CONMEBOL previously confirmed that it will keep the 10 team league format for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, with each team playing each other home and away. Ecuador will start with a 3 point penalty as a punishment for falsifying birth documents for
Byron Castillo in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The top 6 teams qualify for World Cup 2026, with the 7th placed team getting a second chance to qualify via the inter confederation play offs.

The CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign (apparently) starts in March 2023, which seems quite soon given the 2022 World Cup only finished yesterday!

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, August 4, 2022 at 10:11:36 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

This thread may seem a little premature, but AFC have announced how the Asian qualifiers for World Cup 2026 will work:

1) Preliminary joint qualification round 1: the teams ranked 26 to 47 are paired and play each other on a home and away basis.

In many ways this is cruelest qualifying round of all. 11 teams will have their World Cup dream ended after only two matches and whilst the timetable hasn't been decided, usually some three years before the World Cup. :(

2) Preliminary joint qualification round 2: The 11 winners from the previous round join the teams ranked 1 to 25. The teams will be divided into nine groups of four. Teams play each other home and away. The top two teams from each group advance to the

AFC Asian qualifiers.

3) AFC Asian qualifiers: The 18 teams who advanced from the previous round will be divided into three groups of six. Teams play each other home and away and the top two teams from each group qualify for the 2026 World Cup!

4) Asian Playoff: The third and fourth placed teams from the previous round will be drawn into two groups of three. Teams will play each other once. The two first placed teams will qualify for the World Cup! The second placed teams will compete in a

playoff to determine who will represent AFC in the Intercontinental playoff!

AFC will have 8 guaranteed places at World Cup 2026 plus the possibility of a further spot via the Intercontinental playoff.

I know we haven't got Qatar 2022 out of the way yet, but I'm kind of excited that World Cup 2026 is (sort of) getting ready to get under way!

Please use this thread to discuss any World Cup 2026 qualifying news and match reports. Let's honour the biggest World Cup ever with an equally big qualifying thread!

RM

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 19:08:54 UTC-3, Real Mardin escreveu:

CONMEBOL previously confirmed that it will keep the 10 team league format
for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, with each team playing each other home
and away. Ecuador will start with a 3 point penalty as a punishment for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The top 6 teams qualify for World Cup 2026, with the 7th placed team getting a second chance to qualify via the inter confederation play offs.

The CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign (apparently) starts in March 2023, which seems quite soon given the 2022 World Cup only finished yesterday!

So basically they're playing 90 games over two years and a half just to eliminate three teams. Can't say I expect much rockingness from this cycle.

With two groups you could do the same with 40 games (20 per group). Sure,
you'd have the 4th placed team of a group of five going to a playoff, but having the 7th out of 10 doing the same is hardly a lot better.

At least it appears they've been in contact with Concacaf to hold another
joint Copa America in 2024, to be held in the US. Hopefully they'll actually pull it off. The fact that it's more competitive games for the 2026 World
Cup hosts probably helps matters in this regard.


Best regards,

Lléo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have
to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider first round records too (though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be enough to break a tie).


Best regards,

Lléo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just repeated
what you already wrote.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too (though, however improbable, it could happen that even
these wouldn't be enough to break a tie).

Wikipedia says the tie-breakers in the 2nd round group stage were

- Greater number of points in all group matches
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
- Whether the team finished first or second in their first round group (!)
- Drawing of lots

and this NY Times article from 1982 backs this up:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/03/FIFA-soccers-world-governing-body-Saturday-turned-down-a/4345394516800/

Didn't know about this, but England obviously complained about drawing of the lots
(calling it 'stupid') even before their match against Spain, arguing that in case of a perfect
tie (which would have been the case if they had beaten Spain 2-1; in reality, the match
ended 0-0) they should be ahead of West Germany due to their better first round group
stage record (not to speak of how W. Germany qualified), and FIFA said no, you've known
about the regulations for four years, you should have said something earlier.

Ciao,
Werner

Best regards,

Lléo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Werner Pichler wrote:

Didn't know about this, but England obviously complained about
drawing of the lots (calling it 'stupid') even before their match
against Spain, arguing that in case of a perfect tie (which would
have been the case if they had beaten Spain 2-1; in reality, the
match ended 0-0) they should be ahead of West Germany due to their
better first round group stage record (not to speak of how W. Germany qualified), and FIFA said no, you've known about the regulations for
four years, you should have said something earlier.

England knew about the World Cup being in Qatar since 2010, but the FA
still took twelve years to come up with the rainbow arm-band 'protest'
... which they then bottled out of! Why didn't they do something about
that earlier too?! ;-)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Sheridan Elliot wrote:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026,

I don't think they will. Once Uncle Gianni said they were going to look
again at this idea you just 'know' that they have decided against it...
but it will take a few FIFA committees and FIFA delegates taking trips
around the world on an expenses package to actually produce the report
that officially states that FIFA are going to stick with four-team
groups at the next World Cup.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously
have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.


Best regards,

Lléo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 4:56:18 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the
chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just
repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be
enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA
was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.

RM

It had been announced in advance that UEFA would be changing it's qualifying format post Euro 2024. Thoughts turned to possibilities such as turning the system into a league or of integrating the European Championship or Nations League into the
qualifying process, perhaps by having the top four ranked teams in the Euros qualify for the World Cup.

Instead, what was announced was quite underwhelming. Not a change of format at all really, more of a tinkering. Still a system that has the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers existing in isolation. Still a group based qualification system,
only there will be more, smaller groups.

The media release which announced the change claims that smaller groups are more dynamic and less predictable than larger groups. I looked back at some qualifying group results when UEFA used to have four team groups in the 80's and early 90's, and yes,
there were some groups where the top two or even three spots were close. But then you get the same with 6 team groups. Plus even the most competitive four team groups don't solve the problem of the minnow who finishes so far behind the rest that matches
against them are essentially meaningless.

It feels like this was a missed opportunity to reform the UEFA qualifiers.

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 10:55:20 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 4:56:18 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously
have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the
chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just
repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be
enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA
was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.

RM

It had been announced in advance that UEFA would be changing it's qualifying format post Euro 2024. Thoughts turned to possibilities such as turning the system into a league or of integrating the European Championship or Nations League into the

qualifying process, perhaps by having the top four ranked teams in the Euros qualify for the World Cup.

Instead, what was announced was quite underwhelming. Not a change of format at all really, more of a tinkering. Still a system that has the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers existing in isolation. Still a group based qualification

system, only there will be more, smaller groups.

The media release which announced the change claims that smaller groups are more dynamic and less predictable than larger groups. I looked back at some qualifying group results when UEFA used to have four team groups in the 80's and early 90's, and yes,

there were some groups where the top two or even three spots were close. But then you get the same with 6 team groups. Plus even the most competitive four team groups don't solve the problem of the minnow who finishes so far behind the rest that matches
against them are essentially meaningless.

It feels like this was a missed opportunity to reform the UEFA qualifiers.

RM

CONCACAF have announced their qualifying format:

Round 1: Teams ranked 32 to 29 are drawn into pairs and play over two legs home and away.

Round 2: The two winners from round 1 and the teams ranked 1 to 28 are drawn into six groups of five and play the other teams in their group once. Group winners and runners up qualify for the third round.

Round 3: The 12 qualifying teams are drawn into three groups of four and play the other teams in their group home and away. Group winners qualify for World Cup 2026, the two best runners up go to the Intercontinental playoffs.

Canada, Mexico and the USA qualify automatically as hosts. Matches start in March 2024.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 12:16:10 AM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 10:55:20 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 4:56:18 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously
have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the
chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just
repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be
enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA
was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.

