I really don't know why this isn't happening beyond maybe pride of keeping it a South America Event, but it really strikes me as odd, they invite out of confederation teams, and there is no arguing how much more $$$ they can make if it became a merged competition, and man would it do us some good (Mexico, USA, rising Canada, as well as Costa Rica/Honduras when they are at peak form) to get regular cycle to cycle access to this, especially considering the Gold Cup is a bi-annual joke generally speaking. Really hope they do this, would be awesome. I know they've hinted at trying to do it again, but like the Global Nations league set up, seems like Covid, combined with lack of clarity and certainty before hand kind of squelched them both for the time being.
I would love to do both. In fairness, though, you know the issue, Concacaf has two teams, maybe 2.5 that have been on the level with Conmebol for more than one cycle in a row at any given point the past 35 years. There's no way to build it up because the region is basically, 3 large countries, and a gigantic pile of miniscule countries w/o the population basis to build anything. I do agree we don't add a lot on the competitive side, it's on the $$$ side that this makes sense and for better competition for the teams that actually have a reasonable ceiling in our region.
More so an updated list of the 32 teams that will be in Qatar for me next November...in November to December of 2022 my 32 teams for Qatar are as follows: Qatar (hosts; automatically qualify) Asia 1- Japan 2- Australia 3- South Korea 4- Saudi Arabia 5- Syria (get into Intercontinental playoff) South America 1- Argentina (qualify directly) 2- Brazil (qualify directly) 3- Colombia (qualify directly) 4- Uruguay (qualify directly) The fifth place team that will go into the Inter continental play-off will be: Paraguay CONCACAF (Octagonal) (4th place team goes into Inter continental playoffs) 1- Mexico (qualify directly) 2- United States (qualify directly) 3- Honduras (qualify directly after missing out on Russia 2018) The fourth place team from CONCACAF that will get to the Inter continental playoff will be: Canada Europe 1- France (defending champions) 2- England 3- Spain 4- Germany 5- Croatia 6- Netherlands (qualify after missing out on Russia 2018) 7- Belgium 8- Portugal 9- Sweden 10- Italy (qualify after missing out on Russia 2018) 11- Poland 12- Switzerland 13- Norway (qualify for their first FIFA World Cup since France 1998; I think Haaland puts this team on his back to get there) Africa 1- Senegal 2- Algeria (qualify after missing out on Russia 2018) 3- Egypt 4- Ghana (qualify after missing out on Russia 2018) 5- Nigeria Oceania The team that gets out of Oceania will be: New Zealand Inter Continental Playoffs (my predictions) 1- Canada (CONCACAF) vs Syria (AFC)= Canada qualifies for their first FIFA World Cup since Mexico 1986...36 year wait is over for Canada and with them co hosting in 2026, I just think it is Canada's time...golden generation of Canadian football right now 2- Paraguay (CONMEBOL) vs New Zealand (Oceania)= Paraguay qualify for their first FIFA World Cup since South Africa 2010...12 year wait is over So now my complete list of the 32 teams now go as follows after process of eliminations: 1- Qatar (hosts) 2- Japan 3- Australia 4- Saudi Arabia 5- South Korea 6- Mexico 7- USA 8- Honduras 9- Canada 10- France (defending champions) 11- England 12- Spain 13- Germany 14- Croatia 15- Netherlands 16- Portugal 17- Sweden 18- Belgium 19- Italy 20- Poland 21- Switzerland 22- Norway 23- Argentina 24- Brazil 25- Colombia 26- Uruguay 27- Paraguay 28- Senegal 29- Algeria 30- Egypt 31- Ghana 32- Nigeria
I don't know why but you are always forgetting Group F in UEFA. The group where Denmark sits pretty at the moment. You have to pick the teams in accordance with the groups.
With all due respect to the user in question, I get the sense that his predictions are more a result of personal fantasies than realistic guesses.
Your UEFA's picks are a tad too Western dominated for me. There will be one or two more teams from Eastern Europe.
