2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Everyone down a shot...

And I think AFC would rather not deal with OFC and all the other bs that goes along with them.
To be honest, I don't care about the 0.5 spot either. Since that'll be your next question.

 

it's what NZ want - they asked for it for the 2010 qualifiers (more games)

AFC couldn't accomodate them then - request was made too late

could be different this time around

 

I don't think AFC is ever going to be in much of a mindset to cater to New Zealand's whims.
New Zealand has nothing to offer AFC in return -- it's the same reason nobody pays attention when they say they want to join AFC.

 

Ignoring them actually joining AFC, there are obvious benifits for NZ (or whoever finishes top of OFC) competing in the final round of AFC quals.

There are also benifits for the "top tier" asian nations (which would still include KSA and Iran despite thier failing this time around) in that they get another team of differing style - (NZ is probably even more "English" in style than Australia as Aus has become more Dutch/ German) so for the Japans/ Koreas/ Irans/ Suadis of AFC who should still finish top 9 as easy as top 10 having NZ gives them the same benifit - to a lesser extent - as what they got with Australia, ie a different style to prepare if/ when they go to the WC.

Unfortunately for NZ though it is not the top tier that decide these things.

For the 2nd tier though NZ is more a direct competitor for a WC place, Bahrain would be the best of 2nd tier and NZ proved at least thier equal over 2 legs this time around, still for these countries, at least the better of them, it is NZ in the group or NZ as a playoff.

For 3rd tier and below though it makes it much harder for them to make it, even to the final round as there is one less place to go for unless we end up with 2 groups of 6.

 

You're looking at this in a vacuum.
1. NZ doesn't offer that much worth considering even as a NT -- they are mediocre at best.
2. We all know if AFC took NZ, FIFA would force AFC to take all of OFC... that's not likely to happen unless there is a sizable incentive involved.
3. NZ offers no domestic league
4. NZ doesn't have a commitment to developing football, neither do any of the other OFC countries -- they're all basically freeloaders. They have nothing to add to AFC, but will benefit themselves and just add more countries that enter into various competitions half-assed and then pull out at the last minute. No thanks.

 

Let's face it - so is Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Uzbekistan etc etc, no team outside the "big 5" -and them only if on form - could be called anything better than mediocre on the world stage. The thing is that, except perhaps Uzbekistan, the rest of the 2nd tier nations play very similar styles of football. NZ may be just as or even more mediocre, but they would still be better preperation than other Asian teams when thinking ahead to the WC, their direct style with big strong players is exactly what the Asian teams struggle with when they get to the world stage.

I know all of this which is why I said to ignore them joining the AFC - all I am arguing is that it would be better for the bigger Asian teams if NZ joined in the knockout round instead of a pot luck playoff at the end - even the better 2nd tier nations like Bahrain and Uzbekistan would be more likely to fnish ahead of NZ in a group format - but as we saw the lottery of a playoff gave NZ the advantage.

 

Right, but the list of mediocre NTs in Asia isn't short and I see no potential for NZ to make the step up. North Korea has a bigger chance to step up in my opinion.
I think the only way to get legit experience as an AFC NT is to play sides from other confederations at a similar or better level. Specifically to visit them too -- it's turned out lately that NTs that travel to Asia have a high incidence of important players suddenly getting sick or having a bruise or a papercut and missing the flight.

Fair enough.
I think they should have to enter at the 1st group stage though... earn their way into the final 10 like all the other mediocre sides.

 

I could agree with that - but can the smaller confeds from West Asia afford the trip to NZ?

 

we are wasting our time debating about this topic of NZL. AFC will never let them into the 1st round of the WC Qualifying 2014, nor will they allow the top Oceania nation to enter the final rounds of the qualifying campaign. At most it will be a 2 legged play off similar to 2010..

 

With regards to the AFC, they don't have to give a hoot to NZ until NZ quit the OFC and ask to become a member of the AFC.

The AFC Statues are here: http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/common/cms/afc/AFC-Statutes-20080327.pdf

Until NZ become a member, they should not even be discussed in this thread, as they are not part of the qualification process until Inter-continental playoff takes place. This play-off system can change from confederation to confederation at the drop of a hat. It could even happen that Asia could be paired with CONCACAF again, will we start talking about admitting CONCACAF members then?

NZ are not in Asia, if they wish to join, then they have to go through the proper channels which they aren't doing, nor are any other member of the OFC, and why would they when they get direct entry to youth events from there own region, youth events are their bread and butter, just as Tahiti whom played in a recent World Youth Cup.

 

But you know this crap is going to be brought up 10 more times... it always is. Which is why I suggested we just make it into a drinking game.

 

I hear those papercuts can be vicious

 

so anyway, enough with the NZL topic, we all know that NZL will not enter any rounds of the asian qual campaign and will only play 5th best Asian side in a play-off (and that is if they win the OFC Nations Cup off course)

any dates or formats stated by AFC about 2014?

 

I suspect this is code for - "We are going to change the allocation by confederation". Looks like the AFC plan to pre-empt the change has been thwarted.

J

 

I think you're right, but FIFA were always going to review it. They locked the current allocation in for two tournaments after they took away OFC's spot in 2003.

 

Given the number of spots for AFC haven't even been announced this seems like an early ambit claim - just like it was a year ago.

In addition - FIFA have already said the qualifiers can't begin until after the official draw in Brazil, which is not until the end of July.

J

You might want to ease up on the copy-paste

 

AFC look like they are interested in going to the overall FIFA Preliminary Draw with the more meaningful Round 3 draw [top 20 AFC nations] - much better than Rounds 1 and 2 which are mostly about eliminating minnows.

Arrogance by AFC? Or do they just like to march to the beat of a different drum?

The number of spots for AFC will only become relevant after the end of Round 3. So they can easily adjust it if . . . qualification berths are reduced from 4.5 to 4.0, then Round 4 = 2 x groups of 5, and the top 2 qualify from each; qualification berths are increased from 4.5 to 5.0 [hahaha], then Round 4 = 2 x groups of 5, and the top 2 qualify from each and the two third place teams play home-and-away for the final berth; or it stays the same as it was announced if 4.5 qualification spots.

 

This is what they did last time. I don't know the reasons why, but it does seem like they like to get the weaker nations out of the way as soon as possible.

Bare in mind aswell that next year the AFC will be having the 2012 Challenge Cup qualification rounds being played around the same time aswell or just after the first couple of rounds. So getting Round 1 and 2 in early probably helps these teams bring together the squads for Challenge Cup campaigns which is more the goal for these nations.

 

CC Qualifying is in March so it'll be a little over 3 months before the first qualifying round. I would have preferred the AFC to do something a little different this time. I could understand eliminating some of the smaller teams with a preliminary round but this is sort of ridiculous. Especially since there is a second round that only some teams will play in depending on an arbitrary ranking in an effort to whittle the teams down to 20.

They should have had a home and away playoff to get the teams down to 40. Then do a group stage from there on out, say... 8 groups of 5 teams, the top two advance to the final stage (4 groups of four). Winners advance automatically with the top two runners up fighting it out for the half-spot.

 

less groups the better. 2 groups of 5 is fine.

 

It's not so much about the final round but about what happens before that... to condemn half the FAs on the continent to a qualifying campaign that spans 1 week and two matches is utterly ridiculous.

 

I would rather have the minnow nations more of a chance in this, luck of the draw and a minnow nation will play Iraq 1st round, or you could even see to decent starts against each other, and before you know it, a Uzbekistan, China or even Kuwait are out..

 

Cant wait to see who we're up against.