RM

It had been announced in advance that UEFA would be changing it's qualifying format post Euro 2024. Thoughts turned to possibilities such as turning the system into a league or of integrating the European Championship or Nations League into the

qualifying process, perhaps by having the top four ranked teams in the Euros qualify for the World Cup.

Instead, what was announced was quite underwhelming. Not a change of format at all really, more of a tinkering. Still a system that has the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers existing in isolation. Still a group based qualification

system, only there will be more, smaller groups.

The media release which announced the change claims that smaller groups are more dynamic and less predictable than larger groups. I looked back at some qualifying group results when UEFA used to have four team groups in the 80's and early 90's, and

yes, there were some groups where the top two or even three spots were close. But then you get the same with 6 team groups. Plus even the most competitive four team groups don't solve the problem of the minnow who finishes so far behind the rest that
matches against them are essentially meaningless.

It feels like this was a missed opportunity to reform the UEFA qualifiers.

RM

CONCACAF have announced their qualifying format:

Round 1: Teams ranked 32 to 29 are drawn into pairs and play over two legs home and away.

So the World Cup is over for 2 teams after just 2 matches!

Round 2: The two winners from round 1 and the teams ranked 1 to 28 are drawn into six groups of five and play the other teams in their group once. Group winners and runners up qualify for the third round.

Why do they only play each other once? Doesn't home advantage have an effect here?

Round 3: The 12 qualifying teams are drawn into three groups of four and play the other teams in their group home and away. Group winners qualify for World Cup 2026, the two best runners up go to the Intercontinental playoffs.

The 2 "best" runners-up!

Canada, Mexico and the USA qualify automatically as hosts. Matches start in March 2024.

So is it 3 that qualify and 2 that go to the Intercontinental play-offs? Surely there's a better way than this? 8 groups of 4 or 4 groups of 8 in the 1st round would be the best way wouldn't it?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 8:02:56 AM UTC, Mark wrote:

On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 12:16:10 AM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 10:55:20 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 4:56:18 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously
have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the
chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just
repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be
enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA
was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.

RM

It had been announced in advance that UEFA would be changing it's qualifying format post Euro 2024. Thoughts turned to possibilities such as turning the system into a league or of integrating the European Championship or Nations League into the

qualifying process, perhaps by having the top four ranked teams in the Euros qualify for the World Cup.

Instead, what was announced was quite underwhelming. Not a change of format at all really, more of a tinkering. Still a system that has the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers existing in isolation. Still a group based qualification

system, only there will be more, smaller groups.

The media release which announced the change claims that smaller groups are more dynamic and less predictable than larger groups. I looked back at some qualifying group results when UEFA used to have four team groups in the 80's and early 90's, and

yes, there were some groups where the top two or even three spots were close. But then you get the same with 6 team groups. Plus even the most competitive four team groups don't solve the problem of the minnow who finishes so far behind the rest that
matches against them are essentially meaningless.

It feels like this was a missed opportunity to reform the UEFA qualifiers.

RM

CONCACAF have announced their qualifying format:

Round 1: Teams ranked 32 to 29 are drawn into pairs and play over two legs home and away.

So the World Cup is over for 2 teams after just 2 matches!

Yes, same as in the first round of AFC qualifying. In some ways that is the cruelest round of all, with 11 teams seeing their World Cup dream end after just two matches and some two and a half years before the tournament.


RM

Round 2: The two winners from round 1 and the teams ranked 1 to 28 are drawn into six groups of five and play the other teams in their group once. Group winners and runners up qualify for the third round.

Why do they only play each other once? Doesn't home advantage have an effect here?

Round 3: The 12 qualifying teams are drawn into three groups of four and play the other teams in their group home and away. Group winners qualify for World Cup 2026, the two best runners up go to the Intercontinental playoffs.

The 2 "best" runners-up!

Canada, Mexico and the USA qualify automatically as hosts. Matches start in March 2024.

So is it 3 that qualify and 2 that go to the Intercontinental play-offs? Surely there's a better way than this? 8 groups of 4 or 4 groups of 8 in the 1st round would be the best way wouldn't it?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

CONMEBOL are the first confederation to confirm their fixtures for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

There are 18 rounds of games with each team playing each other home and away in a league format.

Matchday 1

September 2023

Uruguay v Chile

Colombia v Venezuela

Brazil v Bolivia

Paraguay v Peru

Argentina v Ecuador


Matchday 2

September 2023

Peru v Brazil

Venezuela v Paraguay

Bolivia v Argentina

Chile v Colombia

Ecuador v Uruguay


Matchday 3

October 2023

Colombia v Uruguay

Brazil v Venezuela

Bolivia v Ecuador

Argentina v Paraguay

Chile v Peru


Matchday 4

October 2023

Uruguay v Brazil

Peru v Argentina

Venezuela v Chile

Paraguay v Bolivia

Ecuador v Colombia


Full fixtures:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONMEBOL)


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental play-off
to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Schedule:

Draw: July 12 2023

Match Day 1 and 2: 13-21 November 2023

Match Day 3 and 4: June 2024

Match Day 5: 6-14 October 2024

Continental Playoff: 10-18 November 2025


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental play-

off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Schedule:

Draw: July 12 2023

Match Day 1 and 2: 13-21 November 2023

Match Day 3 and 4: June 2024

Match Day 5: 6-14 October 2024

Continental Playoff: 10-18 November 2025

RM

Having reflected on this, at least it improves on the situation where the 14 losers in the first round see their World Cup dream end after only two games. However, it does create a risk that some top African sides could find themselves eliminated if they
have a bit of an off year (eg, finish second but not as one of the four best African teams.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental play-

off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.


Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:42:09 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental

play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

You, Sir, should be running a football confederation!


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 2:39:19 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:42:09 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental

play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

You, Sir, should be running a football confederation!

RM

If there's any jobs going, I'm interested. How would I get a job working for CAF or CONMEBOL or UEFA or whoever?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 9:33:34 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 2:39:19 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:42:09 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a Continental

play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

You, Sir, should be running a football confederation!

RM

If there's any jobs going, I'm interested. How would I get a job working for CAF or CONMEBOL or UEFA or whoever?

https://www.concacaf.com/inside-concacaf/careers/

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 5:40:35 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 9:33:34 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 2:39:19 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:42:09 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a

Continental play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

You, Sir, should be running a football confederation!

RM

If there's any jobs going, I'm interested. How would I get a job working for CAF or CONMEBOL or UEFA or whoever?

https://www.concacaf.com/inside-concacaf/careers/

RM

Would it be Event coordinator that I'd want to go for?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Monday, May 22, 2023 at 10:32:54 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 5:40:35 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 9:33:34 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 2:39:19 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:42:09 AM UTC+1, Mark wrote:

On Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 1:23:59 AM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2023 at 10:36:42 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Today CAF announced it's qualifying format for World Cup 2026.

There had been speculation that CAF would change to a system that integrated the Africa Cup of Nations into the qualifying process. Whilst the format has changed, it hasn't changed in as innovative way as that.

Instead, the 54 CAF sides will be drawn into 9 groups of 6. Teams in each group will play each other on a round robin basis. The top team in each group qualifies for the World Cup. The best four second placed teams will enter into a

Continental play-off to determine one winner who will then proceed to the intercontinental playoff.

Why the best 4 2nd place teams? If they're not going to include the 5th to 9th "best" 2nd place teams, they might as well just have the "best" one going straight into the intercontinental play-off mightn't they?

You, Sir, should be running a football confederation!

RM

If there's any jobs going, I'm interested. How would I get a job working for CAF or CONMEBOL or UEFA or whoever?

https://www.concacaf.com/inside-concacaf/careers/

RM

Would it be Event coordinator that I'd want to go for?