Exactly. I would add Ukraine as well. If there are not a lot of Slavic teams that qualify directly I think they would cover probably like two of three spots coming via the playoffs.
What springs to mind when looking at the Austrian squad, is that almost all of their players are from the German Bundesliga, which I find to be kind of a "weakness", though the Bundesliga as such is great, and it's an advantage for a fairly small country to be able to field so many top-4 league players, but it's just more of an advantage to be able to field players from several different top leagues and so be able to master several different styles of play. If you look at the Danish squad you will find that it's mainly a mix of players from the English PL (which is more physical than the Bundesliga and other top leagues), the Italian Serie A (which is more defensive minded and tactical) and then with some German Bundesliga players and a few from the Spanish La Liga in the mix. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_national_football_team#Current_squad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_national_football_team#Current_squad
Just to build on that data, not too long ago the clear majority of Austria NT players played for clubs in their own domestic league, which was ranked around the 20th-best league in UEFA (in 2008 when they hosted the Euros). Doesn't necessarily mean their team is stronger but its an indication that they may be improving their talent base.
I tend to look at the UEFA U-21 European Championship for clues, when looking into the near future and Austria have not done well, except qualifying for a group stage in 2019, but when looking at Denmark, it's interesting to notice that the first time they qualified for a World Cup was in 1986, when they also reached the U-21 Quarter finals, after not having been able to qualify since 1978 (when Denmark only were fielding amateur players in qualifiers). Then the next time Denmark did well at the U-21 Euros was in (surprise surprise) 1992, reaching the Semi Finals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_European_Under-21_Championship#Participating_details Several years ago, the Danish FA implemented the very same style of play and individual specialized training for all NT players from youth to senior, to make it easier to shorten the gap between youth and senior NT level, and at the same time started rewarding clubs who develop more youth players to fit the exact Danish NT style of play, which now finally really have paid off. So in recent years Demark always reach the U-21 group stage, though no longer fielding the very best of the best who get promoted straight away to the real Danish NT, as it's also the case with the bigger top nations. I have noticed that Belgium is not doing so well at U-21 level, probably because they even more so promote the best of the best talent at an early age and so probably do not let them play U-21 qualifiers.
Question - with the Inter-confederation playoffs scheduled for June 2022, but the draw happening two months before in April 2022, how will that work with groups when we don't even know who the final two teams will be? You could run the risk of two CONMEBOL teams matching up, for instance.
Good question. I guess they could ensure that the winner of, say, the CONMEBOL v CONCACAF playoff would enter a WC group that only contains UEFA, CAF and AFC teams. Or the two playoff winners both go to the same WC group. Doable but makes the WC draw overly complex.
I don't think Norway stand a chance. They were mauled by Turkey. I saw them in a friendly with Greece, easily beaten by the poorest Greek team in memory. I think eventually they will be a strong side, but not at this time. I think out of Europe: Portugal Spain (play-off) Sweden Italy France Belgium Denmark Turkey Holland (play-off) Russia England Germany Switzerland or Ukraine I think Switzerland or Ukraine could qualify via the play-offs. It's hard to say who, but certainly it has to be one of them. Croatia are on a downward trajectory for the moment. They peaked in 2016. I would argue they were stronger in 2016 than in 2018. Spain pass the ball to death. They can destroy the best teams, but at the same time they can play games where all they do is procrastinate on the ball. I see Sweden beating them to top of the group. Zlatan is a winner. Spain don't have someone like that in their side other than Ramos and I'm not sure Enrique is keen to keep him around. It's a mistake to exclude Holland. Van Dijk will return for them and some of their younger guys will be more mature, stronger competitors. I think there's also a good chance they will have a new manager after Euro 2020. I have a hard time seeing de Boer lasting in the job and that will probably boost their chances too.
