Has the format for UEFA WCQ been decided? If so, how many teams/group, and how are we likely to be seeded? If not, when will we know?
There will be 14 UEFA teams at the 2006 WC, so when you exclude Germany, there are 13 places up for grabs. 51 teams will be drawn into three groups of seven teams and five groups of six teams with the eight group winners and the two best runners-up qualifying automatically. The six other group runners-up will contest play-offs to decide the other three teams to qualify. The draw takes place in December. More here: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/News/Kind=128/newsId=80544.html
We will be second seeds. The only top seed team that we can hope to compete with is Sweden. All other top seeds, Italy, France, England etc. all look too strong for us so unless we get Sweden we're probably hoping for second at best. Some very dangerous third seeds such as Romania to be avoided.
no way , I would have no fear of being in the same group as the Swiss or the Russians. Lets face it they are pretty sh1te(both of them) . That does not say a whole lot for this current irish side but get this.... We have 11 months to get it right , the Swiss and the Russians(most likely) will both have been to the Euro2004 comp, They would be ripe for a good clubbing at the hands of a new irish setup and the revenge would be sweet. I , for one, would be happy to get either of those teams in our group for qualifiers next September. Don't you think we would have a great chance of giving the Swiss a good trimming in September? This Irish side will only get better. It has to. The Swiss , on the other hand are at the very peak of thier potential......and they will definitely be whipping buys in Portugal.
"All other top seeds, Italy, France, England etc. all look too strong for us so unless we get Sweden we're probably hoping for second at best. Some very dangerous third seeds such as Romania to be avoided." Far as i'm concerned, bring them all on. We will have a new team by then. The deadwood will be gone and replaced by hungry young players with a point to prove. Stephen Kelly, Thornton, Miller, Andy Reid, Walters, To name a few. Our Propects have seldom looked better. The mcCarthy era will now be finnally put to rest. The era of Brian Kerr has now finnally begun. Let the likes of England & Italy underestimate us at thier peril. We have nothing to worry about, you wait and see. Jonah
I completely agree with both Barna and Jonah. We have almost an entire calendar year to prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers. Let's not forget that in Brian Kerr, we have unearthed a real gem of a coach. Under him, until last weekend, we had never lost a match. He took our youth side to third in the world in 97, and won the Euro title in 98, with alot of the players that are now on the Irish side. He also has experience with some other Irish youngsters who have yet to make it to the senior team. Real winners too. Lads like Liam Miller, Eamon Zayed, Graham Barrett, and Anthony Stokes. By the time, the lot of them are called up, keeping in mind that Keane and Duff, despite playing like field generals, are still both in their early twenties. Besides, we never known when Mr.Kerr will give me the call. So I agree. On with England, on with France, Give us Italy, And hand us the Dutch, again. Or better yet, The Spanish. We still need to use our vengeance from the 94 qualifiers and Korea/Japan. After all, the last time the WC qualifiers came around, we were expected to finish third, and not have a ghost of a chance. Remember that? Sebastian
You say that now! The problem with Ireland, is that you dont have players that play for top club sides. Dont get offended, im just speaking my view. Apart from Duff, who is a good player, you only really have Robbie Keane, playing for Tottenham, and they are hardly a top team, the rest come from lowly, struggling premieship sides and division 1 teams. In my opinion, anY 2nd rate team can beat any other, Switzerland, Ireland, Iran, they are all of a similar standard, play messy football, and lack any more than one or two good players. I have nothing against Ireland, but I do remember after the world cup a lot of Irish folk claiming to be BETTER than England, and various other top nations because of your performance against Spain, it was crazy. I think you will always have a similar pool of players as you have now because you are only a small nation. I respect Ireland because they play with spirit, and I think you have great fans, but the standard of football you play, though full of spirit, is very poor. Im not trolling people, just saying what I think of the Irish team, do yo think you have anyone waiting to come through for Ireland, other than O'Shea?