It looks a little below your level of aspiration (assuming you want to make decisions about future tournament structures) but then I guess you have to start somewhere.



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 10:55:20 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 4:56:18 PM UTC, Real Mardin wrote:

On Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:53:51 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:

Em terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2022 às 05:19:53 UTC-3, Werner Pichler escreveu:

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:17:59 AM UTC+1, Lléo wrote:

Em segunda-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2022 às 23:29:42 UTC-3, Sheridan Elliot escreveu:

If they stick with three-team groups at WC 2026, they will obviously
have to introduce penalty shoot-outs in the group phase to reduce the
chance of three-way ties.

Yet another reason why three team groups are a bad idea. I was thinking of
the possibility of collusions, but this too is an issue.

Btw, this could have happened in 1982 too. Does anyone know how would they
have handled it, had it happened? At least back then they could also consider
first round records too

I must have mentally skipped this part of your message. Sorry that I just
repeated what you already wrote.

I was actually just wondering about that possibility, I didn't know that for
a fact. So I indeed learned something from your information.

(though, however improbable, it could happen that even these wouldn't be
enough to break a tie).

Not so improbable though, as the England example shows.

Yes, it was close enough. And about the English complaints, while I agree with
their gist, they should indeed have raised them a lot earlier. I mean, FIFA
was never going to change the rules that deep into the tournament.

Best regards,

Lléo

STOP PRESS

UEFA announce change to qualifying format to be implemented as of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

The qualifying process will now be 12 groups, some of four teams, some of five.

The first placed teams in each group qualify for the World Cup, with the runners up going into a qualification playoff.

Further details and commentary to follow.

RM

It had been announced in advance that UEFA would be changing it's qualifying format post Euro 2024. Thoughts turned to possibilities such as turning the system into a league or of integrating the European Championship or Nations League into the

qualifying process, perhaps by having the top four ranked teams in the Euros qualify for the World Cup.

Instead, what was announced was quite underwhelming. Not a change of format at all really, more of a tinkering. Still a system that has the European Championship and the World Cup qualifiers existing in isolation. Still a group based qualification

system, only there will be more, smaller groups.

The media release which announced the change claims that smaller groups are more dynamic and less predictable than larger groups. I looked back at some qualifying group results when UEFA used to have four team groups in the 80's and early 90's, and yes,

there were some groups where the top two or even three spots were close. But then you get the same with 6 team groups. Plus even the most competitive four team groups don't solve the problem of the minnow who finishes so far behind the rest that matches
against them are essentially meaningless.

It feels like this was a missed opportunity to reform the UEFA qualifiers.

RM

UEFA has since confirmed that the four best group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League based on the Nations League overall ranking will join the 12 group runners up from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to form 16 team playoff round.

The 16 teams will be drawn into four paths of four with two rounds of single leg knockout matches determining the winners of each path. Path winners qualify for World Cup 2026!

On one hand I applaud the link between the Nations League and World Cup qualifying as it keeps an otherwise fairly pointless tournament relevant.

However, I really don't understand why they stuck with single leg playoffs (the did the same for WC 2022) when it clearly unfairly advantages one team and is completely at odds with the rest of the qualifying process as both the World Cup qualifying
groups and Nations League are played on a home and away leg basis.

I think the single leg system impacted which teams went through, not necessarily for the good of the tournament. Would Wales (who were awful at Qatar 2022) have survived away legs with Austria and Ukraine, I wonder? For all their giant killing exploits
in Palermo would North Macedonia have bested Italy over two legs?

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 11:55:21 PM UTC+2, Real Mardin wrote:

UEFA has since confirmed that the four best group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League based on the Nations League
overall ranking will join the 12 group runners up from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to form 16 team playoff round.

The 16 teams will be drawn into four paths of four with two rounds of single leg knockout matches determining the winners
of each path. Path winners qualify for World Cup 2026!

On one hand I applaud the link between the Nations League and World Cup qualifying as it keeps an otherwise fairly
pointless tournament relevant.

However, I really don't understand why they stuck with single leg playoffs (the did the same for WC 2022) when it clearly
unfairly advantages one team and is completely at odds with the rest of the qualifying process as both the World Cup
qualifying groups and Nations League are played on a home and away leg basis.

Single-leg play-offs are one thing, but another problem is the disparity between Nations League cycles.
Everybody and their neighbour qualify for the Euros, but World Cup berths are much harder to come by, so
winning your Nations League group is more valuable every other time.

The clever thing for sub-top teams would be to deliberately get relegated from Nations League A/B
in 'Euro' cycles, and win your Nations League B/C group in 'World Cup' cycles.

Ciao,
Werner

I think the single leg system impacted which teams went through, not necessarily for the good of the tournament. Would Wales (who were awful at Qatar 2022) have survived away legs with Austria and Ukraine, I wonder? For all their giant killing exploits

in Palermo would North Macedonia have bested Italy over two legs?

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 4:04:41 AM UTC+1, Werner Pichler wrote:

On Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 11:55:21 PM UTC+2, Real Mardin wrote:

UEFA has since confirmed that the four best group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League based on the Nations League
overall ranking will join the 12 group runners up from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers to form 16 team playoff round.

The 16 teams will be drawn into four paths of four with two rounds of single leg knockout matches determining the winners
of each path. Path winners qualify for World Cup 2026!

On one hand I applaud the link between the Nations League and World Cup qualifying as it keeps an otherwise fairly
pointless tournament relevant.

However, I really don't understand why they stuck with single leg playoffs (the did the same for WC 2022) when it clearly
unfairly advantages one team and is completely at odds with the rest of the qualifying process as both the World Cup
qualifying groups and Nations League are played on a home and away leg basis.

Single-leg play-offs are one thing, but another problem is the disparity between Nations League cycles.
Everybody and their neighbour qualify for the Euros, but World Cup berths are much harder to come by, so
winning your Nations League group is more valuable every other time.

The clever thing for sub-top teams would be to deliberately get relegated from Nations League A/B
in 'Euro' cycles, and win your Nations League B/C group in 'World Cup' cycles.

Ciao,
Werner

I think the single leg system impacted which teams went through, not necessarily for the good of the tournament. Would Wales (who were awful at Qatar 2022) have survived away legs with Austria and Ukraine, I wonder? For all their giant killing

exploits in Palermo would North Macedonia have bested Italy over two legs?

Finally - an incentive for top teams to take the Nations League seriously!

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

The draw for the CAF World Cup 2026 qualifiers took place today:


Group A

Egypt
Burkina Faso
Guinea-Bissau
Sierra Leone
Ethiopia
Djibouti



Group B

Senegal
DR Congo
Mauritania
Togo
Sudan
South Sudan

(Sudan and South Sudan in the same group??)



Group C

Nigeria
South Africa
Benin
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Lesotho



Group D

Cameroon
Cape-Verde
Angola
Libya
Eswatini
Mauritius


(What do the Indomitable Lions fans of rss think of this? Could be worse I reckon, although Cape-Verde looked handy at the last AFCON)

Group E

Morocco
Zambia
Congo
Tanzania
Niger
Eritrea



Group F

Cote d’Ivoire
Gabon
Kenya
Gambia
Burundi
Seychelles



Group G

Algeria
Guinea
Uganda
Mozambique
Botswana
Somalia



Group H

Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Malawi
Liberia
Sao Tome and Principe



Group I

Mali
Ghana
Madagascar
Central African Republic
Comoros
Chad

Ghana were billed as the strongest pot 2 team and certainly the team even more established pot 1 teams were hoping to avoid, so this will be a blow to Mali. Still, when I tried to forecast who might qualify when they first announced WC2026 would be in
CONCACAF'land I think I picked Mali because they'd had some good youth teams at the time who's players should have come good in time for the qualifiers. I might have just made that up, though.