Well my 32 teams for Qatar are as follows (updated) - Representing Europe (UEFA) (13 teams)- Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Scotland, Netherlands, Croatia, England, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey - Representing South America (CONMEBOL) (5 teams)- Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay - Representing North America (CONCACAF) (3 teams)- USA, Mexico, Canada - Representing Africa (CAF) (5 teams)- Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Morocco - Representing Asia (AFC) (6 teams)- Qatar (host), Japan, Australia, South Korea, Iran and Iraq Pot Predictions Pot 1- Qatar, Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, England Pot 2- Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Uruguay, Paraguay, Croatia Pot 3- Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Scotland, Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco Pot 4- USA, Ghana, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Iran, Iraq Group By Group Predictions Group A - A1- Qatar (hosts) (0 points) (eliminated)* - A2- Uruguay (7 points) (Group winners) - A3- Sweden (5 points) (Runners up) - A4- Ghana (4 points) (eliminated)* Qatar 0-3 Uruguay Sweden 1-1 Ghana Qatar 1-2 Sweden Uruguay 2-1 Ghana Qatar 0-3 Ghana Uruguay 0-0 Sweden Group B - B1- France (9 points) (Group winners) - B2- Switzerland (1 point) (eliminated)* - B3- Nigeria (6 points) (Runners up) - B4- South Korea (1 point)* (eliminated) France 2-1 Switzerland Nigeria 1-0 South Korea France 2-0 Nigeria Switzerland 2-2 South Korea France 3-1 South Korea Nigeria 2-0 Switzerland Group C - C1- England (7 points) (Group winners) - C2- Mexico (7 points) (Runners up goal diff.) - C3- Algeria (3 points)* eliminated - C4- Iran (0 points)* eliminated England 1-1 Mexico Algeria 4-2 Iran England 2-0 Algeria Mexico 2-1 Iran England 4-0 Iran Mexico 3-1 Algeria Group D - D1- Belgium (7 points) (Group winners) - D2- Colombia (5 points) (Runners up) - D3- Turkey (3 points)* eliminated - D4- Japan (1 point)* eliminated Belgium 3-3 Colombia Turkey 2-1 Japan Belgium 2-0 Turkey Colombia 2-2 Japan Belgium 1-0 Japan Colombia 2-1 Turkey Group E - E1- Germany (6 points) (Runners up) - E2- Paraguay (6 points) (Group winners goal diff) - E3- Scotland (3 points)* eliminated - E4- USA (3 points)* eliminated Germany 2-0 Paraguay Scotland 1-0 USA Germany 1-0 Scotland Paraguay 2-1 USA Germany 1-2 USA Scotland 2-3 Paraguay Group F - F1- Spain (5 points) (Runners up) - F2- Italy (7 points) (Group winners) - F3- Morocco (4 points)* eliminated - F4- Iraq (0 points)* eliminated Spain 2-2 Italy Morocco 2-0 Iraq Spain 0-0 Morocco Italy 3-0 Iraq Spain 4-1 Iraq Italy 2-0 Morocco Group G - G1- Portugal (7 points) (Group winners) - G2- Argentina (5 points) (Runners up) - G3- Croatia (2 points)* eliminated - G4- Canada (1 point)* eliminated Portugal 3-3 Argentina Croatia 1-1 Canada Portugal 2-1 Croatia Argentina 2-0 Canada Portugal 3-1 Canada Argentina 1-1 Croatia Group H - H1- Brazil (7 points) (Group winners) - H2- Netherlands (5 points) (Runners up) - H3- Senegal (4 points)* eliminated - H4- Australia (0 points)* eliminated Brazil 1-1 Netherlands Senegal 2-1 Australia Brazil 2-0 Senegal Netherlands 4-2 Australia Brazil 2-1 Australia Senegal 2-2 Netherlands Round of 16 match ups - Uruguay (Group A winner) vs Nigeria (Group B Runner Up) - England (Group C winner) vs Colombia (Group D Runner Up) - Germany (Group E Runner Up) vs Italy (Group F winner) - Portugal (Group G winner) vs Netherlands (Group H Runner Up) - France (Group B winner) vs Sweden (Group A Runner Up) - Mexico (Group C Runner Up) vs Belgium (Group D winner) - Paraguay (Group E winner) vs Spain (Group F Runner Up) - Brazil (Group H winner) vs Argentina (Group G Runner Up) 1- Uruguay 0-0 Nigeria after 90 minutes; goes into 30 minutes extra time; Luis Suarez wins it for Uruguay in the 117th