2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification

[Famine]

You must have to do something really bad to get suspended from FIFA...

Or just not keep up with payments.

 

[Ross]

Or just not keep up with payments.

I wonder what happens when FIFA don't keep up their payments to other nations

 

[Blitz24]

I wonder what happens when FIFA don't keep up their payments to other nations

They get arrested for racketeering, get sent to jail, claim "exhaustion" to get released and then hold a dance rally.

 

[Famine]

We lost our first previous World Cup finalist last night, as mighty Curaçao drew 1-1 with Cuba and eliminated the Cubans (1938) on away goals...

 

[Carbonox]

We lost our first previous World Cup finalist last night, as mighty Curaçao drew 1-1 with Cuba and eliminated the Cubans (1938) on away goals...

Never even heard of that place, and this is coming from someone who extensively studied the world map at a young age.

That being said, good for them, I suppose.

 

[Liquid]

Curaco is one of those Dutch Carribean places. They're managed by Patrick Kluivert. Great for them to at least advance even one phase.

Edit: Or even two phases as double checking the results in the OP shows that they beat Montserrat in Round One. Onwards to Round Three!

 

[Famine]

CONCACAF round 2 is now done, so the next big thing to happen will be the draws for CONCACAF round 3, CAF round 1 and UEFA zones, which will all happen on July 25th. OFC gets underway in August with the draw already made and the competition doubling as the OFC Nations Cup, the next round of AFC 2nd round matches in September and CONMEBOL already determined and getting going in October.

Also on July 25th will be the decision for the Interconfederation Playoffs.

 

[Liquid]

Guam beat India 2-1 recently but I think that was only one of the legs. Still an absolutely incredible result.

 

[Famine]

Guam beat India 2-1 recently but I think that was only one of the legs. Still an absolutely incredible result.

Group stage - Guam are 2 wins from 2 and top their group

 

[Liquid]

And India are 0 for 2. Christ.

G'wan, Guam!

 

[Famine]

And India are 0 for 2. Christ.

And have the entire competition's leading scorer, Sunil Chhetri.

Guam meanwhile has a population of 160,000 and their national team is almost entirely made up of college football players from the USA and players from Guam's men's football league - which includes such wondrous teams as Quality Distributors, Beercelona and the Pago Bay Disasters. Which in no way sound like BASEketball teams.

They do have three professional players, two of whom play for US professional sides and the third of which plays for a team from, of all the places in the world, Ulan Bator in Mongolia...

 

[Liquid]

Beercelona

Almost as good as the local Sunday league side Rhyl Madrid.

 

[Famine]

Curaco is one of those Dutch Carribean places. They're managed by Patrick Kluivert. Great for them to at least advance even one phase.

Edit: Or even two phases as double checking the results in the OP shows that they beat Montserrat in Round One. Onwards to Round Three!

Apparently my lot watch this thread, as we've just signed Darryl Lachman, a defender for FC Twente who plays for... Curacao...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

The European section of qualifying will be drawn tomorrow, Blatter will be there....and Putin...

 

[Liquid]

Wales. Pot one.
Slovakia. Pot two.

Make it happen.

 

[Akmuq]

Brazil forward Hulk who was due to take part in drawing the teams, claims that he experiences racism every game in Russia, then soon gets relieved of his duties. I'm sure it's a coincidence.

 

[ukfan758]

Why in the world is there a bunch of singing performances at the qualification event?

 

[Touring Mars]

England v Scotland... better book those days off work now! An easy group for England, and a good chance of a playoff place for Scotland... :-)

 

[Akmuq]

Wales Serbia Austria Ireland Georgia Moldova.


Ireland won't be at the World Cup then.

 

[ukfan758]

Will someone please explain to me what the USA has to do to get in to the World Cup(thanks to their disgraceful performance against Jamaica)?

 

[CinnamonOD]

Will someone please explain to me what the USA has to do to get in to the World Cup(thanks to their disgraceful performance against Jamaica)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONCACAF)

 

[Liquid]

Wales have Ireland, Austria and Serbia.
Slovakia have England.

10/10 best draw ever. Being based in Slovakia, that makes for plenty of European away day fun there.

 

[Famine]

Has anyone ever wondered what it would look like if Oddjob and Bugs Bunny procreated?

Will someone please explain to me what the USA has to do to get in to the World Cup(thanks to their disgraceful performance against Jamaica)?

See the first post in this thread, then click on "CONCACAF". The USA are one of the top ranked six sides (indeed the top ranked side in that confederation) and they get a bye until the second last round.

 

[Famine]

OFC first round concluded today in what seems to have been a nailbiter. Samoa were third after the first two rounds, but won their third match to put them second on 6pt and behind the Cook Islands on goal difference (by 1), while ahead of American Samoa on 3pt and with a goal difference better by 3.

The only possible result that would have seen Samoa top the group and qualify was a 2-0 win to American Samoa - any other result would have seen one of the other two teams qualify - and that was exactly what happened.


The OFC qualification process has been changed since it was first drawn up and seems to be a bit lengthier this year. There's now three group rounds (bottom 4 ranked teams in one group, winner plus top 7 in two groups, top 3 from each of those groups in two groups) and a final play-off between the two final group winners.

But they still have to play the 5th place South American team. So they still won't qualify.

There's been another round of AFC matches too, and some proper tonkings in there...
Australia 5-0 Bangladesh
Iran 6-0 Guam
Saudi Arabia 7-0 Timor-Leste
South Korea 8-0 Laos
Kuwait 9-0 Myanmar
United Arab Emirates 10-0 Malaysia

And if that wasn't enough, the biggest scoreline of the day occurred in Doha in what I suspect will in future be called "Anyone remember that really suspect match where a country with no football heritage that, through heavy bribery, secured a World Cup Finals tournament despite eminent unsuitability for it, several breaches of World Cup rules and a shocking human rights record with stadia built with slave labour to the designs of the grandson of a Nazi architect suddenly knew how to play football sufficiently well to score a goal every six minutes?":

Qatar 15-0 Bhutan

I'll grant you that Bhutan had played 2 and had a goal difference of -13 prior to that match, and are ranked 164th in the world... but Qatar are 94th themselves and had only scored 1 in their previous match. Against 177th placed Maldives...

 

[Liquid]

Interesting update on Qatar, thanks for that.

Definitely a team we're all looking forward to at the WC.

 

[DK]

Maybe the Bhutanese team were threatened with being forced to build Qatar's stadiums if they put up too much of a fight.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Maybe the Bhutanese team were threatened with being forced to build Qatar's stadiums if they put up too much of a fight.

I heard Qatar used American Football deflating advice to help them win the games.

 

[Blitz24]

I heard Qatar used American Football deflating advice to help them win the games.

I heard they didn't let the good players through customs at the airport.

 

[Inferno251]

It's been a year since anyone posted . Either way, most continents are about to begin the final stages of qualifying (UEFA and Asia anyway, as I am following them)

Watched Australia just beat Iraq 2-0 in Perth. Off to a good start 👍
Next they play away against the UAE on Wednesday...

Also, UAE just beat Japan 2-1...in Japan!

 

[MUSC4EVER]

European section of Qualification starts this weekend.