The 9 group winners qualify for World Cup 2026, the four highest ranking runners up qualify for the CAF playoffs, the winners of which will qualify for the FIFA Playoff tournament.

The CAF qualifiers start on 13th November 2023.

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In article <831e342f-6963-48cc-bf39-d775284bc02bn@googlegroups.com>,
Real Mardin <real_mardin@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

The draw for the CAF World Cup 2026 qualifiers took place today:

Group A

Egypt
Burkina Faso
Guinea-Bissau
Sierra Leone
Ethiopia
Djibouti

Group B

Senegal
DR Congo
Mauritania
Togo
Sudan
South Sudan

(Sudan and South Sudan in the same group??)

Group C

Nigeria
South Africa
Benin
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Lesotho

Group D

Cameroon
Cape-Verde
Angola
Libya
Eswatini
Mauritius

Worth a watch!

(What do the Indomitable Lions fans of rss think of this? Could be worse
I reckon, although Cape-Verde looked handy at the last AFCON)

Group E

Morocco
Zambia
Congo
Tanzania
Niger
Eritrea

Group F

Cote d’Ivoire
Gabon
Kenya
Gambia
Burundi
Seychelles

Group G

Algeria
Guinea
Uganda
Mozambique
Botswana
Somalia

Group H

Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Malawi
Liberia
Sao Tome and Principe

Group I

Mali
Ghana
Madagascar
Central African Republic
Comoros
Chad

Ghana were billed as the strongest pot 2 team and certainly the team
even more established pot 1 teams were hoping to avoid, so this will be
a blow to Mali. Still, when I tried to forecast who might qualify when
they first announced WC2026 would be in CONCACAF'land I think I picked
Mali because they'd had some good youth teams at the time who's players >should have come good in time for the qualifiers. I might have just made
that up, though.

The 9 group winners qualify for World Cup 2026, the four highest ranking >runners up qualify for the CAF playoffs, the winners of which will
qualify for the FIFA Playoff tournament.

The CAF qualifiers start on 13th November 2023.

RM

--
Member - Liberal International This is doctor@nk.ca Ici doctor@nk.ca
Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism https://www.empire.kred/ROOTNK?t=94a1f39b Wealth can get things, especially ingratitude, discontentment and confusion. -unknown Beware https://mindspring.com

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 10:26:31 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

Group D

Cameroon
Cape-Verde
Angola
Libya
Eswatini
Mauritius

(What do the Indomitable Lions fans of rss think of this? Could be worse I reckon, although Cape-Verde looked handy at the last AFCON)

Looks relatively easy to me. I think I'm happy with this.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Well, it's been called the cruelest round in World football, with 10 teams being eliminated from World Cup qualifying three years before the tournament starts, but AFC has made the draw for the first round of its World Cup 2026 qualifiers:


Afghanistan v Mongolia

Maldives v Bangladesh

Singapore v Guam

Yemen v Sri Lanka

Myanmar v Macau

Cambodia v Pakistan

Chinese Taipei v Timor-Leste

Indonesia v Brunei

Hong Kong v Bhutan

Nepal v Laos


First legs are on 12th October and return legs on 17th October 2023.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

CONMEBOL Matchday 1


Paraguay 0 - Peru 0

This result might not sound very exciting or significant, but it was the first qualifying match for World Cup 2026! We're underway!

Colombia 1 - Venezuela 0

Argentina 1 - Ecuador 0

Some guy called Messi (?) scored the winner.

Sadly there is no UK tv deal in place to broadcast or stream these matches. With the time difference they're on a bit too late for a work night, but I wouldn't have minded streaming them the next day. Hopefully this gets sorted out in time.

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:26:29 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

CONMEBOL Matchday 1

Paraguay 0 - Peru 0

This result might not sound very exciting or significant, but it was the first qualifying match for World Cup 2026! We're underway!

Colombia 1 - Venezuela 0

Argentina 1 - Ecuador 0

Some guy called Messi (?) scored the winner.

The CONMEBOL Matchday 1 results for 8/9 were:

Uruguay 3 -Chile 1

Brazil 5 - Bolivia 1


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

OFC are the final confederation to confirm their qualifying process for World Cup 2026:

First Round: The four lowest ranked teams will play a three match knockout round, with the winner advancing to the second round.

Second Round: The qualifying team from the first round joins the seven highest ranking teams to form two four team groups. The top two teams from each group advance to the third round.

Third Round: The four qualifying teams from the second round play a three match knockout round. The winner qualifies for the World Cup, the runner up enters the Inter-Confederation playoff.

RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

A little belated, but CONMEBOL Matchday 2 results:

Bolivia 0 - Argentina 3

Ecuador 2 - Uruguay 1

Venezuela 1 - Paraguay 0

Chile 0 - Colombia 0

Peru 0 - Brazil 1


And the standings after two rounds:

1st Brazil 6pts
2nd Argentina 6pts
3rd Colombia 4pts
4th Uruguay 3pts
5th Venezuela 3pts
6th Paraguay 1pt
7th Peru 1pt
8th Chile 1pt
9th Ecuador 0pts (deducted three points)
10th Bolivia 0pts


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 28 Jul 2023 21:37:39 +0000, Real Mardin wrote:

Well, it's been called the cruelest round in World football, with 10
teams being eliminated from World Cup qualifying three years before the tournament starts, but AFC has made the draw for the first round of its
World Cup 2026 qualifiers:

Afghanistan v Mongolia

Maldives v Bangladesh

Singapore v Guam

Yemen v Sri Lanka

Myanmar v Macau

Cambodia v Pakistan

Chinese Taipei v Timor-Leste

Indonesia v Brunei

Hong Kong v Bhutan

Nepal v Laos

First legs are on 12th October and return legs on 17th October 2023.

RM

"Reel life" and the Euros have set me rather behind with the World Cup qualifying results thread, but let's try to make a start with the
results of the AFC First Round qualifiers.

Afghanistan 1 - Mongolia 0

Mongoloa 0 - Afghanistan 1

(Afghanistan win 2-0 on aggregate)


Maldieves 1 - Bangladesh 1

Bangladesh 2 - Maldieves 1

(Bangladesh win 3-2 on aggregate)


Singapore 2 - Guam 1

Guam 0 - Singapore 1

(Singapore win 3-1 on aggregate)


Yemen 3 - Sri Lanka 0

Sri Lanka 1 - Yemen 1

(Yemen win 4-1 on aggregate)


Myanmar 5 - Macau 1

Macau 0 - Myanmar 0

(Myanmar win 5-1 on aggregate)


Cambodia 0 - Pakistan 0

Pakistan 1 - Cambodia 0

(Pakistan win 1-0 on aggregate)


Chinese Taipei 4 - East Timor 0

East Timor 0 - Chinese Taipei 3

(Chinese Taipei won 7-0 on aggregate)


Indonesia 6 - Brunei 0

Brunei 0 - Indonesia 6

(Indonesia win 12-0 on aggregate)


Hong Kong 4 - Bhutan 0

Bhutan 2 - Hong Kong 0

(Hong Kong win 2-0 on aggregate)


Nepal 1 - Laos 1

Laos 0 - Nepal 1

(Nepal win 2-1 on aggreagate)



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

AFC Second Qualifying Round Final Standings

(Top two in each group qualify)


