Repeat: everything could happen but that Bulgaria was a recognized "strong" team and the fact that they eliminated France came as no surprise for everybody but the French guys ...
How so? They missed WC 1990. They did qualify in 1970, 1974 and 1986 prior to that... They hadn't made it to a Euro since 1968. Where and when did they gain that recognition? I am afraid they were just, at best, a bubble team. No different from a dozen or so other national teams.
Ft It was a great team because it featured the best Bulgarian players of all the Bulgarian soccer history. These players (just one name, Stoichkov) were world-wide recognized. However, I agree with you: it was a bubble because when those players left, nothing remained ...
183. and 182. American Samoa and Cook Islands Tonga 0:3 Samoa American Samoa 2:0 Cook Islands American Samoa, Samoa, and Cook Islands each had 6 points. Samoa won the group on goal differential.
178. Nicaragua Jamaica 2:3 Nicaragua Nicaragua 0:2 Jamaica 177. Curacao Curacao 0:1 El Salvador El Salvador 1:0 Curacao
174. Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tome and Principe 1:0 Ethiopia Ethiopia 3:1 Sao Tome and Principe 173. Mauritius Mauritius 2:5 Kenya Kenya 0:0 Mauritius Ethiopa-Sao Tome and Principe and Kenya-Mauitius both were supposed to start at 9:00 A.M. USA Eastern. The game in Kenya ended after the game in Ethiopia. Africa will have 10 games on Tuesday October 13 and eliminated 20 countries in November.
172. Yemen North Korea 1-0 Yemen After failing to pick up a single point in 5 games, Yemen are now mathematically eliminated as they can no longer get 1 of the 2 top spots in their group. 171. Central African Republic Central African Republic 0-3 Madagascar Madagascar 2-2 Central African Republic Both legs were actually played in Madagascar.
170. Bhutan Bhutan 0 - 1 Hong Kong A very late goal for HK means Bhutan (0 pts, 5 GP) can no longer catch up to Qatar (12 pts) or Hong Kong (10 pts).
169. Cambodia Singapore 2 - 1 Cambodia Same situation as Yemen & Bhutan, Cambodia (0pts 5 GP) canot place above Japan or Singapore, both with 10 points so far.
168. Seychelles Followed up a 0-1 home loss to Burundi with a 2-0 road loss in Burundi; eliminated 3-0 on aggregate.
167. Gambia Followed up a 1-1 home draw to Namibia with a 2-1 road loss in Namibia; eliminated 3-2 on aggregate.
166. India This is a tricky one. India sits on 0 points with 3 matches to play; India can therefore earn at most 9 points. Oman already has 11 points, so India cannot catch Oman. Turkmenistan and Guam both have 7 points, and both have a match remaining against Iran, who has 8 points. If Turkmenistan defeats Iran, Turkmenistan will have at least 10 points and India will no longer be able to catch Turkmenistan; if Guam defeats Iran, Guam will have at least 10 points and India will no longer be able to catch Guam; if neither Turkmenistan nor Guam defeats Iran, Iran will have at least 10 points and India will no longer be able to catch Iran. So there are at least two teams who will finish ahead of India, so India cannot finish in the top two, so India cannot advance to the next stage, so India is eliminated.
165. Sierra Leone Heartbreak for Sierra Leone as their valiant comeback attempt falls just short. Lost 1-0 in Chad, then went down 0-1 at home in the 45th minute. Down two goals on aggregate with 21 minutes to play in regulation, they scored in the 70th and 75th minute, but a 2-1 home win led to a 2-2 aggregate draw and elimination by the away-goals tiebreaker.
Thanks, I was about to post the same thing 165. Sierra Leone Chad 1 - 0 Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 2 - 1 Chad
Poor Michael Lahoud, I always appreciated his efforts when he played for Chivas USA. Too bad he probably will never play in a World Cup.