What if we win Euro 2016? Even if we don't our players would be used to each other because we start right after Euro 2016 in september. Maybe your right but I hope we play Spain in Spain before we play them at home.
Well I watched the live stream on: http://www.stream2watch.co/sports/soccer but they don't play repeats. You can look on youtube though. They will likely have a repeat on youtube.
would be fantastic if we won euro 2016...we are due for another euro spain has 3 germany 2 france 2 and other nations have won too before we have yet to win another but look what happened when we won WC 2006 and then we had to play a pissed off France ( in Paris ) in the Euro 2008 qualifiers in the first week of Sept 06 ....in a qualifier game 4 days before we drew a poor Lithuanian team 1-1 in Italy ( Napoli I believe ) and then lost to France in Paris 3-1 a few days later the players were out of shape and still in celebration mode from winning the WC but yes I do agree with playing Spain in Spain first then in Italy second edited*
Yeah I see. I honestly think we can win Euro 2016 though. We should really go back to Euro 2016 mood before we even make more predictions for this.
outright? or through a playoff? the last time Italy had to playoff for any tournament was after drawing 0-0 with england in rome in the 1998 WC qualifiers when they needed the win to top the group in the last qualifier game. Italy then went on to play Russia in the playoffs with the 1st leg in Moscow in the icebowl lol with the orange ball and we drew 1-1 Then in the 2nd leg we won 1-0 in Italy...San Paolo edit...here is a vid
Don't the top two teams make it? If Italy can't place in the top two of that group, then they should give up playing the game.
runner up team goes to a playoff....1st team qualifies directly only 8 best runners up out of 9 total runners up go to playoff....9th runner up is out in groups with 6 teams results against the team that places last don't count toward overall runner up standing because two groups have 5 teams
I watched the draw. Italy didn't end up magically drawing Spain. They were actually the last ball picked in pot 2. But due to the rules the Spain group stayed empty until Italy was slotted into it. In theory, Italy should of ended up in Croatia's group. Once Italy wasn't picked with the first five balls, they were automatically put into Spain's group since it was the last spot left with 6 teams. Yes…that's how stupid FIFA/UEFA is.
I guess your not a big Qualification follower. It's much harder to qualify for the WC than the Euro. 13 European teams make the WC. The 9 first place winners….and 4 of the 9 second place winners in a playoff. One of 9 second place winners won't even get a chance to go to the playoff. They will be eliminated for having the least amount of points. And since two groups only have 5 teams, results against minnows won't count towards the playoff either. The seeding is so bad that one of France, Netherlands, and Sweden is guaranteed to not make the WC. These are three teams that would wipe the floor with Wales... who got top seed with the federation's gorilla math. The only good thing about our draw, is that the other 4 teams are relatively weak. Italy and Spain should finish 1,2 with enough points to go to a playoff.
I didn't realize the second place went to a playoff round . Anyway, you are right as I don't really care to remember WCQ matches and don't really remember many.......
ok i think i can see how it worked now Italy-Azzurri Fan told me they selected randomly from each pot going in order backwards from pot 6 to pot 1 and Italy was drawn in group G before Spain was....so Looking at group A that would mean Luxembourg was selected first in the whole selection right? and you said Italy was actually selected last from pot 2 and theoretically should have been in Croatia's group if it went they way it was drawn in order So who was originally selected from pot 2 to be in Group G right before Spain was selected from pot 1 to also be in group G? I assume at this point they realized Italy was still left and had to be in that last group with 6 teams so the original selection from pot 2 switched places with Italy at the end when all the teams had been selected? Is that how it worked? or am I still off?
The Pots are done in reverse (probably for suspense). They start with pot 6, then 5, then 4, etc. The actual placement is done in order though. So the first team selected in pot 6 actually goes to Group A, then Group B, etc. By the time they got to Italy's pot (2), there were already four teams in each group. Since Italy and France cannot be in a group of 5 teams, they had no chance of getting into group G or H. It didn't become a problem for France because their ball was chosen first…so they ended up in Group A. When they got to Group G, Bosnia/Herz was actually the team picked, but since Italy had to be in that group, the former got moved to Group H. Like I said in my other post, Italy was actually the last ball chosen. Thus without this stupid rule, they would of been slotted in Group I. Spain, on the other hand was actually slotted in Group G, so FIFA didn't have to rejig any pot 1 teams since they all got picked in a group of 6. Essentially, Italy would of replaced Iceland in the last group, with the Scandinavian team going in Group H, if this stupid rule didn't exist. Yeah Luxembourg was the first team. You pretty much got it. Pot 2 went in the order of France, Switzerland, Czech R, Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, Bosnia, Iceland, Italy.
Another mockery by FIFA, WC seedings are supposed to seperate strong teams instead look at this result, even a moron would make a better seeding system...
Yup you got it. Let me ask all of you a question though? Would you really rather be in group I (Croatia's group)? I would not especially the way Italy plays sometimes. First of all Croatia is just as strong as Spain if not stronger especially with great management. They have more youth talent than Spain. Also if thats not enough: Ukraine and Turkey are not rubbish teams that are to be underestimated. Finland is not a horrible team either. If we were in group I we would have to play strongly in every single game which I have never seen Italy do before in previous qualifications. We tend to always get at least 1 stupid draw that we should have won. I am hoping that will change with Conte. At least in our group: Spain is the only team to really worry about. Albania can be a threat on the counter but with the way we play kind of defensive and somewhat counterattacking, we should be able to beat Albania fine. And the rest: Liechtenstein, Israel, and Macedonia are rubbish teams. So really Spain is the only team we have to worry about. Be Glad we aren't France: they have Netherlands, Sweden, and even Bulgaria who drew us that they have to worry about.