Group A

1st Qatar 16pts

2nd Kuwait 7pts

3rd India 5pts

4th Afghanistan 5pts



Group B


1st Japan 18pts

2nd North Korea 9pts

3rd Syria 7pts

4th Myanmar 1pt


Group C


1st South Korea 16pts

2nd China 8pts (better head to head - a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 win for
China)

3rd Thailand 8pts

4th Singapore 1pt


Group D


1st Oman 13pts

2nd Kyrgyzstan 11pts

3rd Malaysia 10pts

4th Chinese Taipei 0pts


Group E


1st Iran 14pts

2nd Uzbekistan 14pts

3rd Turkmenistan 2pts

4th Hong Kong 2pts


Group F


1st Iraq 18pts

2nd Indonesia 10pts

3rd Vietnam 6pts

4th Philippines 1pt



Group G

1st Jordan 13pts

2nd Saudi Arabia 13pts

3rd Tajikistan 8pts

4th Pakistan 0pts


Group H


1st United Arab Emirates 16pts

2nd Bahrain 11pts

3rd Yemen 5pts

4th Nepal 1pt


Group I


1st Australia 18pts

2nd Palestine 8pts

3rd Lebanon 6pts

4th Bangladesh 1pt


So Indonesia are the only qualifier from the first round to make it to
the third round.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Looking ahead to the AFC third qualifying round:


Group A:


Iran

Qatar

Uzbekistan

United Arab Emirates

Kyrgyzstan

North Korea



Group B


South Korea

Iraq

Jordan

Oman

Palestine

Kuwait



Group C


Japan

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

China

Indonesia


The top two teams from each group qualify for World Cup 2026.

The third and fourth placed teams from each group get another chance in
the AFC Fourth Round.

Matches to be played as of 5th September 2024.



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Here are the First Round group standings from CAF after four out of 10
rounds:


Group A


1st Egypt 10pts

2nd Guinea-Bissau 6pts

3rd Burkina Faso 5pts

4th Sierra Leone 5pts

5th Ethiopia 3pts

6th Dijibouti 1pt



Group B


1st Sudan 10pts

2nd Senegal 8pts

3rd DR Congo 7pts

4th Togo 3pts

5th South Sudan 2pts

6th Mauritania 1pt



Group C


1st Rwanda 7pts

2nd South Africa 7pts

3rd Benin 7pts

4th Lesotho 5pts

5th Nigeria 3pts (!!!)

6th Zimbabwe 2pts


Group D


1st Cameroon 8pts

2nd Libya 7pts

3rd Cape Verde 7pts

4th Angola 6pts

5th Mauritius 4pts

6th Eswatini 0pts


Group E


1st Morocco 9pts

2nd Niger 6pts

3rd Tanzania 6pts

4th Zambia 3pts

5th Congo 0pts

6th Eritrea 0pt - withdrew


Group F


1st Ivory Coast 10pts

2nd Gabon 9pts

3rd Burundi 7pts

4th Kenya 5pts

5th Gambia 3pts

6th Seychelles 0pts



Group G


1st Algeria 9pts

2nd Mozambique 9pts

3rd Botswana 6pts

4th Guinea 6pts

5th Uganda 6pts

6th Somalia 0pts


Group H


1st Tunisia 10pts

2nd Namibia 8pts

3rd Liberia 7pts

4th Malawi 6pts

5th Equatorial Guinea 3pts

6th Sao Tome and Principe 0pts


Group I


1st Comoros 9pts

2nd Ghana 9pts

3rd Madagascar 7pts

4th Mali 5pts

5th Central African Republic 4pts

6th Chad 0pts



Only the group winners qualify automatically for the World Cup.

The four highest ranked runners up get another chance in the CAF second
round.

This means some big names in Africa are at risk of not qualifying -
Sengeal, Nigeria and Ghana aren't currently where they need to be.
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Algeria and Tunisia have slender leads which
could turn around in just one match day.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Real_Mardin <realmardinrss@proton.me> wrote:

Looking ahead to the AFC third qualifying round:

Group C

Japan

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

China

Indonesia

So they’ve expanded AFC representation to a
whopping 8+ spots, and I still wouldn’t bet on
China making it.


Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

The draw for the UEFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers was made on 13th
December and came up with the following outcome:


Group A:


Germany/Italy Nations League quarter final winners

Slovakia

Northern Ireland

Luxembourg


Group B:


Switzerland

Sweden

Slovenia

Kosovo


Group C:


Portugal/Denmark Nations League quarter final losers

Greece

Scotland

Belarus


Group D:


France/Croatia Nations League quarter final winners

Ukraine

Iceland

Azerbaijan


Group E:


Spain/Netherlands Nations League quarter final winners

Türkiye

Georgia

Bulgaria



Group F:


Portugal/Denmark Nations League quarter final winners

Hungary

Republic of Ireland

Armenia


Group G:


Spain/Netherlands Nations League quarter final losers

Poland

Finland

Lithuania

Malta



Group H:


Austria

Romania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cyprus

San Marino


Group I:


Germany/Italy Nations League quarter final losers

Norway

Israel

Estonia

Moldova


Group J:


Belgium

Wales

North Macedonia

Kazakhstan

Liechtenstein


Group K:


England

Serbia

Albania

Latvia

Andorra


Group L:


France/Croatia Nations League quarter final losers

Czechia

Montenegro

Faroe Islands

Gibraltar


Group winners qualify for the World Cup.

Runners up advance to the playoffs along with the four highest ranked
Nations League group winners who otherwise didn't qualify for the World
Cup or the playoffs.

Group stage matches to be played between March and November 2025.

Playoff matches to be played March 2026.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 14 Dec 2024 22:59:37 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

The draw for the UEFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers was made on 13th
December and came up with the following outcome:

Group A:

Germany/Italy Nations League quarter final winners

Slovakia

Northern Ireland

Luxembourg

Group B:

Switzerland

Sweden

Slovenia

Kosovo

Group C:

Portugal/Denmark Nations League quarter final losers

Greece

Scotland

Belarus

Group D:

France/Croatia Nations League quarter final winners

Ukraine

Iceland

Azerbaijan

Group E:

Spain/Netherlands Nations League quarter final winners

Türkiye

Georgia

Bulgaria

Group F:

Portugal/Denmark Nations League quarter final winners

Hungary

Republic of Ireland

Armenia

Group G:

Spain/Netherlands Nations League quarter final losers

Poland

Finland

Lithuania

Malta

Group H:

Austria

Romania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cyprus

San Marino

Group I:

Germany/Italy Nations League quarter final losers

Norway

Israel

Estonia

Moldova

Group J:

Belgium

Wales

North Macedonia

Kazakhstan

Liechtenstein

Group K:

England

Serbia

Albania

Latvia

Andorra

Group L:

France/Croatia Nations League quarter final losers

Czechia

Montenegro

Faroe Islands

Gibraltar

These groups mostly feel a bit "zzzzzz...." with one team clearly better
than the others then another who on paper should probably finish second.
That's the seeding system for you.



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

UEFA World Cup qualifying gets under way on 21st March.

