Which is Better: WCQ or WC?

Interesting topic...

I agree with you that WC is too short, but that's why I love it so much. It's like 3 weeks of your life that never even happened. The excitement world wide can't be matched. Hell, even people in the US get excited and that says alot about the power of the WC. For my money, WC all the way!

 

I think a lot of the excitement in qualifying is taken out with the format in CONCACAF (and CONMEBOL,), many fans view it as a means to an end instead of as a gripping competition in it's self. In Europe, Africa and Asia you have IMO more interesting competition with a higher possibility of big teams not qualifying. But I think most US fans would rather have a boring 2 year qualifying run if it means a much higher likely hood that that the US will qualify at the end of it.

 

An interesting question, and a tough one to answer, but I think this is indisuptable:

Qualifying is WAY more nerve racking that the WC finals.

Even for us, in our ostensibly "weak" conference. How many USMNT fans are going to be biting their nails when we play Jamaica in Kingston? Or Mexico in Azteca where a tie is going to get us an absolutely critical point?

It is ulcer-inducing.

Yes, it's the getting there that is so fraught with anxiety. Think of Brazil last go round...they were a couple games from having to do a play-in!! Imagine hundreds of millions of Brazilians engaging in a collective nervous breakdown in samba land.

Hoo boy.

I think in the WC finals, the key thing for almost everybody is to show well -- you want to play well enough TO advance, even if you don't, since sometimes advancing has a bit of good fortune involved. And for the top teams, advancing into knockouts is a good enough set of results, though again, you want to bust your gut and play well in the knockouts even though you may not go deep into the tournament.

Bottom line, if you enjoy a high degree of nervousness and anxiety, qualifying is your cup of tea.

 

So the US is going to play in Honduras in the Qualies last time around, and I make plans with my non soccerfan wife to both go see the game in a pub just off downtown. We get there, and the place is packed to the gills. Just barely enough room to drink your beer.

So we're standing there watching, and I'm am getting REALLY nervous, so she grabs my hand and is shocked! 'You are shaking really bad.'

'I know' says me. 'This is World Cup Qualifying. This is important!'

I still don't think she fully understands.

 

OT: What does your wife think about your avatar?

 

Yeah, the World Cup Qualifers are very nerveracking. The game vs. Jamaica will be a difficult one to win. If your team doesn't qualify, then you don't have to worry about what is more exciting...because there will be no world cup for you.

 

MEN.

 

I like WCQ better myself, it's a journey rather than a single event. Plus the rivalries are so much more intense (yeah, we played Mexico in the last WC, but how often is that going to happen? Pretty sure it was the first time 2 CONCACAF teams had played each other in the WC, in fact I can't think of another time 2 teams from the same continent aside from Europe and SA had ever played each other in the WC before). Aside from El Clasico, we have intense rivalries with all the top Central American teams (Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador), plus Jamaica and Haiti, and I think US-Canada will develop into a good rivalry as the Canucks get better. The only non-CONCACAF country we really have anything resembling a rivalry with is Germany.

Also, in most WCQ games (the only exceptions being when it's a minnow or Canada playing at home) the stadium is full of rabid fans. At WC unless the home team or a neighboring country is playing, you have a couple thousand fans for each team and tens of thousands of locals cheering and applauding politely for both sides. Nothing wrong with that, it's a WC atmosphere which is a distinct animal but it doesn't have the bite of a WCQ atmosphere.

 

Amen! Qualifying is a MUCH different animal than the World Cup itself. The crowds are more passionate, the officiating less-neutral, the timeframe so long and drawn-out that the emotions swing madly from one match to the next. I nearly broke my television and booked tickets to Port-of-Spain after the CR road qualie in 2000 (so I might hunt down prick Prendergast). I felt total desolation after the Honduras home match (being in RFK out-numbered and feeling frowned-upon for being a loyal US supporter). My worst tirades relative to soccer have come after qualifiers (the two above specifically....things such as "this is war, and their country will take us over if they win" and "if you won't root for the country of your residence, go home"). It's why I think ANY means to limit away support is fair game for us (even to the point of wanting Congress to pass a bill declaring home qualifiers national security threats and therefore allowing law enforcement and others to use their powers in the name of defending the country from nefarious activities on behalf of the enemy) and why I will be MUCH more on the edge of my seat for the qualifiers than I was during the World Cup two years ago.

 

I think we can all agree that the real question here is:

Which is better, WCQ or BBQ?

 

I look forward to WCQ more. The WC is great but it can be over for your team in a week. The WCQ lasts for about a year and a half. It is definitely more nerve wracking for an extended period of time.

 

FWIW, the only other example, I think, was in the 1970 WC in Mexico. Mexico was the host (automatic qualifier), and El Salvador won out to become the CONCACAF entrant. Both teams were drawn into the same WC group (!), where Mexico won, 4-0 when they played.