World Cup 2018

[just some bloke]

Any updates? Having watched that documentary about American Samoa, they are my team now (until the real games kick off).

What was that book posted on page 1? Cannot find what everybody it talking about, and sounds like a good 'un.

There's not much going on until June I think

[just some bloke]

Back to it and CONCACAF kicks off again for Round 2

St Vincent and the Grenadines pulled off an aggregate win over Guyana with no doubt highly entertaining 4-4 away draw, to leave Guyana with the dubious honor of being the first nation from the South American continent (geographically speaking that is) to be knocked out.

Barbados knocked out Aruba on aggregate

Cuba are out, knocked out by tiny Curacao, again on away goals

Canada look comfortable against Dominica, having to only defend a 2-0 lead in their upcoming home leg.


Meanwhile in Asia, North Korea hope to build on their good start with a win against Uzbekistan in the pick of the matches upcoming this week there.

[LUX]

honor

[Sutekh]

Guess the European section of the 2018 qualifiers will have to be delayed until the criminal investigation over its award is complete as if it is revoked then Russia will need to qualify.

[just some bloke]

honor

American computer (and spellchecker). Does it automatically unless I bother to recorrect. Like this:

color
realize
labor

etc etc

Who cares though?

[just some bloke]

Guess the European section of the 2018 qualifiers will have to be delayed until the criminal investigation over its award is complete as if it is revoked then Russia will need to qualify.

Yes, indeed. I don't buy into the official line about 'well, the draw's about to be made so we can't change 2018'

Could easily make any sort of change to an event happening 3 years from now. If Russia were found to have given bribes they should be banned anyway.

[Stranded]

Guess the European section of the 2018 qualifiers will have to be delayed until the criminal investigation over its award is complete as if it is revoked then Russia will need to qualify.

Draw will be made. First quailfiers are Sep 2016, so they can just parachute Russia into the spot of whoever ends up hosting- if a change is even made, and assuming it remains in Europe.

[just some bloke]

Some intriguing results in from Asia:

Guam 2-1 India. This is quite possibly the biggest population differential in the history of World Football, in terms of the smaller nation (I mean, Guam isn't even a nation) beating the larger one. 120,000 vs 1.3 billion or so

Japan 0-0 Singapore. Shocking result for Japan. Shocking

North Korea 4-2 Uzbekistan. North Korea now sit atop the group with two wins out of two. They were 4-0 up a half-time, with the Uzbeks mounting something of a fightback in the second half which was always going to be too little, too late. It's unlikely many Uzbek supporters made the trip to Pyongyang to give their lads the encouragement they'd have needed to overturn that deficit.

Cambodia 0-1 Afghanistan. Cracking result for the away team

Malaysia 0-6 Palestine. Football-mad Malaysians are unlikely to be pleased at this home shellacking, which leaves them bottom of one of the more challenging groups with the UAE and Saudi Arabia still to play. Head coach Dollah Saleh has it all to do to pick his team up for the remaining games.

[Winston Smith]

http://us.soccerway.com/international/asia/wc-qualifying-asia/2018-russia/2nd-round/r30231/?ICID=SN_04_13

cant help but think Oz putting 5 goals past Bangladesh ia not really that impressive a result.


also, lol @ Malaysia letting in 10 goals

[stealthpapes]

Some intriguing results in from Asia:

Guam 2-1 India. This is quite possibly the biggest population differential in the history of World Football, in terms of the smaller nation (I mean, Guam isn't even a nation) beating the larger one. 120,000 vs 1.3 billion or so

Japan 0-0 Singapore. Shocking result for Japan. Shocking

North Korea 4-2 Uzbekistan. North Korea now sit atop the group with two wins out of two. They were 4-0 up a half-time, with the Uzbeks mounting something of a fightback in the second half which was always going to be too little, too late. It's unlikely many Uzbek supporters made the trip to Pyongyang to give their lads the encouragement they'd have needed to overturn that deficit.

Cambodia 0-1 Afghanistan. Cracking result for the away team

Malaysia 0-6 Palestine. Football-mad Malaysians are unlikely to be pleased at this home shellacking, which leaves them bottom of one of the more challenging groups with the UAE and Saudi Arabia still to play. Head coach Dollah Saleh has it all to do to pick his team up for the remaining games.

This needed a lot more love.

Thank you.

How is Asian qualifying looking at the moment?

[stealthpapes]

Massive local derby in AFC Group C today as Hong Kong pretty much knock China out .