The first four match days are as follows:


21 March

Malta v Finland (Group G)
Poland v Lithuania (Group G)
Cyprus v San Marino (Group H)
Romania v Bosnia & Herzegovina (Group H)
Andorra v Latvia (Group K)
England v Albania (Group K)


22 March

Israel v Estonia (Group I)
Moldova v Norway (Group I)
Liechtenstein v North Macedonia (Group J)
Wales v Kazakhstan (Group J)
Czechia v Faroe Islands (Group L)
Montenegro v Gibraltar (Group L)


24 March


Lithuania v Finland (Group G)
Poland v Malta (Group G)
Bosnia & Herzegovina v Cyprus (Group H)
San Marino v Romania (Group H)
Albania v Andorra (Group K)
England v Latvia (Group K)


25 March

Israel v Norway (Group I)
Moldova v Estonia (Group I)
Liechtenstein v Kazakhstan (Group J)
North Macedonia v Wales (Group J)
Gibraltar v Czechia (Group L)
Montenegro v Faroe Islands (Group L)


Unfortunately for me as a UK resident opportunities to watch any matches
not involving England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales look limited
as unlike in previous qualifying campaigns there is no comprehensive tv
deal to show every qualifying match. These were most recently held by
Viaplay who have now left the UK market and whilst Premier Sports took
over most of Viaplay's programming, for reasons that are unclear to me
the World Cup qualifying rights didn't get transferred across. It's a
shame because there was something about sitting down on a Saturday
afternoon and relaxing with an understated match like Luxembourg v Liechtenstein, but there you have it. For me it will be watching the
home nations matches on BBC and the odd match I might be able to watch
online via a VPN if it happens to be on a channel which streams for
free. Apparently UEFA.tv show some matches but geographical restrictions
may apply?


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Real_Mardin wrote:

UEFA World Cup qualifying gets under way on 21st March.

[Snip]

Apparently UEFA.tv show some matches but geographical
restrictions may apply?

Yes, they do, but a VPN would help... depending on what nation
you actually wanted to watch.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:32:39 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Congratulations to Japan, first qualified team after the hosts.

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

--

Omedetō Nippon!

They sealed it with a 2-0 win over Bahrain but had already put
themselves in a good position with a 7-0 win over rivals China and a 1-0
draw with second place Australia.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 23:45:50 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:32:39 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Congratulations to Japan, first qualified team after the hosts.

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

--

Omedetō Nippon!

They sealed it with a 2-0 win over Bahrain but had already put
themselves in a good position with a 7-0 win over rivals China and a 1-0
draw with second place Australia.

RM

1-1 draw (obviously)


Guys, if you don't already know FIFA+ is streaming (for free) the OFC
and CAF World Cup qualifiers from today through to Tuesday. They're
currently showing New Caledonia - Tahiti. 0-0 at half time. It's the
middle of the night here so I won't be able to stick with this
particular match, but someone out there might get to enjoy it.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

JesusPetry wrote:

Congratulations to Japan, first qualified team after the hosts.

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

Yay! They're my 11th favourite team.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2024-07-14 13:39, Werner Pichler wrote:

Real_Mardin <realmardinrss@proton.me> wrote:

Looking ahead to the AFC third qualifying round:

Group C


Japan

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

China

Indonesia

So they’ve expanded AFC representation to a
whopping 8+ spots, and I still wouldn’t bet on
China making it.

Not looking good for them.

On the other hand the expanded WC might result in a few teams eg. from
Africa, Asia, and CONCACAF, making it for the first time. Maybe even
some UEFA team or CONMEBOL one, too.

Leading candidates for first time qualifiers might include:

Uzbekistan or Jordan?
Venezuela
Cape Verde, Sudan, Benin, Mozambique, Mali, Comoros or Madagascar ?
One of Guatemala, Dominican Republic or Suriname ? (Does not seem all
that likely to me)
Chances of a new UEFA qualfier seem slim but I guess Georgia and Finland
might be the leading candidates ?


Any bet? Sophisticated predictions ?

Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

MH <MHnospam@ucalgary.ca> wrote:

On 2024-07-14 13:39, Werner Pichler wrote:

Real_Mardin <realmardinrss@proton.me> wrote:

Looking ahead to the AFC third qualifying round:

Group C


Japan

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

China

Indonesia

So they’ve expanded AFC representation to a
whopping 8+ spots, and I still wouldn’t bet on
China making it.

Not looking good for them.

On the other hand the expanded WC might result in a few teams eg. from Africa, Asia, and CONCACAF, making it for the first time. Maybe even
some UEFA team or CONMEBOL one, too.

Leading candidates for first time qualifiers might include:

Uzbekistan or Jordan?
Venezuela
Cape Verde, Sudan, Benin, Mozambique, Mali, Comoros or Madagascar ?
One of Guatemala, Dominican Republic or Suriname ? (Does not seem all
that likely to me)
Chances of a new UEFA qualfier seem slim but I guess Georgia and Finland might be the leading candidates ?

San Marino! Just two wins away! :D

Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 21 Mar 2025 3:03:56 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 23:45:50 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:32:39 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Congratulations to Japan, first qualified team after the hosts.

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

--

Omedetō Nippon!

They sealed it with a 2-0 win over Bahrain but had already put
themselves in a good position with a 7-0 win over rivals China and a 1-0
draw with second place Australia.


RM

1-1 draw (obviously)

Guys, if you don't already know FIFA+ is streaming (for free) the OFC
and CAF World Cup qualifiers from today through to Tuesday. They're
currently showing New Caledonia - Tahiti. 0-0 at half time. It's the
middle of the night here so I won't be able to stick with this
particular match, but someone out there might get to enjoy it.

RM

You mean *nobody* was around to pick up my tip posted at 3am??

New Caledonia won 3-0 and will play New Zealand in the OFC qualification
final on 24th March. New Zealand made the final by beating Fiji 7-0.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Thanks to the wonder of online streaming and VPNs I was able to watch
the second half of Cyprus -San Marino, which was the first UEFA World
Cup 2026 qualifier.

An understated event in many ways, I was suprised to see so many empty
seats - I mean where *was* everybody for the must win World Cup
qualification match?!?

I find these early qualification games engaging because the
possibilities are endless. Cyprus and San Marino could both qualify for
this World Cup. Nobody can say that's impossible. Let me take that a
stage further. Cyprus or San Marino couLd WIN this World Cup! Again, not impossible.


Well, Cyprus ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. It could have been more
but for some good saves from the San Marino keeper Colombo. The first
goal was a bit of a joke, after receiving a pass from Colombo the San
Marino right back allowed himself to be mugged of the ball on the edge
of his own area, and Cyprus set up a comfortable finish.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Results from Day 1 of UEFA qualifying:

21 March

Malta 0 - Finland 1 (Group G)
Poland 1 - Lithuania 0 (Group G)
Cyprus 2 - San Marino 0 (Group H)
Romania 0 - Bosnia & Herzegovina 1 (Group H)
Andorra 0 - Latvia 1 (Group K)
England 2 - Albania 0 (Group K)


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 15 Mar 2025 22:34:05 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

UEFA World Cup qualifying gets under way on 21st March.

The first four match days are as follows:

21 March

Malta v Finland (Group G)
Poland v Lithuania (Group G)
Cyprus v San Marino (Group H)
Romania v Bosnia & Herzegovina (Group H)
Andorra v Latvia (Group K)
England v Albania (Group K)

22 March

Israel v Estonia (Group I)
Moldova v Norway (Group I)
Liechtenstein v North Macedonia (Group J)
Wales v Kazakhstan (Group J)
Czechia v Faroe Islands (Group L)
Montenegro v Gibraltar (Group L)

24 March

Lithuania v Finland (Group G)
Poland v Malta (Group G)
Bosnia & Herzegovina v Cyprus (Group H)
San Marino v Romania (Group H)
Albania v Andorra (Group K)
England v Latvia (Group K)

25 March

Israel v Norway (Group I)
Moldova v Estonia (Group I)
Liechtenstein v Kazakhstan (Group J)
North Macedonia v Wales (Group J)
Gibraltar v Czechia (Group L)
Montenegro v Faroe Islands (Group L)

Unfortunately for me as a UK resident opportunities to watch any matches
not involving England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales look limited
as unlike in previous qualifying campaigns there is no comprehensive tv
deal to show every qualifying match. These were most recently held by
Viaplay who have now left the UK market and whilst Premier Sports took
over most of Viaplay's programming, for reasons that are unclear to me
the World Cup qualifying rights didn't get transferred across.

