2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification

[MUSC4EVER]

Wales 0-1 up in Serbia, Ramsey penalty...

 

[88GTA]

USA plays in Mexico tonight after beating Trinidad & Tobago through a Pulisic brace earlier in the week. The US never plays well in Mexico so I'll be ecstatic with a draw.

Well I'm ecstatic. 1-1 draw after a great chip shot from Captain Michael Bradley in the 6th minute!

 

[CinnamonOD]

All the injured nottable players were needed for this match (Layún, Corona, Márquez)
-Jesús Gallardo was a disaster trying to imitate Corona, Osorio should've kept Alanis in
-Hirving Lozano was nowhere in this match, he had some great chances but that's it
-Chicharito being chicharito by failing as much as it's possible

 

[daan]

I'll just leave this here.



Freekicks - Check.
Kneeslide - Errr, no.

 

[MoLiEG]

All the injured nottable players were needed for this match (Layún, Corona, Márquez)
-Jesús Gallardo was a disaster trying to imitate Corona, Osorio should've kept Alanis in
-Hirving Lozano was nowhere in this match, he had some great chances but that's it
-Chicharito being chicharito by failing as much as it's possible

Chicharito was awful yesterday, Osorio should have changed him for Peralta at some point of the 2nd half.

Defensive line was terrible, we were lucky they couldn't find a way to score other than Bradley's shot (which btw, was a very good goal).

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Good point for Wales last night and a pretty good performance too, sort of keeps us in contention but four points off is going to be tough to overcome...

@Famine we still cant talk about friendlies here??

 

[Famine]

@Famine we still cant talk about friendlies here??

That's more for the general football chatter thread, I think.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Fair enough 👍

 

[Famine]

There's still a bunch of games left on the 12th and 13th, in Asia, North America and - what might be my favourite - Oceania.

New Zealand were through to the confederation play-off final months ago, with two games left to play in a group that only had a total of six games (that's in total, not per team. Six total games) anyway. Their opponents have yet to be decided...

1. Tahiti - P4 - W2 D0 L2 - G+7 G-4 - GD+3 - 6pt
2. Solomon Islands - P3 - W2 D0 L1 - G+4 G-5 - GD-1 - 6pt
3. Papua New Guinea - P3 - W1 D0 L2 - G+5 G-7 - GD-2 - 3pt

Tahiti played all of their games first. They beat and lost to both of the other teams, finishing +1 -1 with the Solomons and +4 -3 with Papua New Guinea. But then the Solomons were punished for an ineligible player, making Tahiti's 1-0 win into a 3-0 win.

This left them all played out and on top of the group with 6pt from 4 games, while the Solomons and PNG had three each, but PNG with -1 goal difference and Solomons with -2. They met last week after three months of this, with Solomons running out 3-2 winners.

They're now at the point where:
PNG must win 5-0 to qualify
Solomons only need a draw to qualify
Any other PNG win and Tahiti qualify

Personally I'm hoping for a 4-0 win to PNG, and Tahiti facing off New Zealand in the final playoff. It is, after all, a magical place.

 

[Famine]

There's still a bunch of games left on the 12th and 13th, in Asia

And Iran has become the second nation to come through the qualifying tournament and book a place in Russia.

 

[88GTA]

The USA got some help yesterday with Honduras and Panama finishing in a 2-2 draw. They are in 3rd place with only 4 qualifiers left:
vs. Costa Rica Sept. 1st
at Honduras Sept. 5th
vs. Panama Oct. 6th
at Trinidad & Tobago Oct. 10th.

If they can just win the home games, they should lock in a World Cup spot.

And Iran has become the second nation to come through the qualifying tournament and book a place in Russia.

Brazil has also qualified.

 

[Famine]

Brazil has also qualified.

Yes I know... We had a discussion about it back in March and the first few posts of this thread that detail who has qualified and when was updated at the time they qualified, with the date they qualified, to reflect the fact that they qualified.

 

[88GTA]

Oh I got it. Sorry, I misread your statement as only Russia and Iran had qualified.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

The European qualifiers resume on Thursday.

 

[Famine]

The European qualifiers resume on Thursday.

As they do for Africa, North and South America and most of Asia.

One game has already been played in Asia, and it was a big one in AFC Round 3 Group B as UAE beat Saudi Arabia 2-1. Saudi is now tied with Australia on points and goal difference (scored more), with a final game against group leaders Japan. Australia play Japan tomorrow (which is now today in Australia) knowing that if they can secure a point, with a final game at home to group whipping boys Thailand, they should be through to the Finals - and may be anyway as the goal difference should now swing in their favour.

