A few tweaks with FIFA's latest ranking update and the Euro results. The biggest mover is Taiwan, who is now barely ranked above Chile and now has a simpler road to the WC (needs to just win one game in the inter-confed playoff)
Close finishes! 49. Montenegro - lost to Malta (!!!) 2-0. A win would have pushed them through 48. Poland 47. Serbia - lost to Portugal 2-1. A tie would have pushed them through 46. Slovenia - tied Wales 0-0 in their final game. A win would have pushed them through
I don't think I'll ever understand why Scotland doesn't perform better at least from an offensive standpoint. Four very good/elite UK midfielders (i.e. Weir, Cuthbert, Fishlock, and Ingle) won't be at the World Cup.
39. Senegal 38. Thailand 37. Chinese Taipei 36. Papua New Guinea 35. Chile 34. Cameroon 33. Paraguay The field of 32 is set
Kind of crazy to see everything line up for Portugal (currently ranked 22nd in the world)... - Beat Serbia (ranked 36) away 2-1 to take second place. A tie for Serbia would have been enough to hold off Portugal - Beat Belgium (20th) 2-1 with a goal in the 89th minute. - Was tied with Iceland (16th) 1-1 and went into extra time, winning 4-1 - Beat Cameroon 2-1 with a penalty in the 94th minute Had any of Portugal's results gone any other way then they wouldn't have qualified. Cameroon, inversely, is ranked as the third-best team in Africa and got paired with the best team in Africa (Nigeria) in the AFCON quarterfinals, losing 1-0. Then they were paired with the best team in the inter-confederation play-offs (Portugal). Through their 7 qualifying matches, they only gave up 4 goals but struggled to score : / So basically everything that could have gone right for Portugal did and everything that could have gone wrong for Cameroon did.
I also think Portugal was underrated. Their 1-0 loss against the US was not an aberration. I think they were clearly the strongest team in the intercontinental playoff, and I think they are very likely to finish ahead of Vietnam, and frankly it wouldn't completely surprise me if they managed to pip Netherlands who look rather less dangerous without Miedema. I also think the number of qualification places is quite hard on Europe, given that Scotland, Iceland, and Austria will all miss out, while Panama and Haiti took qualifying places. I'm glad for both of these teams from a CONCACAF perspective, and both sides have some good young players, but from watching them play against the US I don't think either country will do much at the World Cup, while I think say Scotland or Austria would have a chance of doing some damage.