The tables look totally predictable, except for the rise of the Faroes, which is probably a benefit of them playing competitive games in the Nations League.
Look at their U21 team. Lost to awful Montenegro 2-0 then 4-0 to Italy, both away, then they hosted Poland yesterday. FT 0-6. I don't understand the reasoning behind appointing an unexperienced manager who had 5-year break in his 10-year long coaching career to such a delicate position.
They didn't qualify in 2010, 2014 or 2022 and didn't qualify for the 2024 Euros. They were most recently in League C of the Nations League. It's a long-term thing.
True. I watched their match against Switzerland and thought Sweden were a bit unfortunate to lose that. Isak hit the inside of the post and they had a few other chances to make it 1-0. However, Sweden struggled to cope with the ridiculous amount of diving that the Swiss were doing, since the ref bought it every time. Including what looked like a blatant dive for the penalty that led to CHE's goal. Ndoye is particularly unlikable - spent half the match rolling on the ground (even pretending to be hurt after he rolled himself into the advertising boards ).
Right now, both Curacao and Suriname look like good bets to finish 2nd in their qualifying groups. This could be good news for the other inter-continental playoff teams as they both have low rankings. Though its very possible that the 2nd-place team in Curacao's group will be the worst second-place team and not advance.
Watch out for Guatemala in Group A. They might be third at the moment but they sit just a point back of the top 2 and both of their remaining matches are at home, and in CONCACAF, that can make a big difference.
Like I said in another post, if Suriname didn't bottle both results this month they'd be qualified or have one very big foot thru the door.
Don't know if they "bottled it" against Panama. They were quite resilient and fortunate to be leading for as long as they did. The entire final 30 minutes was a seige on their goal.
I feel like a team with their background should know better than to just park the bus.. dutch system preaches possession retention as your best defense. They also had two very very clear chances to ice the game w a goal.
Is anything confirmed about the draw seedings at this point? Is it certain that everything will be based on the November world rankings other than the 3 hosts being in the top pot and the 6 playoff teams being in the last pot?
Why is it certain that the 4 euro playoff teams are in pot 4? Just because they put the one unfinished playoff team there last time doesn’t guarantee they’ll do it again. FIFA will know the 12 euro playoff teams by the time of the draw, so they can guess the likely strength of the winners. I suspect pot 3 will be the best place for them. But of course who knows what FIFA will do?
I don't think they should be in pot 4, I just seem to recall hearing it somewhere. Italy in pot 4 would be ridiculous, but as you say it's FIFA.... By the way my son's a UCSC Banana Slug.
They should probably just put the playoff teams where the higher ranked team would be. Except for pot 1. For instance Italy vs X should be in pot 2 at best, if Italy were even ranked high enough to be in pot 1. The whole draw process is going to be an absolute cluster$%^k with trying to keep confderstions apart especially with the Intercontinental playoffs.
It is not certain and FIFA likely won't say anything until 2 days before the draw like in the 2022 World Cup Draw. People back then were theorizing that the UEFA play-off spot would have been placed in Pot 2 or 3, but it didn't happen. There are two precedents where they put all the unknown play-off teams in Pot 4 regardless of their ranking: 2022 World Cup 3 unknown teams all placed in Pot 4: 1. CONCACAF–OFC play-off: Costa Rica (#31) vs New Zealand (#101), Highest ranked team Costa Rica would have been placed in Pot 3. 2. AFC–CONMEBOL play-off: Australia (#42) vs Peru (#22), Highest ranked team Peru would have been placed in Pot 3. 3. UEFA play-off: Wales (#18) vs Austria (#34) vs Scotland (#39) vs Ukraine (#27), Highest ranked team Wales would have been placed in Pot 2. 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 3 unknown teams as well by the time of the draw, all placed in Pot 4: 1. Play-off Group A: Portugal (#23) vs Cameroon (#58) vs Thailand (#41), Highest ranked team Portugal would have been placed in Pot 3. 2. Play-off Group B: Chile (#38) vs Haiti (#56) vs Senegal (#84), Highest ranked team Chile would have been placed in Pot 3. 3. Play-off Group C: Paraguay (#51) vs Chinese Taipei (#40) vs Panama (#57) vs Papua Nueva Guinea (#50), all of those would have been in Pot 4. So in short, people are just assuming that they will do the same thing as the last tournaments, but nothing is certain.
my guess is the WC final will be moved to Dallas: FIFA: U.S. govt to determine 2026 World Cup city safety - ESPN
Lol. Why would Trump move the WC final out of his home city? It’s been 10 years and people are still letting Trump take advantage of them to promote his headlines for him. At this point, they’re just never going to learn. “Safety and security are obviously the governments' responsibility and they decide what is in the best interest for public safety.” Yes, of course. FIFA organizes soccer tournaments, they don’t have an intelligence network informing them on conditions around the world. They will take the advice of the local government regarding the safety situation and move games if the situation warrants it (the same as for any FIFA-sanctioned game). However, this would require the outbreak of conflict on US soil that has never been seen in its history.
If you don't know the answer to this question...can I sell you a bridge in Brooklyn really REALLY cheap?
He would move it if there was some attention to grab or benefit that outweighed his own personal interests. In my opinion, the calculus isn’t there but we can disagree on that. Threatening to move the game, of course, is a separate matter. Trump likes to say things. It’s a moot point because the games aren’t moving.
Only way it moves to Arlington is if there are stupid leftist/socialist/communist protests and disturbances in New York that make it unsafe for visitors. Other than that it will be in New Jersey.
Even “disturbances” or protests aren’t going to be enough to warrant moving anything. Manhattan would need to be an active warzone. I’m talking air strikes and infantry engaged in firefights in the streets.
A couple interesting things looking at the knock-out bracket: The winner of the groups with host nations all play 3rd place teams in the 2nd round. The runner ups from those groups all face other runner ups. It appears FIFA would like to see the host nations stick around a while.