Euro 2008 non-qualification thread...

[Famine]

Meh, I'm bored. Top 2 teams in each group qualify for the finals, along with Austria and Switzerland as hosts.

Teams coloured RED cannot qualify. Teams coloured GREEN have already qualified.

Group A
1 Poland W8 D4 L2 - 28pt - +12
2 Portugal W7 D6 L1 - 27pt - +14
3 Serbia W6 D6 L2 - 24pt - +11
4 Finland W6 D6 L2 - 24pt - +6
5 Belgium W5 D3 L6 - 15pt - -2
6 Kazakhstan W2 D4 L8 - 10pt - -10
7 Armenia W2 D3 L7 - 9pt - -9
8 Azerbaijan W1 D2 L9 - 5pt - -22

*Poland, Portugal qualify
**Armenia, Azerbaijan will play only 12 matches, with no matches between the countries and no points awarded
*** Serbia, Finland separated on head-to-heads

Results
2/9/06 Belgium 0–0 Kazakhstan
2/9/06 Serbia 1–0 Azerbaijan
2/9/06 Poland 1–3 Finland
6/9/06 Azerbaijan 1-1 Kazakhstan
6/9/06 Armenia 0-1 Belgium
6/9/06 Finland 1-1 Portugal
6/9/06 Poland 1-1 Serbia
7/10/06 Kazakhstan 0-1 Poland
7/10/06 Armenia 0-0 Finland
7/10/06 Serbia 1-0 Belgium
7/10/06 Portugal 3-0 Azerbaijan
11/10/06 Kazakhstan 0-2 Finland
11/10/06 Serbia 3-0 Armenia
11/10/06 Belgium 3-0 Azerbaijan
15/11/06 Finland 1-0 Armenia
15/11/06 Belgium 0-1 Poland
15/11/06 Portugal 3-0 Kazakhstan
24/3/07 Kazakhstan 2-1 Serbia
24/3/07 Poland 5-0 Azerbaijan
24/3/07 Portugal 4-0 Belgium
28/3/07 Azerbaijan 1-0 Finland
28/3/07 Poland 1-0 Armenia
28/3/07 Serbia 1-1 Portugal
2/6/07 Kazakhstan 1-2 Armenia
2/6/07 Azerbaijan 1-3 Poland
2/6/07 Finland 0-2 Serbia
2/6/07 Belgium 1-2 Portugal
6/6/07 Kazakhstan 1-1 Azerbaijan
6/6/07 Armenia 1-0 Poland
6/6/07 Finland 2-0 Belgium
22/8/07 Armenia 1-1 Portugal
22/8/07 Finland 2-1 Kazakhstan
22/8/07 Belgium 3-2 Serbia
8/9/07 Azerbaijan vs. Armenia Cancelled
8/9/07 Serbia 0-0 Finland
8/9/07 Portugal 2-2 Poland
12/9/07 Armenia vs. Azerbaijan Cancelled
12/9/07 Kazakhstan 2-2 Belgium
12/9/07 Finland 0-0 Poland
12/9/07 Portugal 1-1 Serbia
13/10/07 Armenia 0-0 Serbia
13/10/07 Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal
13/10/07 Poland 3-1 Kazakhstan
13/10/07 Belgium 0-0 Finland
17/10/07 Kazakhstan 1-2 Portugal
17/10/07 Azerbaijan 1-6 Serbia
17/10/07 Belgium 3-0 Armenia
17/11/07 Finland 2-1 Azerbaijan
17/11/07 Poland 2-0 Belgium
17/11/07 Portugal 1-0 Armenia
21/11/07 Armenia 0-1 Kazakhstan
21/11/07 Portugal 0-0 Finland
21/11/07 Serbia 2-2 Poland
24/11/07 Serbia 1-0 Kazakhstan


Group B
1 Italy W9 D2 L1 - 29pt - +13
2 France W8 D2 L2 - 26pt - +20
3 Scotland W8 D0 L4 - 24pt - +9
4 Ukraine W5 D2 L5 - 17pt - +2
5 Lithuania W5 D1 L6 - 13pt - -2
6 Georgia W3 D1 L8 - 10pt - -3
7 Faroe Islands W0 D0 L12 - 0pt - -39

