2 OFC teams will become #'s 52 and 51 tomorrow (Sunday). Panama would become #50 if CRC and USA both win. No other teams can be eliminated tomorrow.
I expect Solomon Islands to beat Papua New Guinea, and it would be shocking if Tahiti eliminates New Zealand, so Tahiti will probably be 51. After Costa Rica plays, Panama plays at USA, so if Costa Rica wins then Panama knows they will be eliminated with a loss. That shows that the order of games matters. If Panama will be eliminated with a draw, they will try to win, whereas early on Panama would be happy with a draw at USA. There are no qualifiers on Monday. AFC, CAF, UEFA, and CONMEBOL end on Tuesday, and Concacaf and OFC end on Wednesday (other than June having four playoffs and Brazil vs. Argentina in a meaningless makeup game).
Papua New Guinea scored first, Solomon Islands scored 3, and Papua New Guinea's 88th minute goal was not enough.
51. Tahiti New Zealand's Liberato Cacace scored the only goal in the 70th minute. Alvin Hou scored 2 of Solomon Islands' 3 goals but was stretchered off, so that it makes it easier for New Zealand on Wednesday.
That is something I did not expect, but it seems Costa Rica is rising at the right moment, while Panama is on the other way.
Lebanon need 3 goals (and realistically more like 4-5) in the next 2 minutes. And Lebanon frankly aren't even pushing. So I'm saying..... 49. Lebanon. Syria-Iraq was moved up to be concurrent with UAE-Korea. They both start in a few minutes.
Iran 2-0 Lebanon I'm happy pjdonald said Syria-Iraq was moved up because I saw it was going to be later, so I wondered. Syria 1-1 Iraq and UAE 1-1 South Korea at halftime. UAE leads Iraq by 5 goal differential, so if Iraq draws, UAE can afford to lose by 4 or fewer. If Iraq wins, UAE must win.
South Korea had 78 percent of the possession, but it wasn't enough for them to go undefeated, and Iran won Group A. Next up are Nigeria vs. Ghana (first leg 0-0) and Senegal vs. Egypt (first leg 0-1).
What is interesting is that the ultimate standings in Group A matched how these teams were ranked and seeded. Lebanon, which was the lowest seed but had moved to 3rd place for a while, ended up last. Iran, despite losing to S.Korea, finished first matching its top seed status, while S.Korea and UAE, the #2 and 3 seeds, finished accordingly. And Iraq 4th and Syria 5th ended in accordance with their seeding too. This is the 3rd time in a row Iran wins its group ahead of S.Korea, but this it doesn't feel the same since we not only didn't beat them at home unlike the last 2 qualifiers, but ended up suffering our first WCQ loss ever in S.Korea.
Nigeria 1-1 Ghana qualified Ghana and eliminated Nigeria on away goals. Senegal leads Egypt 1-0 in the 113th. Both games had the home team up 1-0 after 90. Poland vs. Sweden is scoreless, and Portugal's Bruno Fernandes scored against North Macedonia. Edit: Close-ups of the field in Senegal have laser pointers that make it look like Star Wars or something. Before fans enter, there is no way of knowing if fans will fight or what they will say, but all fans around the world should be searched and prevented from bringing laser pointers into stadiums. It is going to penalty kicks.