STOP PRESS


The remaining "non UK teams" UEFA qualifiers from today to Tuesday are
now all being broadcast live and free on the Viaplay International
Youtube channel.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

HT:

Liechtenstein 0 - North Macedonia 2


Macedonia looking comfortable. The first was caused by the Liechtenstein
keeper coming out too far, allowing the ball to be crossed for
Trajkowski to head into an empty net. The second was a volley after a
corner was headed on, Musliu the scorer.

Picturesque ground where you can see mountains above the main stand.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

FT:

Liechtenstein 0 - North Macedonia 3

Miovski added a third on 84 minutes when he volleyed in a cross.

Sounded like there were more Macedonian fans there than home fans. Or
were they just noisier?


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

HT:

Moldova 0 - Norway 4

My first opportunity to check in with one of our “Class of 94”.

Moldova just can’t cope whenever Norway cross the ball into the area.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 18:53:00 +0000, Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-22 1:54 p.m., Real_Mardin wrote:

HT:

Moldova 0 - Norway 4

My first opportunity to check in with one of our “Class of 94”.

Moldova just can’t cope whenever Norway cross the ball into the area.


RM

FIFA+ app here seems to be showing the Africa qualifiers.

Just catching the end of the match, but early projections have Norway
winning WC 26.

Debating which of the 3 upcoming matches to watch?

19:45 GMT
Czech RepublicvFaroe Islands
19:45 GMT
IsraelvEstonia
19:45 GMT
WalesvKazakhstan

Wales - Kazakhstan feels like the better balanced match?


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-22 1:54 p.m., Real_Mardin wrote:

HT:

Moldova 0 - Norway 4

My first opportunity to check in with one of our “Class of 94”.

Moldova just can’t cope whenever Norway cross the ball into the area.

RM

FIFA+ app here seems to be showing the Africa qualifiers.

Just catching the end of the match, but early projections have Norway
winning WC 26.

Debating which of the 3 upcoming matches to watch?



19:45 GMT
Czech RepublicvFaroe Islands
19:45 GMT
IsraelvEstonia
19:45 GMT
WalesvKazakhstan

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

FT:

Moldova 0 - Norway 5


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

HT:

Wales 1 - Kazakhstan 1


Wales started brightly enough and took the lead with Dan James but an “accidental handball” penalty brought Kazakhstan level,.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Today's UEFA qualifying results:


22 March

Israel 2 - Estonia 1 (Group I)
Moldova 0 v Norway 5 (Group I)
Liechtenstein 0 v North Macedonia 3 (Group J)
Wales 3 v Kazakhstan 1 (Group J)
Czechia 2 v Faroe Islands 1 (Group L)
Montenegro 3 v Gibraltar 1 (Group L)


Interesting note, Israel's home game was played in Hungary (UEFA
previously suspedned matches being played in Israel due to security
reasons).


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

UEFA Results


24 March

Lithuania 2 - Finland 2 (Group G)
Poland 2 - Malta 0 (Group G)
Bosnia & Herzegovina 2 - Cyprus 1 (Group H)
San Marino 1 - Romania 5 (Group H)
Albania 3 - Andorra 0 (Group K)
England 3 - Latvia 0 (Group K)


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

RM

Yay! New Zealand are my 18th favourite national team.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay guaranteed Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight.

Best regards,

Lléo

Oh so does take the shine off the Super Classico now?

Argentina v Brasil 0-0 just starting

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay guaranteed Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight.

Best regards,

Lléo

It took 4 mins
Argie 1 - 0 Brasil

It took Brasil 2minutes before they touched the ball.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 8:20 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:12 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World >>>>> Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay guaranteed
Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight.


Best regards,

Lléo

It took 4 mins
Argie 1 - 0 Brasil

It took Brasil 2minutes before they touched the ball.

Oh dear
2-0 after 12 mins

ANd this is without Messi.

Lothar Matheus Cunha makes it 2-1

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 8:12 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay guaranteed
Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight.


Best regards,

Lléo

It took 4 mins
Argie 1 - 0 Brasil

It took Brasil 2minutes before they touched the ball.

Oh dear
2-0 after 12 mins

ANd this is without Messi.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 8:35 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:20 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:12 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026 World >>>>>> Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay
guaranteed Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight. >>>>

Best regards,

Lléo

It took 4 mins
Argie 1 - 0 Brasil

It took Brasil 2minutes before they touched the ball.

Oh dear
2-0 after 12 mins

ANd this is without Messi.

Lothar Matheus Cunha makes it 2-1

It is hard to keep up with this match, everytine I go and make a tea or
get up for any reason, somebody scores. This time it was a nice touch
by the Scottish guy

Argie 3 - 1 Brasil

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-03-25 8:46 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:35 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:20 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 8:12 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:

On 2025-03-25 7:55 p.m., Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026
World
Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation >>>>>>> playoffs.

  Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home >>>>>> against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

  Tchau!
  Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay
guaranteed Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight. >>>>>

Best regards,

Lléo

It took 4 mins
Argie 1 - 0 Brasil

It took Brasil 2minutes before they touched the ball.

Oh dear
2-0 after 12 mins

ANd this is without Messi.

Lothar Matheus Cunha makes it 2-1

It is hard to keep up with this match, everytine I go and make a tea or
get up for any reason, somebody scores.  This time it was a nice touch
by the Scottish guy

Argie 3 - 1 Brasil

ARG 4 - 1 BRA FT

The score is a fair reflection of the game, The Argies were that much
better.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026
World Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation
playoffs.

Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

Tchau!
Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

Yay! Iran are my 14th favourite team.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Lléo wrote:

On 25/03/2025 16:32, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 24/03/2025 07:22, Real_Mardin wrote:

Congratulations to New Zealand, who have qualified for the 2026
World Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the OFC final.

New Caledonia will take their chances in the Inter Confederation playoffs.

 Add Iran to the list of congratulated. A late equalizer at home
against Uzbekistan (2-2) has put them over the line.

 Tchau!
 Jesus "only 42 spots left" Petry

41 now I guess, since the draw between Bolivia and Uruguay guaranteed Argentina's place in WC'2026 even before they play tonight.

Best regards,

Lléo

Yay! Argentina are my 3rd favourite team.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Werner Pichler <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Real_Mardin <realmardinrss@proton.me> wrote:

Looking ahead to the AFC third qualifying round:

Group C


Japan

Australia

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

China

Indonesia

So they’ve expanded AFC representation to a
whopping 8+ spots, and I still wouldn’t bet on
China making it.

It’s official - 8 1/3 spots, and China still can’t get in.
Maybe think about expanding the World Cup?


Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 16:43:47 +0000, Werner Pichler wrote:

Werner Pichler <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:

It’s official - 8 1/3 spots, and China still can’t get in.
Maybe think about expanding the World Cup?

Yeah, what happened to football in China? The club game is not doing
that much better. Guangzhou won two AFC Champions Cup in the mid-teens
(with Lippi and Scolari at the helm, no less), but now they no longer
exist.

In the meantime, Uzbekistan has qualified. Jordan could be next.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 19:03:30 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

In the meantime, Uzbekistan has qualified. Jordan could be next.

