Euro 2016 Qualification Thread

[C-ZETA]

Di Maria to Lamela. I love that.

Croatia v Cyprus tomorrow. Along with the less important affairs of Italy v Netherlands and France v Spain.
Oh, and Belgium v Australia - if there were any Aussies in this particular thread.

 

[Ross]

I wish I watched the Germany v Argentina game instead of that dismal performance by England yesterday.

 

[C-ZETA]

Italy 2-0 Netherlands. That's not right. At least, not if Van Gaal's still there.

A 2-0 win for the Croats. Mandzukic, of course, scored both.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

First batch of qualifiers take place over three days, here is the schedule

Sunday

Group D
Georgia v Ireland
Germany v Scotland
Gibraltar v Poland

Group F
Hungary v N.Ireland
Faroe Islands v Finland
Greece v Romania

Group I
Denmark v Armenia
Portugal v Albania

Monday

Group C
Luxembourg v Belarus
Spain v Macedonia
Ukraine v Slovakia

Group E
Estonia v Slovenia
San Marino v Lithuania
Switzerland v England

Group G
Russia v Liechtenstein
Austria v Sweden
Montenegro v Moldova

Tuesday

Group A
Kazakhstan v Latvia
Czech Rep. v Netherlands
Iceland v Turkey

Group B
Andorra v Wales
Bosnia v Cyprus
Israel v Belgium

Group H
Azerbaijan v Bulgaria
Croatia v Malta
Norway v Italy

 

[Carbonox]

I guess I mentioned choking some days ago.

 

[optiongamers]

Good peformance by Scotland aginst Germany but poor defending after the equaliser made us lose the match.

 

[Brend]

Scotland outplay Germany and come away with zilch. Bluugh.

 

[Xilor]

Portugal, what r u doing?

 

[Liquid]

Gibraltar got tanked 7-0 by Poland, but held their own at 1-0 for a large portion of the game.

Microfootballnations, woo!

 

[MUSC4EVER]

England's turn tonight, definitely the toughest game of the group for them, the Swiss look good and are 11 places above England in the rankings, no Sturridge or Henderson for them, Delph and Welbeck expected to start...

 

[Famine]

Of note: When I was just filling in the tables from last night's matches I noticed that teams who got identical results are being ranked by some criterion I wasn't aware of and that I couldn't work out because it was so inconsistent - I thought it was FIFA ranking, then FIFA ranking of the team they played against and then I just abandoned working it out altogether. I was just ranking them alphabetically, but the official rankings were sometimes different.

I looked it up this morning. These are the ranking criteria:
1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question
2. Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question
3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the matches played between the teams in question
5. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply

That helps settle some of the draws - away goals rule. But what of groups where only one match has been played and identical results netted in identical situations between two teams who haven't played each other?

6. Superior goal difference in all group matches
7. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches
8. Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches
9. Fair play conduct in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
10. Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system;

Yep, teams are ranked by their disciplinary record. So England and Lithuania both won 2-0 away from home in the groups last night, with Lithuania ranked 1st due to 1 yellow card (1pt) and England 2nd due to 2 yellow cards (2pt)...

 

[Liquid]

Wales' turn tonight. Robbie Savage says it should be a 3-0 win. I expect Wales to put 5 or 6 past Andorra, or at least aim to put that many past them. Got to show ambition with our latest generation, who do look promising. No better way to start a campaign than a big win against a micronation.

 

[Famine]

No better way to start a campaign than a big win against a micronation.

 

[Liquid]

Hey.

You look at our squad and we're certainly not a micronation!

 

[MUSC4EVER]

No mention of England then, really good performance by them, wasn't expecting that!

 

[Liquid]

England.



*cough*

 

[C-ZETA]

Croatia v Malta tonight. Pretty routine start for my team.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Should be comfortable for Wales tonight, and I reckon we have our best chance to qualify for some time, we are in the same group as Belgium and Croatia but there is also the likes of Cyprus and Israel, straight fight for third between those two and Wales for third place....and third place in the group can qualify now..

 

[Liquid]

We don't have Croatia, it's Bosnia instead.

Bosnia-Hercegovina, Belgium, Wales, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra.

We should finish 3rd comfortably, but really challenge for 2nd. We could and should spring a surprise for Bosnia. Best squad we've had since 2004.

 

[Famine]

We don't have Croatia, it's Bosnia instead.

Bosnia-Hercegovina, Belgium, Wales, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra.

We should finish 3rd comfortably, but really challenge for 2nd. We could spring a surprise for Bosnia.

Bosnia are free-scoring, Israel are perpetually nearly-qualifiers and Belgium have one of the world's best squads. Given that Cyprus keep having really excellent half matches, I think 4th would be an achievement for Wales...

 

[Liquid]

I have no doubts we can and should be beating Cyprus and Israel. I've always had Belgium waltzing through that group, but if Wales fulfill the potential they have, they might be able to trip up Bosnia.

My only concern is Coleman himself. Didn't think he was the right man, but he's proven a fair few doubters wrong. This is a major test for him, given the talent, and two or three outstanding players, at his disposal.

1st Belgium
2nd Bosnia/Wales
3rd Wales/Bosnia
4th Israel
5th Cyprus
6th Andorra

 

[Famine]

I have no doubts we can and should be beating Cyprus and Israel. I've always had Belgium waltzing through that group, but if Wales fulfill the potential they have, they might be able to trip up Bosnia.

My only concern is Coleman himself. Didn't think he was the right man, but he's proven a fair few doubters wrong. This is a major test for him.

1st Belgium
2nd Bosnia/Wales
3rd Wales/Bosnia
4th Israel
5th Cyprus
6th Andorra

1st Bosnia
2nd Belgium
3rd Israel
4th Wales/Cyprus
5th Cyprus/Wales
6th Andorra

 

[Liquid]

Why do you hate me so much? I am displaying rare moments of hope.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Its not just about Coleman being the right man for the job, its the fact that we don't really have any strikers as well..

Wales team, Hennessey Gunter Chester Williams Davies Taylor King Ramsey Allen Church Bale

Wales will line up 3-5-2 by the looks of it..

 

[Famine]

I'm not saying a word.

 

[Liquid]

I am dumfounded.

Bristol Rovers 1-0 Wrexham HT
Andorra 1-1 Wales HT

This will teach me to never be optimistic about football ever again.

 

[Carlos]

Italy 2-0 Netherlands. That's not right. At least, not if Van Gaal's still there.

A 2-0 win for the Croats. Mandzukic, of course, scored both.

Nope he's not and I don't blame him..

 

[Liquid]

Andorra 1-2 Wales FT

Most certainly not good enough. Saving grace, perhaps? Bosnia lost 1-2 against Cyprus.

Reaction image just for you, Famine.

 

[Famine]

Andorra 1-2 Wales FT

Most certainly not good enough.

I may mock, but a win is a win and Wales top the group currently.

Results of the night undoubtedly Cyprus beating World Cup Finals representative Bosnia-Herzegovina away from home and Iceland absolutely tonking Turkey. I really hope one of these two makes it to a finals. And you really hope it's Iceland.

 

[Liquid]

A win is a win, true, but the manner was diabolical. I do not want to open up the sport pages tomorrow and read excuses about the plastic pitch. Wales should be able to comfortably beat a team ranked 144th in the world even if they were playing underwater.

Cyprus did us a big favour by beating BosniaHG. Wales' next fixture? At home to BosniaHG.

That Iceland result is a bit of a shock though. Very well done.