*Italy, France qualify

Results
16/8/06 Faroe Islands 0-6 Georgia
2/9/06 Scotland 6-0 Faroe Islands
2/9/06 Georgia 0-3 France
2/9/06 Italy 1-1 Lithuania
6/9/06 Ukraine 3-2 Georgia
6/9/06 Lithuania 1-2 Scotland
6/9/06 France 3-1 Italy
7/10/06 Faroe Islands 0-1 Lithuania
7/10/06 Scotland 1-0 France
7/10/06 Italy 2-0 Ukraine
11/10/06 Ukraine 2-0 Scotland
11/10/06 Georgia 1-3 Italy
11/10/06 France 5-0 Faroe Islands
24/3/07 Scotland 2-1 Georgia
24/3/07 Faroe Islands 0-2 Ukraine
24/3/07 Lithuania 0-1 France
28/3/07 Ukraine 1-0 Lithuania
28/3/07 Georgia 3-1 Faroe Islands
28/3/07 Italy 2-0 Scotland
2/6/07 Lithuania 1-0 Georgia
2/6/07 France 2-0 Ukraine
2/6/07 Faroe Islands 1-2 Italy
6/6/07 Faroe Islands 0-2 Scotland
6/6/07 France 1-0 Georgia
6/6/07 Lithuania 0-2 Italy
8/9/07 Scotland 3-1 Lithuania
8/9/07 Georgia 1-1 Ukraine
8/9/07 Italy 0-0 France
12/9/07 Lithuania 2-1 Faroe Islands
12/9/07 Ukraine 1-2 Italy
12/9/07 France 0-1 Scotland
13/10/07 Scotland 3-1 Ukraine
13/10/07 Faroe Islands 0-6 France
13/10/07 Italy 2-0 Georgia
17/10/07 Ukraine 5-0 Faroe Islands
17/10/07 Georgia 2-0 Scotland
17/10/07 France 2-0 Lithuania
17/11/07 Scotland 1-2 Italy
17/11/07 Lithuania 2-0 Ukraine
21/11/07 Georgia 0-2 Lithuania
21/11/07 Italy 3-1 Faroe Islands
21/11/07 Ukraine 2-2 France


Group C
1 Greece W10 D1 L1 - 31pt - +15
2 Turkey W7 D3 L2 - 24pt - +14
3 Norway W7 D2 L3 - 23pt - +16
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina W4 D1 L7 - 13pt - -6
6 Moldova W3 D3 L6 - 12pt - -7
6 Hungary W4 D0 L8 - 12pt - -11
7 Malta W1 D2 L9 - 5pt - -21

*Greece, Turkey qualify

Results
2/9/06 Malta 2–5 Bosnia-Herzegovina
2/9/06 Hungary 1–4 Norway
2/9/06 Moldova 0–1 Greece
6/9/06 Norway 2-0 Moldova
6/9/06 Turkey 2-0 Malta
6/9/06 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-3 Hungary
7/10/06 Moldova 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
7/10/06 Hungary 0-1 Turkey
7/10/06 Greece 1-0 Norway
11/10/06 Malta 2-1 Hungary
11/10/06 Turkey 5-0 Moldova
11/10/06 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-4 Greece
24/3/07 Moldova 1-1 Malta
24/3/07 Norway 1-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
24/3/07 Greece 1-4 Turkey
28/3/07 Hungary 2-0 Moldova
28/3/07 Malta 0-1 Greece
28/3/07 Turkey 2-2 Norway
2/6/07 Greece 2-0 Hungary
2/6/07 Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-2 Turkey
2/6/07 Norway 4-0 Malta
6/6/07 Norway 4-0 Hungary
6/6/07 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 Malta
6/6/07 Greece 2-1 Moldova
8/9/07 Hungary 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
8/9/07 Malta 2-2 Turkey
8/9/07 Moldova 0-1 Norway
12/9/07 Norway 2-2 Greece
12/9/07 Turkey 3-0 Hungary
12/9/07 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-1 Moldova
13/10/07 Hungary 2-0 Malta
13/10/07 Moldova 1-1 Turkey
13/10/07 Greece 3-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
17/10/07 Malta 2-3 Moldova
17/10/07 Turkey 0-1 Greece
17/10/07 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-2 Norway
17/11/07 Moldova 3-0 Hungary
17/11/07 Norway 1-2 Turkey
17/11/07 Greece 5-0 Malta
21/11/07 Malta 1-4 Norway
21/11/07 Turkey 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
21/11/07 Hungary 1-2 Greece


