The qualifiers start tomorrow, with only one game, but I have opened this thread to post results as they come in and list the consequence of a particular game. I will try to Post every score as i go along, but may miss some, but the key ones for sure, as well as qualifiers. Tomorrow: Only one game as Libya hosts Sudan. It is of little consequence except for Libya is trying to qualify for the African cup of Nations. Feel free to post as I go along or correct me. Its going to be an amazing weekend. Good Luck to all. Jay
Half-time score from today, September 2nd: Libya 0-0 Sudan Libya has been the stronger of the two sides so far but Sudan has been getting chances on the counter. It should be an interesting second half as Libya needs to win to keep their African Nations Cup dreams alive.
FT: Libya 0 Sudan 0 Libya's African Nation Cup hopes take a giant hit. Egypt now has a game in hand and a 1 point lead. This was the only game of the day. The next games are: Australia- Solomon Islands (05:30 EDT) tomorrow Uzbekistan-Bahrain goes off at 09:00 EDT. Big day tomorrow. See you then
Final result from today, September 2nd: Libya 0-0 Sudan A great result for Sudan even though they are already eliminated from both the World Cup and Nations Cup tournaments. It is a slight revenge for the 0-1 loss that Libya handed to them earlier in qualification. For Libya, this is a setback that could cost them a spot in the 2006 Nations Cup Finals. If Egypt wins their match against Benin on Sunday, Libya's only hope would be to claim the best fourth place position. Also, looking forward to the 35 matches tomorrow from all 6 regions of the world. I'll be online starting at 5:30am EST when Australia plays the Solomon Islands! Good luck to all teams involved.
OFC Championship Leg 1 Halftime: Australia 3-0 Solomon Islands Complete dominance by Australia so far not surprisingly and the scoreline could've been worse had it not been for poor finishing by the Aussies and great goalkeeping by Aruwafu. The Solomons maybe got one shot attempt but besides that they have been playing almost every man behind the ball the whole first half. Expect Australia to continue the pressure and will probably add to their total in the second half.
OFC CHampionship Leg 1 Full time: Australia 7-0 Solomon Islands An expected result in a match where Australia dominated every aspect of the game. The red card to Nelson Kulifa of the Solomons in the 53rd minute opened the floodgates as Australia scored 4 more in the second half. Poor defense combined with a much worse half for goalkeeper Francis Aruwafu spelled disaster for the Solomons as Cahill, Chipperfield, Thompson, and Emerton each scored. Now with a 7-0 advantage heading into the second leg, Australia can be assured of their date with the 5th place side from South America.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4210148.stm Not sure what this is about, but I was almost positive that the best 4th place finisher in the African groups would qualify along with the other 15 nations for the 2006 Nations Cup Finals if Egypt finished in the top 3. Is the BBC right or did they totally screw up on this?
Halftime scorelines: AFC 5th Place Playoff Series (Leg 1) Uzbekistan 1-0 Bahrain CAF Group 1 Zambia 0-0 Senegal Group 5 Kenya 0-1 Tunisia Games just starting up: UEFA Group 1 Andorra 0-0 Finland Group 6 Wales 0-0 England Northern Ireland 0-0 Azerbaijan
UPDATE: AFC playoff FT: Uzbekistan 1 Bahrain 0 concern for Bahrain here. They didnt get an away goal and now must most likely win by 2 or win ok PK's to advance. Return leg is 4 days from now
UPDATE: CAF Qualifying FT: Senegal 1 Zambia 0 Zambia is pretty much done. A tie would have done them well, but a loss puts them out basically. Togo beating Liberia tomorrow would see Zambia out, but they will be in the African cup more than likely FT: Tunisia 2 Kenya 0 Tunisia with a 4 point lead over Morocco, but Morocco with a game in hand, take on Botswana tomorrow. A win there would set up the October 8 Matchup in Tunis between the 2 with morocco needing a road win to advance. Any slip up and Morocco could be finished
Too bad for Zambia , Inexperience got the worst of them . Mbesuma, their top scorer, was recued by police from a local mob that accused him of drinking rather than training. The guy showed up drunk to a local event . "Giving Youth to the Young is such a waste ."
