Which confederations have released their proposals for 2006 WC qualifying? I know CONCACAF plans on a three stage format (all stages follow a league system): First Round: 35 teams; 11 groups of three, one group of 2. Group winners advance to semifinals. Semifinals: 12 teams; 3 groups of 4. Top two teams in each group advance to finals. Finals: 6 teams; 1 group of 6. Top three teams advance to World Cup. Fourth place team has a home and home playoff with the Asian fifth-place team. I'm particularly interested in how the changes to each continent's allocations will affect the qualifying formats for Asia and Europe.
Frankly, I don't think CONCACAF should have changed its format. Let's face it, there is an enormous disparity in the confederation, and the majority of nations in CONCACAF have no more chance of qualifying for the WC than they have of developing a cancer cure derived from a Big Mac.
CONMEBOL Schedule PRIMERA RUEDA 2003 1a. Fecha 6 y 7 de septiembre Perú vs. Paraguay Colombia vs. Brasil Ecuador vs. Venezuela Uruguay vs. Bolivia Argentina vs. Chile 2a. Fecha 9 y 10 de septiembre Paraguay vs. Uruguay Brasil vs. Ecuador Bolivia vs. Colombia Venezuela vs. Argentina Chile vs. Perú 3a. Fecha 15 y 16 de noviembre Paraguay vs. Ecuador Uruguay vs. Chile Perú vs. Brasil Argentina vs. Bolivia Colombia vs. Venezuela 4a. Fecha 18 y 19 de noviembre Venezuela vs. Bolivia Brasil vs. Uruguay Ecuador vs. Perú Chile vs. Paraguay Colombia vs. Argentina 2004 5a. Fecha 30 y 31 de marzo Uruguay vs. Venezuela Paraguay vs. Brasil Bolivia vs. Chile Argentina vs. Ecuador Perú vs. Colombia 6a. Fecha 1º y 2 de junio Ecuador vs. Colombia Venezuela vs. Chile Uruguay vs. Perú Brasil vs. Argentina Bolivia vs. Paraguay 7a. Fecha 4 y 5 de junio Chile vs. Brasil Colombia vs. Uruguay Ecuador vs. Bolivia Argentina vs. Paraguay Perú vs. Venezuela 8a. Fecha 4 y 5 de septiembre Paraguay vs. Venezuela Chile vs. Colombia Uruguay vs. Ecuador Perú vs. Argentina Brasil vs. Bolivia 9a. Fecha 9 y 10 de octubre Colombia vs. Paraguay Bolivia vs. Perú Ecuador vs. Chile Venezuela vs. Brasil Argentina vs. Uruguay SEGUNDA RUEDA 10a. Fecha 12 y 13 de octubre Paraguay vs. Perú Brasil vs. Colombia Bolivia vs. Uruguay Venezuela vs. Ecuador Chile vs. Argentina 11a. Fecha 16 y 17 de noviembre Ecuador vs. Brasil Argentina vs. Venezuela Perú vs. Chile Uruguay vs. Paraguay Colombia vs. Bolivia 2005 12a. Fecha 26 y 27 de marzo Ecuador vs. Paraguay Venezuela vs. Colombia Chile vs. Uruguay Bolivia vs. Argentina Brasil vs. Perú 13a. Fecha 29 y 30 de marzo Paraguay vs. Chile Perú vs. Ecuador Bolivia vs. Venezuela Uruguay vs. Brasil Argentina vs. Colombia 14a. Fecha 4 y 5 de junio Venezuela vs. Uruguay Chile vs. Bolivia Ecuador vs. Argentina Colombia vs. Perú Brasil vs. Paraguay 15a. Fecha 7 y 8 de junio Chile vs. Venezuela Perú vs. Uruguay Paraguay vs. Bolivia Colombia vs. Ecuador Argentina vs. Brasil 16a. Fecha 3 y 4 de septiembre Uruguay vs. Colombia Brasil vs. Chile Bolivia vs. Ecuador Paraguay vs. Argentina Venezuela vs. Perú 17a. Fecha 8 y 9 de octubre Argentina vs. Perú Bolivia vs. Brasil Ecuador vs. Uruguay Colombia vs. Chile Venezuela vs. Paraguay 18a. Fecha 11 y 12 de octubre Uruguay vs. Argentina Brasil vs. Venezuela Paraguay vs. Colombia Chile vs. Ecuador Perú vs. Bolivia
Actually, if you want to check out what I wrote on this subject, go to www.soccerwriter.com it's my view on what qualifying round formats would be good for the 2006 WC. Just click on "other libraires" then click on the red link. I too agree that CONCACAF should not have changed their qualifying format. It was the most complicated of all of the regions, but it was the most fair. They have now switched over to the format that AFC had during the 2002 WCQR. CONMEBOL is playing the exact same schedule and format from the last WCQR, OFC has changed theirs to a longer QR and has given Australia and NZ byes into Round 2 (to avoid them crushing teams like 31-0) and the Final Round will be like the Hex is in the CONCACAF. Haven't heard anything about AFC or UEFA, but I would think it would be similar to what they had in the 2002 WCQR. CAF is pretty much the same as well but will have teams have byes into Round 2 and it will also serve as the QR for the 2006 ANC. 78 days until the 2006 WCQR will begin.
OFC Qualification The OFC have also released their path for qualification but the exact dates follow CSF and CAF and UEFA for some reason. Goto http://www.socceraustralia.com.au or to http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ to find out more. What I know off the top of my head is that Australia and New Zealand are seeded and the other teams play in a qualification comp in 2 groups and the winners play the seeded teams. The winners of that round then play off for the spot in Germany.