Group D
1 Czech Republic W9 D2 L1 - 29pt - +2
2 Germany W8 D3 L1 - 27pt - +28
3 Republic of Ireland W4 D5 L3 - 17pt - +3
4 Slovakia W5 D1 L6 - 16pt - +10
5 Wales W4 D3 L5 - 15pt - -1
4 Cyprus W4 D2 L6 - 14pt - -7
7 San Marino W0 D0 L12 - 0pt - -55

*Czech Republic, Germany qualify

Results
2/9/06 Czech Republic 2-1 Wales
2/9/06 Slovakia 6-1 Cyprus
2/9/06 Germany 1-0 Republic of Ireland
6/9/06 Slovakia 0-3 Czech Republic
6/9/06 San Marino 0-13 Germany
7/10/06 Wales 1-5 Slovakia
7/10/06 Czech Republic 7-0 San Marino
7/10/06 Cyprus 5-2 Republic of Ireland
11/10/06 Republic of Ireland 1-1 Czech Republic
11/10/06 Slovakia 1-4 Germany
11/10/06 Wales 3-1 Cyprus
15/11/06 Cyprus 1-1 Germany
15/11/06 Republic of Ireland 5-0 San Marino
7/2/07 San Marino 1-2 Republic of Ireland
24/3/07 Republic of Ireland 1-0 Wales
24/3/07 Cyprus 1-3 Slovakia
24/3/07 Czech Republic 1-2 Germany
28/3/07 Czech Republic 1-0 Cyprus
28/3/07 Republic of Ireland 1-0 Slovakia
28/3/07 Wales 3-0 San Marino
2/6/07 Wales 0-0 Czech Republic
2/6/07 Germany 6-0 San Marino
6/6/07 Germany 2-1 Slovakia
22/8/07 San Marino 0-1 Cyprus
8/9/07 San Marino 0-3 Czech Republic
8/9/07 Slovakia 2-2 Republic of Ireland
8/9/07 Wales 0-2 Germany
12/9/07 Slovakia 2-5 Wales
12/9/07 Cyprus 3-0 San Marino
12/9/07 Czech Republic 1-0 Republic of Ireland
13/10/07 Slovakia 7-0 San Marino
13/10/07 Cyprus 3-1 Wales
13/10/07 Republic of Ireland 0-0 Germany
17/10/07 San Marino 1-2 Wales
17/10/07 Republic of Ireland 1-1 Cyprus
17/10/07 Germany 0-3 Czech Republic
17/11/07 Wales 2-2 Republic of Ireland
17/11/07 Germany 4-0 Cyprus
17/11/07 Czech Republic 3-1 Slovakia
21/11/07 Cyprus 2-0 Czech Republic
21/11/07 Germany 0-0 Wales
21/11/07 San Marino 0-5 Slovakia


Group E
1 Croatia W9 D2 L1 - 29pt - +20
2 Russia W7 D3 L2 - 24pt - +11
3 England W7 D2 L3 - 23pt - +17
4 Israel W7 D2 L3 - 23pt - +8
5 FYR Macedonia W4 D2 L6 - 14pt - 0
6 Estonia W2 D1 L9 - 7pt - -16
7 Andorra W0 D0 L12 - 0pt - -40

*Croatia, Russia qualify
** England, Israel separated on head-to-heads

Results
16/8/06 Estonia 0-1 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
2/9/06 England 5-0 Andorra
2/9/06 Estonia 0-1 Israel
6/9/06 Russia 0-0 Croatia
6/9/06 Israel 4-1 Andorra
6/9/06 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0-1 England
7/10/06 Russia 1-1 Israel
7/10/06 England 0-0 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
7/10/06 Croatia 7-0 Andorra
11/10/06 Andorra 0-3 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
11/10/06 Russia 2-0 Estonia
11/10/06 Croatia 2-0 England
15/11/06 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 0-2 Russia
15/11/06 Israel 3-4 Croatia
24/3/07 Estonia 0-2 Russia
24/3/07 Israel 0-0 England
24/3/07 Croatia 2-1 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
28/3/07 Israel 4-0 Estonia
28/3/07 Andorra 0-3 England
2/6/07 Estonia 0-1 Croatia
2/6/07 Russia 4-0 Andorra
2/6/07 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1-2 Israel
6/6/07 Andorra 0-2 Israel
6/6/07 Croatia 0-0 Russia
6/6/07 Estonia 0-3 England
22/8/07 Estonia 2-1 Andorra
8/9/07 Russia 3-0 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
8/9/07 England 3-0 Israel
8/9/07 Croatia 2-0 Estonia
12/9/07 Andorra 0-6 Croatia
12/9/07 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1-1 Estonia
12/9/07 England 3-0 Russia
13/10/07 England 3-0 Estonia
13/10/07 Croatia 1-0 Israel
17/10/07 Russia 2-1 England
17/10/07 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 3-0 Andorra
17/11/07 Andorra 0-2 Estonia
17/11/07 Israel 2-1 Russia
17/11/07 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2-0 Croatia
21/11/07 Israel 1-0 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
21/11/07 Andorra 0-1 Russia
21/11/07 England 2-3 Croatia