[Sutekh]

Round Up

AFRICA

Round 1 (agg. scores)

Niger 6-0 Somalia
Mauritania 5-1 South Sudan
Namibia 3-2 Gambia
Ethiopia 3-1 Sao Tome e Principe
Chad 2-2 Sierra Leone (Chad on away goals)
Comoros 1-1 Lesotho (Comoros on away goals)
Swaziland 8-1 Djibouti
Botswana 5-1 Eritrea
Burundi 3-0 Seychelles
Liberia 4-2 Guinea-Bissau
Madagascar 5-2 Central African Republic
Kenya 5-2 Mauritius
Tanzania 2-1 Malawi

Round 2 (agg. scores)

Gabon 1-1 Mozambique (Gabon on away goals)
Zambia 3-0 Sudan
Uganda 4-0 Togo
Democratic Republic of Congo 5-4 Burundi
Guinea 3-0 Namibia
Burkina Faso 3-2 Benin
Morocco 2-1 Equatorial Guinea
Libya 4-1 Rwanda
Senegal 5-2 Madagascar
Ghana 2-0 Comoros
South Africa 4-1 Angola
Cape Verde Islands 2-1 Kenya
Cameroon 3-0 Niger
Cote D'Ivoire 4-0 Liberia
Tunisia 4-2 Mauritania
Nigeria 2-0 Swaziland
Egypt 4-1 Chad
Congo 6-4 Ethiopia
Algeria 9-2 Tanzania
Mali 3-2 Botswana

Round 3 will be played between Oct 2016 and Nov 2017. The 20 remaining teams

Algeria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde Islands
Congo
Cote D'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of Congo
Egypt
Gabon
Ghana
Guinea
Libya
Mali
Morocco
Nigeria
Senegal
South Africa
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia

will be drawn into 5 groups of 4 with only the group winner progressing to the WC finals.

ASIA

Round 1 (agg. scores)

India 2-0 Nepal
Yeman 3-1 Pakistan
Timor-Leste 5-1 Mongolia
Cambodia 4-1 Macau
Chinese Taipei 2-1 Brunei Darussalem
Bhutan 3-1 Sri Lanka

Round 2 - Group A

1. Saudia Arabia - 16
2. UAE - 13
3. Palestine - 9
4. Malaysia - 4
5. Timor-Leste - 1

Still to play; UAE v Palestine, Saudi Arabia v Malaysia, Palestine v Timor-Leste, UAE v Saudi Arabia

Round 2 - Group B

1. Australia - 15
2. Jordan - 13
3. Kygyzstan - 11
4. Tajikistan - 5
5. Bangladesh - 1

Still to play; Jordan v Bangladesh, Australia v Tajikistan, Tajikistan v Kyrgyzstan, Australia v Jordan,

Round 2 - Group C

1. Qatar - 18
2. Hong Kong - 14
3. China - 11
4. Maldives - 3
5. Bhutan - 0

Still to play; Qatar v Hong Kong, China v Maldives, Maldives v Bhutan, China v Qatar

Round 2 - Group D

1. Iran - 14
2. Oman - 11
3. Turkmenistan - 10
4. Guam - 7
5. India - 3

Still to play; Oman v Guam, Iran v India, India v Turkmenistan, Iran v Oman

Round 2 - Group E

1. Japan - 16
2. Syria - 15
3. Singapore - 10
4. Afghanistan - 6
5. Cambodia - 0

Still to play; Japan v Afghanistan, Syria v Cambodia, Afghanistan v Singapore, Japan v Syria

Round 2 - Group F

1. Thailand - 13
2. Iraq - 8
3. Vietnam - 4
4. Chinese Taipei - 0

Still to play; Iraq v Thailand, Vietnam v Chinese Taipei, Iraq v Vietnam

Round 2 - Group G

1. South Korea - 18
2. Kuwait - 10
3. Lebanon - 10
4. Burma - 4
5. Laos - 1

Still to play; South Korea v Lebanon, Kuwait v Laos, Lebanon v Burma, South Korea v Kuwait

Round 2 - Group H

1. North Korea - 16
2. Uzbekistan - 15
3. Philippines - 7
4. Bahrain - 6
5. Yeman - 3

Still to play; Bahrain v Yeman, Uzbekistan v Philippines, Philippines v North Korea, Uzbekistan v Bahrain

8 group winners plus 4 best 2nd places qualify for the third round which will comprise 2 groups of 6 teams. The top two from each of those groups will qualify for the finals with the two third place teams facing a play off for the right to play a play off v the CONCACAF play off winner.

