Ireland stunned Hungary for a playoff spot. Kudos to them for getting hot at the right time. Parrott is on Fire. I feel bad for Hungary though.
Me too. Ireland were virtually out after that defeat in Armenia last month, but now they're two games away from a first WC qualification since 2002! Funny game, football!
Yup. Scotland and Bosnia can qualify directly too with victories on Tuesday. That would also be funny. Scotland probably has the better chance of doing so but anything can happen.
Which is why people should not bash the expanded tournament format before watching a minute of a match. Strange things will happen. I guarantee it.
So, I don't have the chops to predict the Nov FIFA rankings, but using October and giving seeds to the highest ranked PO members, we get: I. Pot 1 1. United States, Hosts, 16th 2. Mexico, Hosts, 14th 3. Canada, Hosts, 28th 4. Spain, almost certainly qualified, 1st 5. Argentina, Qualified, 2nd 6. France, Qualified, 3rd 7. Engalnd, Qualified, 4th 8. Porrugal, Qualified, 5th 9. Netherlands, functionally qualified, 6th 10. Brazil, Qualified, 7th 11. Belgium, almost certainly qualified, 8th 12. Italy, functionally POs #1, 9th *Can Germany catch Italy? II. Pot 2: 1. Germany, likely qualify/ in PO, 10th 2. Croatia, Qualified, 11th 3. Morocco, Qualified, 12th 4. Colombia, Qualified, 13th 5. Uruguay, Qualified, 15th 6. Switzerland, likely qualify/in PO, 17th 7. Senegal, Qualified, 18th 8. Japan, Qualified, 19th 9. Denmark, likely qualify/in PO, 20th 10. Iran, Qualified, 21st 11. South Korea, Qualified, 22nd 12. Ecuador, Qualified, 23rd Can Austria catch Ecuador? Pot 3 1. Austria, likely qualify/in PO, 24th 2. Australia, Qualified, 25th 3. Turkey, likely POs #2/qualify, 26th 4. Norway, functionally qualified/PO, 29th 5. Panama, likely INT PO#1/qualify, 31st 6. Egypt, Qualified, 32nd 7. Poland, functionally PO#3, 33rd 8. Algeria, Qualified, 35th 9. Scotland, probably PO#4/qualify, 36th 10. Paraguay, Qualified, 39th 11. Nigeria, INTPO#2, 41st 12. Ivory Coast, Qualified, 42nd Ukraine is 27th if they make the PO today. Wales are 34th. Not sure a NL qualifier can claim the #4 UEFA PO seeding spot being in Pot 4 seeding for UEFA. Would that be right? Regardless, though, the 4th UEFA placeholder would be pot 3. Wherher Ukraine, Wales, Poland, or Scotland are used. Given Oct rankings. Pot 4 1. Tunisia, Qualified, 43rd 2. Qatar, Qualified, 52nd 3. Uzbekistan, Qualified, 55th 4. Saudi Arabia, Qualified, 58th 5. South Africa, Qualified, 59th 6. Honduras, leading, 64th 7. Jordan, Qualified, 66th 8. Cape Verde, Qualified, 71st 9. Ghana, Qualified, 73rd 10. Curacao, leading, 82nd 11. New Zealand, Qualified, 85th 12. Suriname, leading, 126th Costa Rica are 45th, steep climb to get to Pot 3 even if they get in. Jamaica are 68th and Pot 4 if they beat Curacao to qualify. Haiti 88th if they win Group C. With the exception of Panama (Pot 3) all of the current CONCACAF contenders for the last spots woukd be Pot 4. MAYBE Costa Rica could get Pot 4. I am sure I screwed something up. Please correct. Will update throughout the day and next couple.
If Germany win and Italy do not, Germany will be pot 1. Croatia would also pass Italy if they win and Italy do not. If Austria win, they pass both Ecuador and South Korea. I am not sure if they pass with a draw.
Nah. It's been for a while. I remember this past WC they played their best futbol without Cristiano. He should be a super-sub at best.
Ukraine into the POs. Iceland eliminated. I. Pot 1 1. United States, Hosts, 16th 2. Mexico, Hosts, 14th 3. Canada, Hosts, 28th 4. Spain, almost certainly qualified, 1st 5. Argentina, Qualified, 2nd 6. France, Qualified, 3rd 7. Engalnd, Qualified, 4th 8. Porrugal, Qualified, 5th 9. Netherlands, functionally qualified, 6th 10. Brazil, Qualified, 7th 11. Belgium, almost certainly qualified, 8th 12. Italy, functionally POs #1, 9th *Can Germany catch Italy? II. Pot 2: 1. Germany, likely qualify/ in PO, 10th 2. Croatia, Qualified, 11th 3. Morocco, Qualified, 12th 4. Colombia, Qualified, 13th 5. Uruguay, Qualified, 15th 6. Switzerland, likely qualify/in PO, 17th 7. Senegal, Qualified, 18th 8. Japan, Qualified, 19th 9. Denmark, likely qualify/in PO, 20th 10. Iran, Qualified, 21st 11. South Korea, Qualified, 22nd 12. Ecuador, Qualified, 23rd Can Austria catch Ecuador? Pot 3 1. Austria, likely qualify/in PO, 24th 2. Australia, Qualified, 25th 3. Turkey, likely POs #2/qualify, 26th 4. Ukraine, In PO, PO#3, 27th 5. Norway, functionally qualified/PO, 29th 6. Panama, likely INT PO#1/qualify, 31st 7. Egypt, Qualified, 32nd 8. Poland, functionally PO#4 33rd 9. Algeria, Qualified, 35th 10. Paraguay, Qualified, 39th 11. Nigeria, INTPO#2, 41st 12. Ivory Coast, Qualified, 42nd Pot 4 1. Tunisia, Qualified, 43rd 2. Qatar, Qualified, 52nd 3. Uzbekistan, Qualified, 55th 4. Saudi Arabia, Qualified, 58th 5. South Africa, Qualified, 59th 6. Honduras, leading, 64th 7. Jordan, Qualified, 66th 8. Cape Verde, Qualified, 71st 9. Ghana, Qualified, 73rd 10. Curacao, leading, 82nd 11. New Zealand, Qualified, 85th 12. Suriname, leading, 126th Costa Rica are 45th, steep climb to get to Pot 3 even if they get in. Jamaica are 68th and Pot 4 if they beat Curacao to qualify. Haiti 88th if they win Group C. With the exception of Panama (Pot 3) all of the current CONCACAF contenders for the last spots woukd be Pot 4. MAYBE Costa Rica could get Pot 4. I am sure I screwed something up. Please correct. Will update throughout the day and next couple.[/QUOTE]
Yes, Hungary-Republic of Ireland was completely inconsequential! The level of fan engagement of the European Qualifiers is higher than the rest of the world combined!
Home against the weakest team in the group after they were just eliminated. ...Yeah must be because Ronaldo was not playing...
One observation about the ongoing U17WC - FIFA's first 48-team competition - is the genuinely global feel it has with more countries represented from all over the world. While the distribution of places is more even in the U17WC, I suspect that feeling of genuine global representation will come across quite strongly at the WC.