It's not all about individuals, Englands number one is a first division player. France regularly play a guy who was a joke at Fulham, if you look at players by their clubs or reputations alone you'll get a very difference picture of football then the real thing. Take someone like Cunningham, hasn't got a big reputation but Birminghams defencive record with him in there speaks for itself. You'd probably completley dismiss him because he doesn't play for Man U, but I'd have him ahead of most others. If you were to pick an Irish XI based on the team they play for, or their reputations, you'd get a completley different team to what I'd call our full strenght one. I think if we picked a team on clubs alone it looks pretty strong. You'd go with Given - Newcastle, Finnan - Liverpool, Carr - Spurs, O'Brien - Newcastle, O'Shea - Manchester United, Duff - Chelsea, Reid - Blackburn, Miller - Celtic, Holland - Charlton, Delap - Southampton, Keane - Spurs. All regulars, two captains in fact, and most playing for big British teams, at worst mid table (In Holland and Delaps case). I think there's alot of talent coming through and alot to be optimistic about, our standard of play is far from 'poor' when were at our best and, given the right management, Germany 2006 should be our best ever major tournament, in my opinion. As for people emerging, keep an eye on Andy Reid. He'll be as big as Duff given a chance, he really will. Lets not forget at his age Duff was in the first division too.
Let's also not forget that results count; when the draw for these present groups was made UEFA, based on results, had Ireland as a number 1 seed and England as a number 2 seed. I know that the results in the groups have since upended that, but UEFA did judge Ireland as being better than England prior to the draw. So this "2nd rate team" that plays "messy football" and lacks "any more than one or two good players," must have done something right, huh?
Reid => Houghton Was watching Andy Reid at the weekend.......has anyone noticed that he is mould of Ray Houghton or what!!! Busy, up and down, creator and can hit a shot... closey
teams that Ireland must avoid in qualifying for WC 2006. Italy,Spain,Turkey,Holland,England,Switzerland,Russia,Greece,Romania,Bulgaria,France,Belgium,Croatia Serbia&Montenegro,Slovenia,Latvia,Portugal,Sweden,Denmark,Norway,Poland,Ukraine,Albania. Question ? Why did people think that Ireland were going to beat Switzerland away from home given the fact that Ireland have never beaten a decent side away from home before in a qualifying tournment ? Would Ireland beat any of the above teams away from home. I doubt it and you could probably throw in a few more aswell. the likes of Finland,Wales,Bosnia,Iceland,Lithuania spring to mind. The man is right we don't have the strength in depth of quality players. We are a small country with a very poor domestic league we can never hope to be or never should be compared to England with their 100 or so professional clubs. I think Ireland hit a peak about 10 to 15 years ago and lucky for jack Charlton he happened to be in the hot seat at the time and was able to call on some genuine international class players. Imagine being able to field a team with, Bonner,Moran,McGrath,O'Leary,Staunton,Houghton,Townsend,Aldridge,Stapleton,Whelan,Irwin,Roy Keane etc etc. I'm afraid the immediate future looks bleak. these up-and-coming players may add something but there aren't enough of them. It's time to send the scouts and FindAnotherIrishman.
That leaves Azerbaijan and Liechtenstien, by my reckoning......Don't think FIFA do 3 team groups anymore.
Yes. Oh and I forgot to mention Czech,hungry, and Austria. Yes a nice easy group would be. Republic Of Ireland San Marino Andorra Leichenstein Luxemborg I reckon we could pick up maximum points from San Marino and Andorra. We could beat Leichenstein and Luxemborg at Celtic Park and get a draw away from home. The other sides would all take points off each other and we would qualify.
There are 8 groups and we'll be a second seed. My guess at the 8 number 1 seeds are: France Spain Italy England Holland Portugal Denmark Sweden # 2 seeds: Czech Rep Turkey Ireland Croatia Belgium Norway Russia Bulgaria #3 Seeds: Wales, Romania Greece Slovenia Yugoslavia Switzerland Slovakia Poland Other toughies: Scotland, Hungary, Ukraine
So we could have: Italy Ireland Slovenia Hungary Northern Ireland Andorra I would fancy our chances... In the groups of 7, is it possible to have 2 1st seeds? eg. France Holland Ireland Romania Ukraine Belarus Albania? That would be rough