2018 FIFA Club World Cup: Tournament News & Qualifiers [R]

Nico Limmat · Mar 16, 2018

jared9999 said: ↑

@Nico Limmat

A possible Super Classico in the final.

The equivalent of a boca-river in the final of Libertadores or a barca-real Madrid in the final of UCL!!
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That would indeed be a tremendous final but given developments in the quarterfinals - far from certain. The stars appear to be aligning for MLS this year.

Nico Limmat · Mar 16, 2018

UEFA Quarterfinals Draw:

Barcelona - Roma
Sevilla - Bayern Munich
Juventus - Real Madrid
Liverpool - Man City

Juve - Real the match of the round.

Nico Limmat · Mar 28, 2018

The CAF Group Stage is fully set.

Notable eliminations in qualifying were:

Misr Lel-Makkasa (Egypt)
Al Merrikh (Sudan)
Al Hilal (Sudan)
MFM FC (Nigeria)
Plateau United (Nigeria)
Vita Club (DR Congo)
Bidvest Wits (South Africa)

No Nigerian or Sudani clubs in the group stage.

AlbertCamus · Apr 2, 2018

unclesox said: ↑

A bit hard to believe but I read that this is the first time in the UEFA Champions League that all eight quarterfinalists hail from the so-called big four leagues of Spain, England, Germany and Italy.
And given the new format beginning next season it will likely happen again sooner rather than later.
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New format?
Thanks for starting the thread, I enjoy this one every year.

Paul Calixte · Apr 2, 2018

The Concacaf Champions League wraps up this month: semifinals this week and next, then the Final over the following two weeks. It starts with Toronto FC hosting Club América tomorrow and Chivas receiving the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.

jared9999 · Apr 2, 2018

Paul Calixte said: ↑

The Concacaf Champions League wraps up this month: semifinals this week and next, then the Final over the following two weeks. It starts with Toronto FC hosting Club América tomorrow and Chivas receiving the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
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Who's your picks for the final?

Paul Calixte · Apr 2, 2018

Red Bulls and América

unclesox · Apr 2, 2018

AlbertCamus said: ↑

New format?
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"Format" may be the wrong word. But I meant that the top four leagues will have four clubs each in the group stage without having to go through the playoff round. Half the field of 32 will be taken by those four leagues.

EvanJ · Apr 3, 2018

https://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/AccessList2018.html has the 2018-2019 UEFA Champions League access list. The amount of clubs starting in the Group Stage will go up from 22 to 26. The amount of qualifying spots for champions will go down from 5 to 4. The amount of qualifying spots for non-champions will go down from 5 to 2, but the clubs in it will be worse because the top leagues won't play in it. The top league with a club in qualifying will be France, who is ranked fifth, or Russia, who is ranked sixth. The third place club in France will start in the Group Stage if the Europa League winner qualifies for the Group Stage through its league.

Nico Limmat · Apr 5, 2018

CONCACAF, Semifinals - First Leg:
Toronto FC (Canada) - Club America (Mexico) 3:1
Chivas (Mexico) - New York Red Bulls (USA) 1:0

Impressive result by Toronto. They are definitely in flirt mode with the title now. All to play for next week in both series.

UEFA, Quarterfinals - First Leg:
Barcelona - Roma 4:1
Sevilla - Bayern Munich 1:2
Juventus - Real Madrid 0:3
Liverpool - Man City 3:0

Just about all of these seem decided. What an impressive first half Liverpool had against Manchester City. Terrific.

What a superb goal by Ronaldo that broke Juve. Could Real Madrid really win three UCL titles in a row?

unclesox · Apr 5, 2018

Nico Limmat said: ↑

CONCACAF, Semifinals - First Leg:
Toronto FC (Canada) - Club America (Mexico) 3:1
Chivas (Mexico) - New York Red Bulls (USA) 1:0

Impressive result by Toronto. They are definitely in flirt mode with the title now. All to play for next week in both series.
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Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan will referee the América-Toronto second leg as part of an officiating exchange between CONCACAF and AFC.
A CONCACAF officiating crew will work an AFC Champions League semifinal later this year.
The folks in the refereeing forum don't have high hopes for the Azteca second leg.

Nico Limmat · Apr 7, 2018

unclesox said: ↑

Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan will referee the América-Toronto second leg as part of an officiating exchange between CONCACAF and AFC.
A CONCACAF officiating crew will work an AFC Champions League semifinal later this year.
The folks in the refereeing forum don't have high hopes for the Azteca second leg.
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That will be interesting to see after the first leg fracas:
http://torontosun.com/sports/soccer...d-by-club-america-coach-during-halftime-melee

PS: Al Ain have nearly wrapped up the UAE league. They will be the first qualifier.