Final results from Europe: Group 1 Andorra 0-0 Finland (5 points for Andorra now?!?!) Group 3 Estonia 2-1 Latvia Russia 2-0 Liechtenstein Group 4 Switzerland 1-1 Israel (ANOTHER draw lol) Group 6 Northern Ireland 2-0 Azerbaijan Wales 0-1 England Group 8 Sweden 3-0 Bulgaria Games in progress: Group 1 Armenia 0-0 Holland (39th minute) Group 2 Georgia 0-1 Ukraine (66th minute) Group 5 Moldova 2-0 Belarus (81st minute) Scotland 1-0 Italy (51st minute)
UPDATE: Main European Qualifiers England 1 Wales 0 FT. Good effort by Wales but England survives and puts pressure on Poland for now FT: Switzerland 1 Israel 1. Not a good result for either. Switzerland will give up its lead over France when they beat Faeroe Islands today. Ireland has the day off so there will be a 3 way tie at the top with Israel 1pt back with 1 less game left. It will come down to the wire. Whoever can beat France will qualify, otherwise, they will FT: Russia 2 Liech 0. of little consequence as it appears that Russia is done Georgia 1 Ukraine 1 FT. Just ended. Ukraine now on 24pts and Turkey come calling Wednesday. The Turkey-Denmark result today will determine the course for this league. If Denmark were to win, Ukraine will be all but in. 1pt in the last 2 game would 2 it Scotland 1 Italy 1 90th minute. If this score ends as is, the winner of the Norway-Slovenia game will be encouraged and just 2 pts back of Italy with 3 games left, leaving italy with not much error
FT: Holland 1 Armenia 0. Good effort by Armenia but everyone knew Holland was going to win even though the win was very unconvicing.
UPDATE: CAF Qualifying. Burkina Faso 3 South Africa 1 Full time. S. Africa took a huge hit this time. Beaten badly on the road, not much you can say but Ghana looks to be in the drivers seat for the cup with only games against Uganda and Cape Verde Islands left.
According to my math skills, because of a tiebreaker Ukraine has over Greece, and turkey cant catch Ukraine: the Ukraine has qualified for the world cup congrats to them
Wild finish in Port of Spain. Trinidad & Tobago rally from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to beat Guatemala 3-2 ! If Panama can take down Costa Rica, CONCACAF will have three teams on 7 points and one on 5 heading into Wednesday's qualifiers. Buckle your seatbelts kids!
UPDATE: CONCACAF Qualifying Trinidad and Tobago 3 Guatemala 2 big win for T&T, they pull even with Guatemala and CR with the Tico's going off at Panama later. Stern John had a brace in 2 minutes to send the comeback. More on CONCACAF later for sure.
UPDATE: UEFA qualifying Group 8. Croatia wins 3-1 in Iceland. Sweden wins 3-0 Hungary wins 4-0 nothing ventured or gained today....bigger day wednesday Hungary hosts Sweden. Group 6 Poland 3 Austria 2. Poland keeps pressure on England, Austria can cancel ticket to Germany Group 7 Serbia 2 Lithuania 0...Serbia keeping the heat on. Looking good for germany
UPDATE: CONMEBOL Qualifying Ecuador gets a 2-1 win in Bolivia, putting them on the brink of qualification. A win in one of their last 2 games would do it. Paraguay wins 1-0 against probably a young useless Argentina squad, and they squeak by. They do probably only need 1 more win to qualify. No body talks about this region, but its pretty tight coming down to the end. Peru and Venezuela play later and the loser is out for sure. Uruguay and Colombia go at it tomorrow, and Brazil will cinch up a spot against Chile. After tomorrow we will know more about who has the best shot at the 5 spot, but a colombia win would all but eliminate Uruguay, Peru or Venezuela and Chile. We'll see im off to watch the USA....ill be back on later
UPDATE: CONMEBOL qualifying FT: Venezuela 4 Peru 1. Peru can cancel their trip to Germany, Venezuela is still alive after a dominating win.
Congrats to the U.S. for qualifying for Germany 2006 (2-0 over Mexico)--I'm off to Panama City via fifaworldcup.com!
UPDATE: CONCACAF Qualifying DONE: USA HAS QUALIFIED with a dominating victory over Mexico. Mexico came to play in the first half and could and maybe should have led, but the USA totally outplayed them in the 2nd and deserved to win. Mexico still in great shape, 1 point in 3 game will see them through.
UPDATE: CONCACAF Qualifying FT Costa Rica Pastes Panama 3-0 costing Panama dearly. they're done. Road games at USA and Mexico remove their mathematical hope. Costa Rica get 3 big points and a win over T&T on wednesday will basically see them through. Till tomorrow. Big games in S. AMerica and the vital Ivory Coast-Cameroon Matchup Later