So many people are saying Portugal will be in the playoffs, but do they realize that if Portugal beat Switzerland they are automatically in with a bigger goal difference?
Who are all these people? Not in this thread... Anyway, big wins for Greece and France tonight. Greece looking good for the playoffs now. As for the big Ukraine x Croatia match, it now looks like both teams must win that game. Even though Croatia has the tiebreaker against Ukraine, if they only draw they will probably be the "worst" second-place team.
Greece play Gibraltar next ... that result will be discarded and they'll stay on 13 points ... others, who now have 11 points and a game in hand, can overtake them if they win their next game.
True, but there are 4 teams/groups that could be below Greece. Some will win and overtake Greece, but I highly doubt all will.
Wales - Ireland ... a draw helps neither Ukraine - Croatia ... a draw helps neither Sweden - Holland ... either Holland wins by 7 or Sweden will be through N.Iron ... just avoid losing against Norway by 2 Best chance is probably group F ... Scotland control their own destinhy ... a win and they're in the play-offs.
bad defenders? Pepe is bad? Raphael Guerrero (left back on Euro 2016 best XI) ? Cedric Soares? Nelson Semedo (starting now for Barcelona) Bruno Alves and Fonte have been reliable Another thing to remember is Portugal has two very good defensive midfielders who help shield the back 4, William Carvalho and Danilo, and the coach alternates between them depending on the opponent. the biggest weakness with Portugal is that they have zero depth beyond the top 2/3 CBs. If you are gonna mention the offence why not Andre Silva who has 8 goals in qualifying and is forming a strong partnership with Ronaldo? He has more goals than most countries top forward. Nani hasn't been getting games lately, he is losing out to Bernardo Silva, Gelson Martins, and Goncalo Guedes who have been getting called. Quaresma continues to get called and game time, as he has usually been very good for the national team despite his advancing age.
Portugal does seem to be going through a bit of a CB crises right now. Fonte has regressed after his move from Southampton to West Ham, and younger guys like R.Semedo and Edgar Ie are still huge question marks, and certainly won't be the next Pepe or R.Carvalho. Good news is, looks like Pepe could still have a couple more solid years left in him. Also fortunate we have two very solid DMs that can support the ageing CBs, but either way certainly looks like a weakness going forward. I'm crazy excited for the Ukraine v Croatia game, find it odd that any team still in the hunt would fire a manager with 1 game left. The players haven't defended him so I guess they were never comfortable with him in the first place. This game has the potential for some crazy drama and tension. I would also like to add that I'm continuing to love the story behind Iceland. The make their first Euro and even make it to the QF and following that with what looks to be first place in a group with Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey. I hope there is nobody left that believe they are lucky, because at this point it should be clear they are a solid team and work wonderfully as a unit.
This its the third time Croatia has done that. Sacked their manager just before World Cup 2014 playoffs, sacked their manager just before last round of Euro 2016 qualifying, and sack their manager again now just before World Cup 2018 playoffs. I wish Italy would do that. Our manager needs to be sacked. Hopefully he will be after Albania game. No way is Iceland a lucky team. They are a solid team. Honestly a second tier European team after the big ones if you ask me. Back in 2012 their U21 team started spark up and do really well, and then they inherited the players by the 2014 World Cup qualifying. In fact their U21 team now is still doing really well!
So Greece clinched a playoff spot since Scotland couldn't win their match (assuming they beat Gibraltar). Slovakia now are in big danger of being the worst second-place team. They need either Wales x Ireland or Ukraine x Croatia to finish in a draw (but of course those teams know that a draw is no good for them so its very unlikely that any draws will occur).
I wouldn't be so sure of that. They'll fight until the end and if they are equal it might result in a draw. Wales vs Ireland (Pretty even game since Bale is suspended) Ukraine vs Croatia (Croatia should be favorites, but have really been underperforming, and Ukraine is home, so its probably 50-50 as well) Draws are really possible.
Its always possible. But the only way I can see a draw happening in either game is if a team equalizes in the last couple of minutes (so there's no time for someone to find a winner). If its tied with 15 minutes to go, I assure you both teams will be playing wide-open and a goal is almost inevitable. Similar situation happened between Chile and Ecuador a few days ago. Slovakia is screwed!
Well, one more day of group stage qualifying left, but we know almost everything already. Here are the playoff teams: Sweden, Portugal/Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, No. Ireland, Greece Who will be seeded in the draw? That's a tougher question but I'm guessing: Portugal/Switzerland, Italy, Denmark and Croatia(?)
Yes. Although there are new rankings released before next week's draw, so N. Ireland's two recent defeats could reduce their ranking. But they seem to be a long way ahead of Denmark in ranking points, so I doubt they will drop to a second seed. Which means we could see a N. Ireland v R of Ireland playoff... Edit: but they could drop below Sweden though?... hmm. Sweden is only 27 ranking points behind at present.
There are some good defensive teams in the unseeded playoff pot. I wouldn't want to be a country like Italy or Portugal and have to go through these playoffs.
Nope Italy, Denmark, Portugal/Switzerland, and Croatia. Denmark will move to 1001 points. I calculated on the FIFA site. Northern Ireland will drop to 876 points or something like that.
Ah, ok, I see this tool on the FIFA site: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-tools/prognosis.html
So even if Sweden wins tomorrow, which I expect they will, they'll only reach 999 points. A mere 2 points less than Denmark.
I hope so. It's only fair. We missed the playoffs (as the worst 2nd place team) for the 2014 World Cup by the same exact amount: 2 points out of 1,000.
If it happens, it will be the third time in the last five major qualifying campaigns that Sweden or Denmark will have knocked out the other.
We're never lucky in these draws so I expect nothing less then Italy or Portugal in the playoff. First lets avoid losing to the dutch with 7-0, hope for a win and a miracle by Belarus.
correct me if i am wrong but iceland is by faaaar the smallest country population-wise that ever qualified for a world cup.
As A Greek i definately hope Swe and Den dont face each other as Denm is probably going to be hte weakest tema in there. Even Croatia looks appealing considering the rest.