Nico Limmat · Apr 7, 2018

Here's hoping Dubai becomes the secondary venue for 2018 CWC matches replacing Al Ain. The new Al Maktoum Stadium for Al Nasr will be completed by October and is also scheduled to host 2019 Asian Cup games.

http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/333013/Al-Maktoum-Stadium-reconstruction-on-track

With a capacity of 15,000 it would be the smallest CWC stadium ever but given the lousy attendance numbers last year it will do just fine for non-UEFA matches.

Nico Limmat · Apr 9, 2018

The OFC semis are set:

Lautoka (Fiji) - Marist (Solomon Islands)
Team Wellington (NZL) - Auckland City (NZL)

Go Team Welly! Seven consecutive titles is enough!

Also hope Marist goes through. Solomon Islands are the only nation that can pull an attendance of 20K in this competition at Lawson Tama Stadium.

Nico Limmat · Apr 10, 2018

Big night in CONCACAF tonight. Mexico's world record 12-year winning streak could be coming to an end.

On another note, someone finally created a combined IC/CWC winner list on wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_champion_football_clubs

And no, it wasn't me.

unclesox · Apr 11, 2018

Apart from perhaps one missed penalty call Irmatov looked to have a great night at the Azteca. Didn't fall for any of América's simulations to gain a penalty after the Toronto goal and appropriately dished out bookings for fouls.
Missed the earlier semifinal but it's Chivas-Toronto for the CWC ticket.

AlbertCamus · Apr 11, 2018

I think that was Club America's stadium, not the Azteca. I don't speak much Spanish, just judging by the visual. It was a good game. I didn't watch the first game, Chivas, either. I am looking forward to the final.

I agree the refereeing was good. I didn't think Club America simulated anymore than Toronto did, but I missed parts of the first half.

unclesox · Apr 11, 2018

AlbertCamus said: ↑

I think that was Club America's stadium, not the Azteca. I don't speak much Spanish, just judging by the visual.
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It was definitely the Azteca. It's been going through quite a renovation in recent months.

BocaFan · Apr 11, 2018

unclesox said: ↑

"Format" may be the wrong word. But I meant that the top four leagues will have four clubs each in the group stage without having to go through the playoff round. Half the field of 32 will be taken by those four leagues.
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And if Arsenal win the EL, it will be 17 out of 32.

But that's not greatly different from what we have now where up to 15 teams from the top 4 leagues can partake in the group-stage. I know 4 have to still qualify, but on average you'd expect 3 of them to make the group-stage.

Nico Limmat · Apr 11, 2018

unclesox said: ↑

Apart from perhaps one missed penalty call Irmatov looked to have a great night at the Azteca.
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Sure hope CONCACAF sends a quality ref to Asia in October.

CONCACAF Final: Toronto (Canada) - Chivas (Mexico)

It all starts next week...

AlbertCamus said: ↑

I think that was Club America's stadium, not the Azteca.
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The Azteca's is Club America's home ground.

Nico Limmat · Apr 14, 2018

UEFA Semis

Bayern Munich - Real Madrid
Liverpool - Roma

The Spanish-Italian club rivalry is alive and well. If you didn't tune in you really missed out. What a Roma comeback against Barcelona and then Juventus nearly forced extra time in Madrid, leading 3:0. Only a harsh penalty was able to stop the old lady in heartbreaking fashion.

I can't help but feel that the stars are aligning for Real Madrid for a three-peat.

EvanJ · Apr 14, 2018

Nico Limmat said: ↑

I can't help but feel that the stars are aligning for Real Madrid for a three-peat.
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Why? They have to face Bayern, who has been better domestically than Liverpool or Roma.

unclesox · Apr 14, 2018

Manchester City and Barcelona have been better domestically than Liverpool and Roma. It means nothing in a rise-to-the-occasion knockout tournament..

EvanJ · Apr 16, 2018

Yes, but do you think Real Madrid is happy with the draw?

unclesox · Apr 16, 2018

EvanJ said: ↑

Yes, but do you think Real Madrid is happy with the draw?
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They're no more or less happier with the semifinal draw than they were with the Round of 16 and quarterfinal draws.
Because, as they have proven, it doesn't matter in a rise-to-the-occasion knockout tournament.