Argentina hung on for a 1-0 win over Uruguay, to complete matchday 4 of 5 in Group B. In Group A, Venezuela has played its 4 matches and advanced, top of the group. Two more teams will join them in the final Hex. Today we have: Brazil v Bolivia and Chile v Colombia Someone else can parse out all the possibilities, but there's at least one unfortunate one, based on scheduling. If Bolivia surprisingly defeats Brazil in the first game, Chile and Colombia would both advance with a draw in the later game. And if Brazil and Bolivia draw, Chile and Colombia might still advance with a high-scoring draw. If Brazil wins, they advance, so they control their own destiny. Host Chile will advance with a win or a draw - they have the advantage over Colombia - but likely are out with a loss.
Group B also has one round left, with the final two games tomorrow (Saturday), Argentina v Peru and Uruguay v Paraguay. Like Venezuela in Group A, Ecuador has played its 4 matches and advanced, top of the group. Two more teams will join them in the final Hex. The possible outcomes seem clearly defined: Argentina and Paraguay will advance with a win or a draw; Peru and Uruguay must win to advance.
Jeez.. Chile lost 1-0 to a 10 man Colombia on a 96th minute own goal and will not advance. They would have been through with a draw. Video here: Unbelievable. Imagine being a Chile fan right now.
So to wrap up the last stage, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela made it to the final round, which starts tomorrow. Four teams will go to Poland. Three will go to the Pan Am games later this year.
CAF's U20 tournament starts Saturday in Niger. There are two four-team groups, with the top 2 teams from each going to Poland. Based on recent senior results, it looks like Group B (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Senegal) could be a bit stronger than Group A (Burundi, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa) but I won't pretend to know anything about these squads.
After one match apiece in CONMEBOL, it's Ecuador with a win, Argentina with a loss, everyone else with draws. Fun!
CONMEBOL is getting interesting! If you had the table as VEN/URU (tie w/4 points apiece), ECU/ARG (tie w/3 points) and COL/BRA (tie w/1 point) after two matches, please go collect your winnings.
It's still pretty early in CAF -- not all teams have played a match yet. Senegal and Nigeria, playing in separate groups, both won their openers.
For the folks who have been tracking CONMEBOL qualifying -- I know this is a bit in the weeds, but does anyone have a sense of how Venezuela's Cristian Casseres Jr. has been playing? (He has a chance to slide into Tyler Adams' spot for Red Bulls in the upcoming MLS season.)
Current situation after three games. Brazil is in serious trouble.......................... It might not even go to that last group game of Brazil v Argentina. Next matchday is: Venezuela v Colombia Ecuador v Brazil. Argentina v Uruguay This isn't anything close to Brazil's best U20 team. For instance, Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid isn't there. But that's the way this works in 2019 for teams in the Americas.
In Conmebol, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia advanced; Venezuela and Brazil were eliminated. Final standings here ... https://www.google.com/search?q=con...-8#sie=lg;/g/11c6zk991d;2;/m/0f9ct2;st;fp;1;;
I'd be surprised if we weren't, especially if they use the same formula as last time, plus the fact that we're CONCACAF U20 champions again. That being said, this is also the second straight U20 World Cup without Brazil
Worth mentioning that this is nowhere near Brazil's best U20 squad. Not that it matters in the end...………………... One would have to imagine that the tragedy at Flamengo this past week must have had an effect on these boys as well. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47170055
A media advisory just distributed by FIFA advertises the tournament as offering "top football at affordable prices." Here are the rates, if you're interested: Ticket prices: Category I GROUP MATCHES (1 TO 36): PLN 20 ROUND OF 16 (37 TO 44): PLN 20 QUARTER-FINALS (45 TO 48): PLN 30 SEMI-FINALS (49 TO 50): PLN 30 MATCH FOR 3RD PLACE (51): PLN 30 FINAL (52): PLN 40 Category II GROUP MATCHES (1 TO 36): PLN 10 ROUND OF 16 (37 TO 44): PLN 10 QUARTER-FINALS (45 TO 48): PLN 20 SEMI-FINALS (49 TO 50): PLN 20 MATCH FOR 3RD PLACE (51): PLN 20 FINAL (52): PLN 30 (Current exchange rate: PLN 4.3 = EUR 1)
The 24 qualified teams will be allocated to four pots of six teams each, based on a ranking built according to past sporting performance. The ranking will be based on the total points obtained in the last five FIFA U-20 World Cups (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss). The ranking used to build the pots will thus be based on the points obtained at the 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011 and 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cups. To enable the ranking to accurately reflect current form, greatest importance will be given to results from the most recent FIFA U-20 World Cup. To a lesser degree, attention will also be paid to results from previous years. The system will use five cycles, with the points earned in one World Cup declining linearly: - Year 2017: 100% value of total points - Year 2015: 80% value of total points - Year 2013: 60% value of total points - Year 2011: 40% value of total points - Year 2009: 20% value of total points In addition, five bonus points will be added to each of the confederation champions that won a qualifying tournament. Based on the above ranking, the five top teams and the hosts will be allocated to Pot 1, the next six teams to Pot 2 and so on. https://resources.fifa.com/image/up...w-procedures.pdf?cloudid=gzb9a0ocrikxcfcndfhc
Here are the pots as per an email I just got from FIFA: Pot 1: Poland, Portugal, Uruguay, France, USA, Mexico Pot 2: Mali, Nigeria, New Zealand, Colombia, Korea Republic, Italy Pot 3: Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Argentina, Ecuador, Ukraine, Honduras Pot 4: Japan, South Africa, Panama, Norway, Qatar, Tahiti https://resources.fifa.com/image/up...w-procedures.pdf?cloudid=gzb9a0ocrikxcfcndfhc Poland hasn't qualified since 2007, when the U.S. ran all over them in Canada. They were an auto-qualifier, but they did participate in the European preliminaries, failing in the second of three rounds out of what was (based on traditional assumptions about who is good and who isn't -- I know nothing about the squads) a pretty balanced group. I guess it's a moot point since we won't see them in the group stage, but who knows -- particularly at home, they may not be the worst team in Pot 1. A sleeper might be Senegal. They didn't win the CAF qualifying tournament, but they had the Golden Ball winner and top goalscorer.
I guess the dream draw for the U.S. team would be USA, New Zealand, Honduras, Tahiti The nightmare would seem to be USA, Colombia, Argentina, Japan
We have to draw one of Italy, Ukraine, or Norway. Can’t have two teams from the same confederation in a group.
I said, that's FIFA (that's FIFA) and as funny as it may seem Some posters get their kicks Stompin' on a dream But Brian don't let it, let it get you down 'Cause this fine old thread it keeps spinnin' around