Group F
1 Spain W9 D1 L2 - 28pt - +15
2 Sweden W8 D2 L2 - 26pt - +14
3 Northern Ireland W6 D2 L4 - 20pt - +3
4 Denmark W6 D2 L4 - 20pt - +10
5 Latvia W4 D0 L8 - 12pt - -2
6 Iceland W2 D2 L8 - 8pt - -17
7 Liechtenstein W2 D1 L9 - 7pt - -23

*Spain, Sweden qualify
**Sweden awarded 3-0 win over Denmark following abandonment
***Northern Ireland, Denmark separated on head-to-heads

Results
2/9/06 Northern Ireland 0-3 Iceland
2/9/06 Latvia 0-1 Sweden
2/9/06 Spain 4-0 Liechtenstein
6/9/06 Sweden 3-1 Liechtenstein
6/9/06 Iceland 0-2 Denmark
6/9/06 Northern Ireland 3-2 Spain
7/10/06 Denmark 0-0 Northern Ireland
7/10/06 Latvia 4-0 Iceland
7/10/06 Sweden 2-0 Spain
11/10/06 Iceland 1-2 Sweden
11/10/06 Liechtenstein 0-4 Denmark
11/10/06 Northern Ireland 1-0 Latvia
24/3/07 Liechtenstein 1-4 Northern Ireland
24/3/07 Spain 2-1 Denmark
28/3/07 Liechtenstein 1-0 Latvia
28/3/07 Northern Ireland 2-1 sweden
28/3/07 Spain 1-0 Iceland
2/6/07 Iceland 1-1 Liechtenstein
2/6/07 Denmark 0-3 Sweden* Match abandoned, UEFA awarded 3-0 win to Sweden
2/6/07 Latvia 0-2 Spain
6/6/07 Sweden 5-0 Iceland
6/6/07 Liechtenstein 0-2 Spain
6/6/07 Latvia 0-2 Denmark
22/8/07 Northern Ireland 3-1 Liechtenstein
8/9/07 Latvia 1-0 Northern Ireland
8/9/07 Sweden 0-0 Denmark
8/9/07 Iceland 1-1 Spain
12/9/07 Denmark 4-0 Liechtenstein
12/9/07 Iceland 2-1 Northern Ireland
12/9/07 Spain 2-0 Latvia
13/10/07 Iceland 2-4 Latvia
13/10/07 Liechtenstein 0-3 Sweden
13/10/07 Denmark 1-3 Spain
17/10/07 Denmark 3-1 Latvia
17/10/07 Liechtenstein 3-0 Iceland
17/10/07 Sweden 1-1 Northern Ireland
17/11/07 Latvia 4-1 Liechtenstein
17/11/07 Northern Ireland 2-1 Denmark
17/11/07 Spain 3-0 Sweden
21/11/07 Denmark 3-0 Iceland
21/11/07 Spain 1-0 Northern Ireland
21/11/07 Sweden 2-1 Latvia


Group G
1 Romania W9 D2 L1 - 29pt - +19
2 Netherlands W8 D2 L2 - 26pt - +10
3 Bulgaria W7 D4 L1 - 25pt - +11
4 Belarus W4 D1 L7 - 13pt - -6
5 Albania W2 D5 L5 - 11pt - -6
5 Slovenia W3 D2 L7 - 11pt - -7
7 Luxembourg W1 D0 L11 - 3pt - -21