minute scoring with 3 minutes left to go; Uruguay wins 1-0 in extra time (ET) 2- England 2-1 Colombia 3- Germany 1-1 Italy after 90 minutes; we go into 30 minutes of extra time; Italy scores in the 1st period of extra time to make it 2-1 with Immobile scoring in the 101st minute; 2-1 after the first period of extra time; Germany score in the 2nd period of extra time to tie it at 2-2; Havertz scores in the 111th minute with 9 minutes left to go; we are headed into penalties after 120 minutes...FIRST penalty shootout of Qatar 2022; Germany wins 5-4 on penalties AET 4- Portugal 2-1 Netherlands 5- France 2-0 Sweden 6- Mexico 1-0 Belgium; Mexico breaks the curse and they get to El Quinto Partido; the fifth game...quarterfinals finally...Mexico shocks the world just like in 2018 when they beat Germany; they beat another giant this time it being Belgium 7- Spain 3-1 Paraguay 8- Argentina 2-1 Brazil Quarter Finals (Last 8) Uruguay vs England Germany vs Portugal France vs Mexico Spain vs Argentina England 2-1 Uruguay Germany 0-1 Portugal France 2-1 Mexico Argentina 2-0 Spain Semi Finals (Final 4) England vs Portugal France vs Argentina England 0-0 Portugal after 90 minutes; 30 minutes of extra time; just as it is about to go to a penalty shootout; England score late; Jack Grealish scores the penalty in the 119th minute after Portugal concede a penalty kick in the area; foul committed by Ruben Dias...sent off via red card; England wins 1-0 in ET; England are headed to their first FIFA World Cup Final since 1966; Ronaldo and Portugal are eliminated France 0-1 Argentina; Argentina get their revenge on France after what happened in 2018 in Russia; Messi is headed back to the World Cup Final for the first time since 2014 3rd Place (Bronze Medal) Game Portugal vs France Portugal wins 3-1 to win 3rd place in the tournament; this is Portugal's best finish at a World Cup in their history...Ronaldo's career with the national team comes to a sad and bittersweet ending; France the defending champions finish 4th Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Final England vs Argentina England 1-1 Argentina after 90 minutes; we are headed into extra time; no one scores in the 30 minutes of extra time; we are going into penalties in a World Cup Final since Germany 2006 England Penalty Takers: Kane, Sancho, James, Grealish, Foden Argentina Penalty Takers: Lautaro Martinez, Lisandro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi England (1)- Kane- GOAL Argentina (2)- Lautaro- GOAL England (3)- Sancho- GOAL Argentina (4)- Lisandro- GOAL England (5)- James- MISS Argentina (6)- Dybala- GOAL Grealish (7)- GOAL Aguero (8)- MISS Foden (9)- MISS Messi (10)- if Messi scores, Argentina wins the 2022 FIFA World Cup...Messi shoots...Messi seals it...it had to be him...it had to be Messi...GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Lionel Messi wins the World Cup for Argentina; England suffer agonizing defeat losing in a penalty shootout in the World Cup Final; Argentina wins their 3rd World Cup (1978, 1986 and now 2022)...Argentina become World Champions for the first time in 36 years...Argentina gets to add a 3rd star to their jersey
It has to be said... so much of the reminiscing on '66 focuses on how Argentina and West Germany got robbed, that it's kinda gone under the radar how Portugal got screwed in that same tournament (the last-minute venue switch for the semifinal).
Yes they did change venues and the English coach driver even got lost on his way to London from Merseyside. but we finally won a Trophy make that 2 with the nations league. That’s why you will always see Portugal fans give the middle finger when they hear other fans say we did not deserve 2016
Two of those teams go head-to-head tonight, with one being eliminated. Canada are in good shape though after winning the first leg in Haiti. Second leg is in Illinois.