Israel is not rubbish. If we fall asleep in that away game, it could be the death nail for Italia. Away vs Israel is THE must win game of the qualifying round.
This is how the seeding system should have been: Pot 1: Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, England, Portugal, France Pot 2: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Iceland, Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Wales Pot 3: Austria, Northern Ireland, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Norway, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark Pot 4: Serbia, Scotland, Hungary, Greece, Finland, Israel, Montenegro, Republic of Ireland, Estonia Pot 5: Faroe Islands, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, Cyprus Pot 6: Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra
Conte was at the draw and he was laughing when Italy got drawn in that group until Spain wiped that smile off his face. And when was the last time Italy beat Spain in a game that mattered. 1994 at Foxboro?
Well in the 2013 confederations cup Italy were very unlucky not to. Italy was by far the better side and creating all the chances. Spain just won on penalties. Also strange surprises and upsets happen all the time. Like in the 2016 euro qualifying, who expected Iceland to be topping the group? history was not on Iceland's side at all against their opponents in group A.
Okay here is our schedule and my predictions: 1. Israel vs Italy (Win) 2. Italy vs Spain (Win) 3. Macedonia vs Italy (Win) 4. Liechtenstein vs Italy (Win) 5. Italy vs Albania (Win) 6. Spain vs Italy (Draw, Maybe Lose) 7. Italy vs Israel (Win) 8. Italy vs Macedonia (Win) 9. Albania vs Italy (Draw)
Netherlands have nothing to do in Pot 1 when you look at the present Euro qualifiers .... I mean, with Iceland on top in their group and only 3rd behind a Czech Rep. side that Denmark trashed 3-0 away in the last WC qualifiers, then the Netherlands are surely at an all time low right now... they also did not make it to the U21 Euro finals this year, only finishing 2nd in their qualifying group behind a Slovakian U21 side that did not make it either ... Slovakia on the other hand deserve to be in Pot 1 ... and then Austria and Denmark belong in Pot 2. ahead of the Czech Rep. Slovenia and Ukraine ... in fact, Ukraine and Slovenia should not be in Pot 2. based on their results in the present Euro qualifiers ... Beating Luxembourg twice and then Belarus and Macedonia is all that Ukraine have managed to do in their group, while I'll grant that Slovenia have done better, by narrowly beating Switzerland 1-0 at home, but Austria have done better, just as Denmark beating Serbia both home and away was not an easy job ... in fact, Serbia do have a very good team on paper, but they got robbed of 3 points from the home game against Albania, that they never got to finish, because of the Albanian flag incident, that strangely gave Albania 3 points ... and then obviously losing both home and away to Denmark in their next few games, finished them off in the group ... but they should still be in pot 3. ... Greece on the other hand, have lost both home and away to the Faroe Islands and quite frankly belong in Pot 5 right now... or perhaps even in Pot 6.
Yeah but I am not only looking at the Euro 2016 qualifications. Many big teams started the 2016 euro qualifications (including us) in a relaxing mood knowing they would qualify. Netherlands are horrible but they did well in the 2014 world cup though. Ukraine almost made 2014 W.C as well. They were unlucky to hit France on a day when everybody was at their best being able to turn around being 2-0 down to 3-2 up. Ukraine also didn't do bad in the 2016 euro cup qualifiers. They won every game except Slovakia and Spain who are both stronger teams then Ukraine. Also Ukraine put up the best fight with Spain I have ever seen that still resulted in a loss. They were unlucky. Ukraine was almost killing Spain on the counter. If that day Casillas wasn't at his very best Ukraine would have won 2-1 at least. What about Iceland? I think they might deserve a Pot 1 spot as well possibly more than Slovakia.
but the seedings aren't just based on present euro qualifiers I believe it's the present euro qualifiers + 2014 WC + 2014 WC qualifiers which "most" of the current fifa rankings are based on in that case how the hell does wales get into pot 1 and romania?...romania hasn't qualified for anything since euro 2012 ( last wc was 98 ) and Wales NOTHING in like 50 plus years....so again what have they done to merit a pot 1 seedings....what kind of gorilla math is this?.....have wales and romania won all their friendlies? even still friendlies aren't supposed to count for much? where as.... Italy runners up euro 2012 3rd place confederations cup 2013 Italy tops their 2014 WC qualifying group yes they were poor in 2014 WC but now currently sitting 2nd in their qualifying group with NO losses.....what the hell has romania and wales done in comparison in the last 3 years that has been better than that? why is slovakia and austria even ahead of Italy...what have they done more recently? there are other teams in Pot 1 that name no sense to me either but I leave that alone.... these rankings make no sense they say the seeding pots are based on the latest fifa rankings....but aren't the fifa rankings based upon the MOST important games in the last few years? those countries haven't done anything more in the last few years than Italy http://www.footballseeding.com/international-tournaments/world-cup-2018/
Slovakia and Austria are not ahead of Italy. Also just pointing out Spain were no better in 2014 WC than Italy. Spain is still in Pot 1, well they did win euro 2012 after all and went to the final of the confederations cup, but those are the only things they did better than us in and thats just one step. Wales beat Belgium but that doesn't say a thing and it shouldn't seed them for just that.