*Romania, Netherlands qualify
***Albania, Slovenia separated on head-to-heads

Results
2/9/06 Belarus 2-2 Albania
2/9/06 Romania 2-2 Bulgaria
2/9/06 Luxembourg 0-1 Netherlands
6/9/06 Bulgaria 3-0 Slovenia
6/9/06 Albania 0-2 Romania
6/9/06 Netherlands 3-0 Belarus
7/10/06 Romania 3-1 Belarus
7/10/06 Bulgaria 1-1 Netherlands
7/10/06 Slovenia 2-0 Luxembourg
11/10/06 Belarus 4-2 Slovenia
11/10/06 Luxembourg 0-1 Bulgaria
11/10/06 Netherlands 2-1 Albania
24/3/07 Luxembourg 1-2 Belarus
24/3/07 Albania 0-0 Slovenia
24/3/07 Netherlands 0-0 Romania
28/3/07 Bulgaria 0-0 Albania
28/3/07 Romania 3-0 Luxembourg
28/3/07 Slovenia 0-1 Netherlands
2/6/07 Albania 2-0 Luxembourg
2/6/07 Slovenia 1-2 Romania
2/6/07 Belarus 0-2 Bulgaria
6/6/07 Bulgaria 2-1 Belarus
6/6/07 Luxembourg 0-3 Albania
6/6/07 Romania 2-0 Slovenia
8/9/07 Luxembourg 0-3 Slovenia
8/9/07 Belarus 1-3 Romania
8/9/07 Netherlands 2-0 Bulgaria
12/9/07 Bulgaria 3-0 Luxembourg
12/9/07 Slovenia 1-0 Belarus
12/9/07 Albania 0-1 Netherlands
13/10/07 Belarus 0-1 Luxembourg
13/10/07 Romania 1-0 Netherlands
13/10/07 Slovenia 0-0 Albania
17/10/07 Luxembourg 0-2 Romania
17/10/07 Netherlands 2-0 Slovenia
17/10/07 Albania 1-1 Bulgaria
17/11/07 Bulgaria 1-0 Romania
17/11/07 Albania 2-4 Belarus
17/11/07 Netherlands 1-0 Luxembourg
21/11/07 Romania 6-1 Albania
21/11/07 Belarus 2-1 Netherlands
21/11/07 Slovenia 0-2 Bulgaria


Qualified Teams

Austria - Hosts

Switzerland - Hosts

Germany - Qualified 13/10/07

Greece - Qualified 17/10/07

Czech Republic - Qualified 17/10/07

Romania - Qualified 17/10/07

Italy - Qualified 17/11/07

France - Qualified 17/11/07

Croatia - Qualified 17/11/07

Poland - Qualified 17/11/07

Spain - Qualified 17/11/07

Netherlands - Qualified 17/11/07

Sweden - Qualified 21/11/07

Turkey - Qualified 21/11/07

Portugal - Qualified 21/11/07

Russia - Qualified 21/11/07


Top Scorers
David Healy (Northern Ireland) - 13
Eduardo da Silva (Croatia) - 10
Euzebiusz Smolarek (Poland) - 9
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 8
Lukas Podolski (Germany) - 8
Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) - 8

Germany - 35
Slovakia - 33
Croatia - 28
Czech Republic - 27
Norway - 27

Highest Score
San Marino 0 - 13 Germany

Archived: Yes, that's right. Scotland top their group. A group with Italy, France and Ukraine in. And have beaten France.

Archived: TWICE.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Nice stuff Famine, good result for the Scots, shame it wont last

 

[Famine]

I still find myself wondering why Israel, Russia and the triplet of Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in the European Championships, given just how NOT in Europe they are...

 

[Alex.]

brilliant performance from england. gerrard,hargreaves and generally the whole team was fantastic

i know i dont like lampard anyway and i will be criticised for saying this but

i dont think lampard played anywhere near as good as he can do yesterday

 

[ExigeEvan]

Bugger.

 

[daan]

Group B
1 Scotland W1 D0 L0 - 3pt - +6
2 France W1 D0 L0 - 3pt - +3
3 Georgia W1 D0 L1 - 3pt - +3
4 Italy W0 D1 L0 - 1pt - 0
5 Lithuania W0 D1 L0 - 1pt - 0
6 Ukraine W0 D0 L0 - 0pt - 0
7 Faroe Islands W0 D0 L2 - 0pt - -12
....
Yes, that's right. Scotland top their group. A group with Italy, France and Ukraine in.

Preserved for posterity.

Can we stop now?

 

[Race Idiot]

 

[Dave A]

Basically the whole of the British isles, would be great, but it'll never happen.

 

[GM]

Yes, that's right. Scotland top their group. A group with Italy, France and Ukraine in.

Are Ukraine good?

 

[daan]

Are Ukraine good?

Better than us.

 

[Famine]

Are Ukraine good?

You mean World Cup Quarterfinalists, Ukraine?

 

[Alex.]

lol- yes i think so

 

[Dave A]

Why, is there another Ukraine we should be thinking of?