Japan will qualify by beating Australia or drawing with Saudi, regardless of any other results.

 

[88GTA]

The US host Costa Rica tomorrow at Red Bull Arena in a critical game. If they can manage a win, they can get some breathing room on Panama and Honduras. They travel to the latter next Tuesday for a tough road game. They need to at least draw both games.

 

[Famine]

Japan will qualify by beating Australia or drawing with Saudi, regardless of any other results.

Japan 2-0 Australia, and Japan becomes the third nation to qualify for the Finals - and probably the first of several to qualify today.

 

[Barra333]

Meaning, to qualify, Australia need a better result against Thailand than Saudi get against Japan on the last matchday. Or, if they both win, 3 goals better on the day.

 

[Famine]

Meaning, to qualify, Australia need a better result against Thailand than Saudi get against Japan on the last matchday. Or, if they both win, 3 goals better on the day.

That's my reading of it, yes.

 

[Barra333]

That's my reading of it, yes.

On paper, it should be easy for Australia, since Japan are top and Thailand are bottom. But, Australia drew 2-2 with Thailand in their previous fixture.

 

[Famine]

All of the AFC games for the first half of this final double-header have now been played. Seven of the 12 teams can still qualify (two more have already qualified) for either the Finals or the next round playoff, with one game left each.

Syria beat Qatar 3-1 which, with other results, means that Syria now occupies the fourth-round playoff spot in the group and Qatar - the next World Cup hosts - is eliminated.

A shock result in CAF has seen Uganda beat Egypt and go top of the qualifying group. Only one team will qualify and Uganda is ahead of both Egypt and Ghana now, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the group when the draw occurred...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

France 1-0 up and comfortable in the big game vs Netherlands.

Belgium are 4-0 up at home to Gibraltar, and its not even half time yet!

 

[Dennisch]

It's going to be another stress free tournament for us.

7 games. 10 points. 4th place.

France 7-16.
Sweden 7-13.
Bulgaria 7-12.
Netherlands 7-10.

But we still have a chance, all we need to do is win the remaining 3 games, because Sweden lost 3-2 against Bulgaria.

But hey. Luxembourg won against Belarus.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Belgium beat Gibraltar 9-0 and that's despite having Witsel sent off, hat-tricks for Lukaku and Menuier who also put on 4 assists, not bad for a left back!

 

[Famine]

Malta 0-0 England at half time.

England have had four shots. FOUR. The team includes Raheem Sterling (£49m, 2015), Kyle Walker (£45m, 2017), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£35m, 2017), Jake Livermore (£10m, 2017), Ryan Bertrand (£10m, 2015), Jordan Henderson (£20m, 2011), Gary Cahill (£7m, 2012), Phil Jones (£16m, 2012), Dele Alli (rated at £130m) and Harry Kane (rated at £130m), but they've managed FOUR shots on goal against MALTA.

Useless wazzocks.

 

[35mm]

One could buy Malta for all that money.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

England won 4-0 in the end, three of which came in the last 6 minutes.

Scotland kept alive their hopes with a 3-0 over Lithuania and Northern Ireland also beat San Marino 3-0.

 

[Famine]

Well now, this is a scoreline...

01/09/2017 - Cape Verde 2-1 South Africa

It leaves Group D ludicrously balanced. Burkina Faso have beaten Cape Verde and drawn with South Africa, playing Senegal tomorrow, Cape Verde have lost to Burkina and Senegal but beaten South Africa, and South Africa have drawn with Burkina, beaten Senegal and lost to Cape Verde.

Elsewhere, Ghana are five points adrift (of Uganda) after three games, and Algeria are bottom of a group in which Nigeria just tonked Cameroon 4-0...

 

[CrazyJohn]

The Cypriots beat the Bosnians yesterday, very surprised about that.
Now they have slight chances for a 2nd place in their group.

 

[Famine]

Mexico have qualified following last night's matches too - but the USA had a horrendous result, losing 1-0 at home to Costa Rica.

The good news for the USA is that they're still in the third qualifying spot and they've played both of the sides above them twice (W0 D1 L3). Their remaining three games are against group whipping boys Trinidad & Tobago, meh team Panama and Honduras who, despite being level on points with USA, were beaten 6-0 in the previous fixture. It's in their own hands.