NORTH/CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Round 1 (agg. scores)

Bermuda 8-0 Bahamas
Domenica 3-2 British Virgin Islands
Barbados 4-1 US Virgin Islands
St Kitts & Nevis 12-4 Turks & Caicos
Nicaragua 6-0 Anguilla
Belize 1-1 Cayman Islands (Belize on away goals)
Curacao 4-3 Montserrat

Round 2 (agg. scores)

St Vincent & Grenadines 6-6 Guyana (St Vincent on away goals)
Antigua & Barbuda 5-4 St Lucia
Grenada 2-1 Puerto Rico
Canada 6-0 Domenica
Belize 5-1 Dominican Republic
Guatemala 1-0 Bermuda
Aruba 3-2 Barbados
Curacao 1-1 Cuba (Curacao on away goals)
Nicaragua 4-1 Suriname

Round 3 (agg. scores)

El Salvador 2-0 Curacao
Canada 4-1 Belize
Haiti 6-1 Grenada
Jamaica 4-3 Nicaragua
St Vincent & Grenadines 3-2 Aruba
Guatemala 2-1 Antigua & Barbuda

Round 4 - Group A

1. Mexico - 6
2. Canada - 4
3. El Salvador - 1
4. Honduras - 0

Round 4 - Group B

1. Costa Rica - 6
2. Panama - 3
3. Jamaica - 3
4. Haiti - 0

Round 4 - Group C

1. USA - 4
2. Trinidad & Tobago - 4
3. Guatemala - 3
4. St Vincent & Grenadines - 0

Top two from each group will qualify for the final group of 6 which will then see the top 3 progress to the finals with the 4th place team playing the Asian play off winner for a place in the finals.

SOUTH AMERICA

Round 1 - Group A

1. Ecuador - 12
2. Uruguay - 9
3. Brazil - 7
4. Paraguay - 7
5. Chile - 7
6. Argentina - 5
7. Colombia - 4
8. Bolivia - 3
9. Peru - 3
10. Venezuela - 0

Top 4 qualify while the 5th placed team gets to beat New Zealand in the remaining play off

[Sanguine]

Reading about American Samoa, who famously lost 31-0 to Australia in the recent past - they have risen to the heady heights of 164th in the world rankings, and even won 2 qualifying games this time around, missing out on progression to the next round on goal difference. Apparently the last few years has seen an influx to the team of US-based Samoa-qualified college graduates, the team seeing better results with players who have enjoyed a more structured and professional training regime at university.

[Dr_Hfuhruhurr]

Reading about American Samoa, who famously lost 31-0 to Australia in the recent past - they have risen to the heady heights of 164th in the world rankings, and even won 2 qualifying games this time around, missing out on progression to the next round on goal difference. Apparently the last few years has seen an influx to the team of US-based Samoa-qualified college graduates, the team seeing better results with players who have enjoyed a more structured and professional training regime at university.

Have you see Next Goal Wins?
It pretty much shows the progress to the conclusion you've come to.

[Sanguine]

Reading about American Samoa, who famously lost 31-0 to Australia in the recent past - they have risen to the heady heights of 164th in the world rankings, and even won 2 qualifying games this time around, missing out on progression to the next round on goal difference. Apparently the last few years has seen an influx to the team of US-based Samoa-qualified college graduates, the team seeing better results with players who have enjoyed a more structured and professional training regime at university.

Have you see Next Goal Wins?
It pretty much shows the progress to the conclusion you've come to.

Ta, I'll look it up.

[Winston Smith]

Asia qualifying round 2 group winners and 4 best runners up now split into 2 groups

Group A:
Iran
South Korea
Uzbekistan
China
Qatar
Syria

Group B:
Australia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Iraq
Thailand

starting in 6 weeks time and running for 1 year these teams have been split into 2 groups with the top 2 from each group qualifying for WC2018 while 3rd place in each group play each other over 2 legs and the winner of that goes up against the 4th place team from CONCAFAF in a 2 legged semi final and the winner of that plays a 2 legged final against the winner of 5th placed team from COMNEBOL qulaifying and the 3rd round qualifying winner from OFC.

[Winston Smith]

Teams in Asia qualifying who start in round 1 could end up playing 34 matches to try and qualify for WC2018

10 in R1, 8 in R2, 10 in R3, 2 legged tie in R4, 2 legged tie vs CONCACAF team, 2 legged tie Vs winner of OFC & CONMEBOL

[photographer]

Does anyone know if its possible to buy tickets for an Asian WC2018 qualifying match? I can't find the tickets anywhere (though I've never brought tickets before so I don't know).

[Top Flight]

Does anyone know if its possible to buy tickets for an Asian WC2018 qualifying match? I can't find the tickets anywhere (though I've never brought tickets before so I don't know).

Which Asian teams do you want to see? You would probably have to contact their association wouldn't you?

[stealthpapes]

Belize 1-1 Cayman Islands (Belize on away goals)

I didn't get a call