (revenue and experience-wise) for some of the smaller teams (eg. Andorra may well relish the prospect of getting to play Spain or France four times in one season) But yes I think the likelihood is that the top-seeded team in each group is odds-on to qualify, without the excitement for the other teams of having the chance to reach a play-off. Option B I'm less keen on, mainly because, as you point out, it's another "non-standard" play-off format that is probably just as bad as "best 2nd-placed teams". I don't like the idea of reaching a play-off and then only having one single game in which to get through. The other disadvantage is that to make it fair, the one-game play-offs would have to be at a neutral venue, probably meaning less fans would be able to see the game
Thanks Clerification, the teams in the last playoff group do get to play two game (one home, one away) it is just that the games are not against same team: Team A plays team B at home and team C away. Team B plays team C at home and team A away. Team C plays team A at home and team B away. I do agree that the "non-standard" play-off format is a big issue.
Ahhhhh, sorry - trust me to miss the point entirely That isn't a bad idea - yes, it's still a "non-standard" format, but quite an interesting one, and I think I've changed my opinion now and prefer Option B - as long as there are playoffs, I'd be happy as I think the format for the current Euro2008 qualifiers just isn't as exciting.
*If* there happened to be 51 teams in the qualifiers, then three groups would only have 5 teams in. You could pre-arrange for the three runners up from these particular groups to play each other home and away, and they'd still only have to play 12 games each in all - 8 group games plus 4 playoff. In the 6-team groups it would be a max of 10 group games plus 2 playoff. And the overall chance of qualifying from these groups would be 4/15, which is really damn close to the 3/12 chance from the 6-team groups.
There aren't 51 teams. UEFA has 53 members now. If Montenegro will take part isn't completely certain yet I think, but you would at least have 52 teams in qualifying. And you say that these teams also play 12 matches. That's true, but because there are an odd number of teams in both the groups and the play-offs you need 16 matchdays for that. For the teams from groups of 6 you only need 12 matchdays.
Only one match played on February 7th (San Marino - Ireland 1 - 2). Ireland climbs 3 places to 27th. Finland, Scotland and Austria drop one place.
The deadline for confirming WCQ participation is March 1st 2007. Montenegro will only become a FIFA member in May 2007. Of course, it is possible that FIFA will allow them to confirm their participation after they gain membership.
Code: 1 Italy (TH) 2.200 2 Germany 2.600 3 Netherlands 2.556 4 Croatia 2.467 5 Sweden 2.400 6 Poland 2.353 7 Portugal 2.278 8 England 2.250 9 Czechia 2.222 10 Ukraine 2.176 11 France 2.133 12 Turkey 2.118 13 Romania 2.118 14 Serbia 2.063 15 Russia 2.000 16 Greece 1.941 17 Spain 1.933 18 Israel 1.813 19 Denmark 1.813 20 Switzerland 1.800 21 Slovakia 1.778 22 Ireland 1.765 23 Norway 1.667 24 Bulgaria 1.600 25 Scotland 1.563 26 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1.533 27 Finland 1.500 28 Austria 1.500 29 Northern Ireland 1.375 30 Hungary 1.333 31 Belgium 1.188 32 Belarus 1.133 33 Latvia 1.125 34 Slovenia 1.067 35 Estonia 1.000 36 Albania 0.941 37 Wales 0.933 38 Lithuania 0.933 39 Macedonia 0.889 40 Georgia 0.889 41 Liechtenstein 0.647 42 Cyprus 0.500 43 Armenia 0.471 44 Malta 0.467 45 Iceland 0.467 46 Azerbaijan 0.438 47 Moldova 0.438 48 Kazakhstan 0.333 49 Andorra 0.294 50 Faroe Islands 0.063 51 Luxembourg 0.000 52 San Marino 0.000 53 Montenegro 0.000 Pot 1: Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, England Pot 2: Czechia, Ukraine, France, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Greece Pot 3: Spain, Israel, Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria Pot 4: Scotland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Austria, Northern Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Belarus Pot 5: Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Albania, Wales, Lithuania, Macedonia, Georgia Pot 6: Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Armenia, Malta, Iceland, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan Pot 7: Andorra, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, San Marino, Montenegro Possible draw: Group A: Portugal, France, Israel, Belarus, Latvia, Moldova, Faroe Islands Group B: Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Malta, Luxembourg Group C: Germany, Greece, Norway, Belgium, Albania, Liechtenstein, San Marino Group D: Sweden, Serbia, Ireland, Hungary, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Andorra Group E: Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia, Cyprus, Montenegro Group F: Italy, Russia, Bulgaria, Northern Ireland, Wales, Armenia Group G: Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia, Scotland, Lithuania, Kazakhstan Group H: England, Romania, Denmark, Finland, Macedonia, Iceland
anyone know when the draw for this will be? i am assuming when euro2008 qualifying ends? so december 2007?
Now that we know UEFA will have 13 spots for 2010, it seems almost a certainty that they'll use the same scenario as last time: 8 groups, top 2 second place teams qualify, then the 6 other second place teams playoff for 3 spots. Having said that, you should have a little space between each "pot" of 8 teams in your list there, Edgar.
Hardest possible group Italy France Spain Austria Slovenia Iceland Easiest possible group Poland Serbia Slovakia Belarus Georgia Malta
what the hell is this based on ? Why would Poland be in Pot A and France be in Pot B. That makes absolutley no sense.
2006 World Cup qualifying Poland: 24 pts in 10 games France: 20 pts in 10 games 2008 European Championship qualifying Poland: 16 pts in 7 games France: 12 pts in 5 games Overall Poland: 40/17 = 2.35 PPG France: 32/15 = 2.13 PPG That's how it's decided.
wow, that's retarded, imo, cause that doesn't take into account things like having an easier versus a tougher group, and to not take into account any major tournaments, that is bogus. what a stupid system.
Taking into account results in the major tournaments themselves would hurt most teams that qualified. In France's case: Code: Points Games Ave Qualifiers 32 15 2.13 WC06+Euro04 22 11 2.00 Total 54 26 2.08 Easier v. harder groups is a legitimate criticism of this system. On the other side this system is based on "on the field" results. Can the system be improved upon? Yes, but this is not a bad system.