England kick off against Macedonia in just under 2 hours, should be a better match than the two walkovers we've so far played under McLaren.

 

[markj_87]

I've got a couple of quid on 2-0 England. I think that's a very likely result.

 

[daan]

Woooo, and indeed, Yay!

Lithuania 1 - 2 Scotland

Played 2, won 2. That's never ever ever ever ever happened to us before!

 

[Famine]

Neither has a +7 goal difference...

 

[daan]

C'mon San Marino! You're only 9-0 down against Germany! There's time for a comeback yet...

EDIT: 11-0 now!

EDIT EDIT: 13 now!

Northern Ireland 3 - 2 Spain

Who saw that one coming?

 

[Race Idiot]

 

[<_Spike_>]

San Marino 0 - 13 Germany...now that's how you bugger the living daylights out of a team.

England game was naff and scrappy...but we got what we needed, 3 pts...Crouchy continuing his form and another clean sheet

Oh yeah...and France 3 - 1 Italy...Forza Italia? I think not!

 

[GM]

13-0, What a match .

 

[Alex.]

real competitive game that must have been.....

 

[markj_87]

I think those matches are pointless. When the best a team can possibly hope for is to lose 5 or 6 nil it's just silly, and humiliating for the players to lose by such ridiculous scores. I'm not saying that teams like San Marino should be denied the chance to qualify, but something needs to be done so there are less of them in there.

 

[Dave A]

Every country with a national team in Europe has a chance to qualify, that shouldn't be changed. At the end of the day it is only a qualification competition, you don't want to start a qualify for the qualifying competition do you? And even then they'd still end up facing teams a lot better than them from time to time. There's nothing wrong with the way it is, your only further complicating something that needn't be that complicated adding more rounds, and to deny a team the chance to qualify before the qualifying begins just because they got beat 13-0 last time round is not a fair option.

 

[daan]

I think those matches are pointless. When the best a team can possibly hope for is to lose 5 or 6 nil it's just silly, and humiliating for the players to lose by such ridiculous scores. I'm not saying that teams like San Marino should be denied the chance to qualify, but something needs to be done so there are less of them in there.

San Marino, Faroes, Andorra, Lichtenstein etc should all have their own tournament first and the top 2 go through. At least that way, they should get to have some semi competitive matches. They should then be able to learn and improve. They're going to learn nothing getting beaten 13-0, 6-0, 5-0 every game.

 

[Famine]

San Marino, Faroes, Andorra, Lichtenstein etc should all have their own tournament first and the top 2 go through. At least that way, they should get to have some semi competitive matches. They should then be able to learn and improve. They're going to learn nothing getting beaten 13-0, 6-0, 5-0 every game.

That creates a problem though...

How do you decide which teams need a minnow's play-off? By FIFA World Rankings, as the only sensible way. But by lumping Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino, Cyprus, Malta, Kazakhstan (outranked by Andorra!) and whoever in a single group, you artificially increase their competitive victories and goals, which artificially increases their FIFA World Rankings, putting them too high to fit into the pre-qualifying group, at the expense of teams like Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Belarus, Armenia et al. who often don't qualify well...

Though you're right - they're going to learn nothing at all getting tonked every game, apart from how to get tonked every game.

 

[daan]

The other drawback to that is that we'd probably end up in it...

re your point about artificially boosting their rankings. That's why the USA are as high up as they are. They don't play anyone good most of the time, so they get good rankings, but then they don't perform in the world cup 'cos they're not as good as their rankings say they are.

 

[Famine]

The other drawback to that is that we'd probably end up in it...

re your point about artificially boosting their rankings. That's why the USA are as high up as they are. They don't play anyone good most of the time, so they get good rankings, but then they don't perform in the world cup 'cos they're not as good as their rankings say they are.

Are you implying that they aren't tested by the might of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, the Bahamas, Haiti, Guatemala...



They were 4th going into the World Cup. 4th! They're currently 23rd...

 

[<_Spike_>]

FIFA are right, there needs to be preliminary qualification round for the smaller "cannon fodder" teams. At least prove amoungst themselves they have a right to fight for qualification

 

[Dave A]

Isn't the Euro 2008 qualifying the competition that sives out the deserving teams from the undeserving ones? We already have the qualifying competitions, we don't need a qualifying for qualifying. If these lesser teams want to play lesser teams to get experience they have plenty of chances to arrange for friendlies between competions.

 

[daan]

There was such a thing as pre-qualifying in F1 you know. So it's not exactly unprecedented.