Yah, I agree. Also the gap b/w the best and worst teams in pot 6 is bigger than the gap in pot 5 or pot 4. So the group with Gibraltar in it is much more likely to have one of the "best" 2nd place teams than the group that has Kazahkstan. Why? Its unfair.
On UEFA including/excluding. Comparison of 2014 quals Rankings excluding 6th placed teams Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts G Greece 8 6 1 1 9 4 5 19 F Portugal 8 4 3 1 15 8 7 15 H Ukraine 8 4 3 1 11 4 7 15 C Sweden 8 4 2 2 15 13 2 14 E Iceland 8 4 2 2 15 14 1 14 D Romania 8 4 1 3 11 12 −1 13 A Croatia 8 3 2 3 9 8 1 11 B Denmark 8 2 4 2 9 11 −2 10 Rankings including 6th placed teams Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts G Greece 10 8 1 1 12 4 8 25 H Ukraine 10 6 3 1 28 4 24 21 F Portugal 10 6 3 1 20 9 11 21 C Sweden 10 6 2 2 19 14 5 20 D Romania 10 6 1 3 19 12 7 19 A Croatia 10 5 2 3 12 9 3 17 E Iceland 10 5 2 3 17 15 2 17 B Denmark 10 4 4 2 17 12 5 16 The two differences are a) Portugal drops - rather than being better than Ukraine on goals scored, they lose out thanks to Ukraine beating San Marino (as expected) by more than Portugal beat Luxembourg (and they only won 2-1 away). b) Icelands drops - but because the rankings used dropped their LOSS against Cyprus. This was Cyprus' only win. So, effectively the rankings used actually rewarded those teams that played badly against the weakest teams - rather than merely rewarding those that ran up big scores against the weakest teams (although this did occur to some extent) Changing it now would be unfair (although only if the teams involved were informed after they commenced playing - if they were notified then it's as much a matter of taste as anything) J
In that sense, it's no less fair than the UEFA WCQ system in general (e.g. one team gettting Moldova as the weakest opponent and another getting Gibraltar).
More so. In case of only results among 4 best teams in each group (as I posted before) : Grp...Team........ Pld...W...D...L.....GF...GA...GD..... Pts G......Greece.........6.....4....1....1......6.....3.......3.........13 H......Ukraine.........6.....3....2....1......9.....3.......6.........11 F.......Portugal........6.....3....2....1....10.....5.......5........11 C......Sweden........6.....2....2....2.....12....13....-1..........8 E......Iceland..........6.....2....2....2.....11....12....-1...........8 B......Denmark.......6....1....4....1......8......7......1...........7 D......Romania.......6.....2...1.....3.....7......12....-5..........7 A......Croatia..........6.....1....2....3.....5......5......0...........5 So with this in mind, Denmark got better results than both Romania and Croatia, against the better teams in their group, and would have got to the playoff's, instead of being eliminated by being the worst 2nd placed team. While Croatia saved their butts, basicly by the results they got against the other 2 "dead rubbers" in their group, against both of which they only got wins. Where Denmark also had to suffer the bad luck that their group, only included 1 "dead rubber", as their 5th placed team finished tied on points to the 4th placed team, at only 3 points behind the same Denmark, which also happened to defeat them in one of their 2 matches by a very expressive score (Croatia finished with a 7 point gap to their 5th placed team). In this scenario, the one eliminated without playing the playoff, (and not getting WC tickets, as they did later on), would have been Croatia.
True, but this adds another level of unfairness since two matches against Gibraltar == guaranteed six points and +10 goal difference. The goal difference benefit is of particular importance since inevitably 9 or 10 second-place teams are going to have around the same # of points and therefore GD tiebreaker will come into play somewhat often.
This is specific to Confed Cup, but presumably similar press rules would apply to the World Cup http://www.insideworldfootball.com/...-free-report-confed-cup-without-restrictions/
Human Right abuses are not only Qatar's problem: http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-world-cu...-workers-suffered-human-rights-abuses-reports
China’s Vivo signs on as FIFA sponsor for 2018 and 2022 World Cups http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2017/06/01/chinas-vivo-signs-fifa-sponsor-2018-2022-world-cups/
FIFA lands last-minute Russian TV deal with Match-TV: http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2017/06/05/fifa-lands-last-minute-russian-tv-deal-match-tv/
No PEDS in soccer. Well, we can all rest easy now...nothing to see here http://z-news.link/fifat-the-wada-need-worldwide-reform/
Fifa ‘has come up short’ in protecting Russia 2018 stadium workers https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/14/russia-2018-world-cup-finals-stadiums-fifa
pretty much the same as reported in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/...stadiums-fifa-2018-world-cup-russia.html?_r=0
Just watched a really good video on Russia 2018 that provides a counterpoint to the over-the-top BBC piece. This has got me even more excited about next year. I can't wait to get there. My prediction: LOST of amazing experiences, meeting great people from all over the world (including a lot of Russians), and zero negative experiences. Pretty much like Brazil. Anyway, give it a look:
I think it will be like most places on this planet. There's good neighborhoods and people who are welcoming and there's neighborhoods and people you need to avoid. If you are not looking for trouble you usually won't get any trouble.
Hiddink urges FIFA to pick best referees for World Cup "It's not a World Cup for referees, it's a World Cup for football teams," the Dutch coach said in St. Petersburg where he is analyzing Confederations Cup games for American broadcaster Fox Sports. "We want to have the best teams so we want to have the best referees as well. Not necessarily European. Without looking to their nationality, which are the best referees?" http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/article158020884.html I agree 100% and have been saying similar for years. The World Cup should only have the best Ref crews. If it means saying no to African and Asian and OONCACAF refs then so be it.
Things keep getting worse for Russia: Russia’s entire 2014 World Cup squad face Fifa doping investigation https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...014-world-cup-squad-fifa-doping-investigation & FIFA confirms doping investigation into Russian players http://www.espnfc.com/blog/fifa/243...doping-investigation-into-russian-footballers
Daily Mail reports Russias whole WC 2014 squad is under investigation for doping. Russian FA could be banned from own WC in 2018 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4635918/Russia-s-World-Cup-team-investigation-doping.html
There's not necessarily bad neighborhoods, fortunately still a bit of a carry over from the communist state that violent crime is extremely low. In many of the same apartment blocks are millionaire apartments with pensioners.