Weaufx Gods were distracted: Korea beats Iraq, and Jordan gets its
ticket for North America.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are
always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at
the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Quoting Futbolmetrix in rec.sport.soccer:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are
always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at
the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

3-0 42'


--
Manchester United FC - CHAMPIONS
Latest: England '13 (20th) Europa '17, UEFA '08, World '08

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at
the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:21:50 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are
always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at
the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

Haaland, 3-0

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Quoting anders t in rec.sport.soccer:

Quoting Futbolmetrix in rec.sport.soccer:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are
always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at >>> the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

3-0 42'

Guess who?
--
Manchester United FC - CHAMPIONS
Latest: England '13 (20th) Europa '17, UEFA '08, World '08

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:29:36 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:21:50 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are
always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at >>> the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

Haaland, 3-0

Maybe we should focus on tennis?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:32:58 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:29:36 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:21:50 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 19:04:57 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 20:17:37 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Important match in the UEFA qualifiers, Norway vs Italy. Will Italy
manager to miss out on the WC for the third time in a row?

And, just as I type, Sorloth puts Norway up 1-0.

In case people think I'm weaufxing, let me remind you of Use-the-NT,
where the fearsome Vikings (heavily dominated by Norwegian players) are >>>> always up there fighting for first place, while the Armata languishes at >>>> the bottom.

17' in, Norway-Italy 1-0

Nusa makes it 2-0

Haaland, 3-0

Maybe we should focus on tennis?

FT: Norway-Italy 3-0

Italy had most of the possession, but was nowhere near threatening the Norwegian defense. It will be an uphill battle to the WC, maybe
involving a playoff a`-la North Macedonia...

Elsewhere, Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

How the heck is it World Cup qualifiers already?!?!

Watching Albania- Serbia thanks to the joys of streaming and VPNs.

HT 0-0. Albania had a penalty in injury time but the Serbian keeper
saved.

Given the history between these two countries this has been tamer than I
was expecting.


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 7 Jun 2025 19:38:59 +0000, Real_Mardin wrote:

How the heck is it World Cup qualifiers already?!?!

Watching Albania- Serbia thanks to the joys of streaming and VPNs.

HT 0-0. Albania had a penalty in injury time but the Serbian keeper
saved.

Given the history between these two countries this has been tamer than I
was expecting.

RM

Well I was half expecting the teams to share six goals, five red cards
and a minor diplomatic incident, but instead I got a 0-0 draw where
nothing much seemed to happen.


FT: Albania 0 - Serbia 0


RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 6 Jun 2025 20:45:46 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

FT: Norway-Italy 3-0

Italy had most of the possession, but was nowhere near threatening the Norwegian defense. It will be an uphill battle to the WC, maybe
involving a playoff a`-la North Macedonia...

Spalletti will lead the team against Moldova on Monday, but will then
resign. Ranieri the likely successor. I guess he deserves it, but it
doesn't exactly fill me with confidence...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Futbolmetrix <futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Elsewhere, Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets.

The Weauxf Godz have been watching like hawks.


Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 8 Jun 2025 19:01:25 +0000, Werner Pichler wrote:

Futbolmetrix <futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Elsewhere, Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets.

The Weauxf Godz have been watching like hawks.

:-(

These emotional Italians choking away three match points...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Futbolmetrix <futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

On Thu, 5 Jun 2025 19:03:30 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

In the meantime, Uzbekistan has qualified. Jordan could be next.

Weaufx Gods were distracted: Korea beats Iraq, and Jordan gets its
ticket for North America.

It’s ‘only’ the Faroes vs Gibraltar, but Árni
Frederiksberg has been at it again

https://streamin.me/v/1ba99aec

He’s got to be one of my absolute favourite ‘lower
league’ players ever (thinking back to all those
insane goals he scored for Klaksvík during their
European run two seasons ago). That touch he’s got
would have been worthy of a much bigger career.


Ciao,
Werner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-06-10 17:30, JesusPetry wrote:

Australia clinch the last direct Asian spot. Palestine are out of
repechage through a late penalty.

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

--

Saudis must be highly favoured to get one of the two spots via the next playoff.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:30:22 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Australia clinch the last direct Asian spot.

Yay! Australia are my 9th favourite team.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 11 Jun 2025 17:35:59 +0000, Mark wrote:

On Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:30:22 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Australia clinch the last direct Asian spot.

Yay! Australia are my 9th favourite team.

You have nine favorite teams? Do you root for individual players or the
whole teams?

--
Vive Les Nordiques!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 11 Jun 2025 20:38:44 +0000, Silver Skull wrote:

On Wed, 11 Jun 2025 17:35:59 +0000, Mark wrote:

On Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:30:22 +0000, JesusPetry wrote:

Australia clinch the last direct Asian spot.

Yay! Australia are my 9th favourite team.

You have nine favorite teams? Do you root for individual players or the
whole teams?

The whole teams.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Apologies if it's been reported further up the thread but Uzbekstan
qualified for the World Cup last week following a 0-0 draw with UAE.
They followed this up with a 3-0 win over Qatar to finish second in Asia
Group A, two points behind Iran (also qualified). Apparently Uzbekistan
will be the first ever Central Asian team to qualify for a World Cup.


Jordan are also qualified after finishing second behind South Korea in
Group B.



To Iran I say tabrik mi guyam!

To Uzbekistan I say tabriklayman!

To South Korea I say chughahaeyo!

To Jordan I say tahanina!



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Latest UEFA qualifiying stadnings:



Group G


1st Finland p4 pts 7

2nd Netherlands p2 pts 6

3rd Poland p3 pts 6

4th Lithuania p3 pts 2

5th Malta p4 pts 1



Netherlands in second but with the games in hand surely have to be
favourites for first place.




Group G


1st Bosnia and Herzegovina p 3 pts pts 9

2nd Austria p2 pts 6

3rd Romania p4 pts 6

4th Cyprus p3 pts 3

5th San Marino p4 pts 0



Group I


1st Norway p4 pts 12

2nd Israel p3 pts 6

3rd Italy p2 pts 3

4th Estonia p4 pts 3

5th Moldova p3 pts 0



As we heard earlier in the thread, the key result so far was Norway
beating Italy 3-0. At this point even non-Italy fans may be wondering
"surely Gli Azzurri can't mess up World Cup qualification again?". Not
in this World Cup of all World Cups? Remember 1994, think of all the
"second generation" Italian support Italy would receive in the States.
We need italy in this tournament!



Group J


1st Whatever we're calling Macedonia these days p4 pts 8

2nd Wales p4 pts 7

3rd Belgium p2 pts 4

4th Kazakshtan p3 pts 3

5th Liechtenstein p3 pts 0



I watched Belgium - Wales, heck of a game. Belgium completely outclassed
Wales to go 3-0 up (although one was a very soft "handball" penalty
which nobody seemed to agree with), but out of nowhere Wales fought back
to make it 3-3, only to squander their good work when they left De
Bruyne (of all people) completely unmarked to score Belgium's fourth.
In the previous match day Whatever we're calling Macedonia these days
held Belgium to a 1-1 draw.



Group K


1st England p3 pts 9

2nd Albania p4 pts 5

3rd Serbia p2 pts pts 4

4th Latvia p3 pts 4

5th Andorra p4 pts 0


England apparently made hard work of Andorra (1-0 win) and although not
in a World Cup qualifier then went on to lose 3-1 to Senegal at the City Ground, becoming the first England team to lose to an African team
(although morally we all know they "lost" to Cameroon in the 1990 World
Cup quater final). Are they more fragile than their top of the table
position suggests? Might Serbia fancy their chances?

Although given Serbia's performance in their drab 0-0 draw with Albania, perhaps not.


Group L


1st Is it Czechia or Czech Republic, Czechia doesn't roll off the
tongue? p4 pts 9

2nd Croatia p2 pts 6

3rd Montenegro p3 pts 6

4th Faroe Island p3 pts 3

5th Gibraltar p4 pts 0



Czechia / Czech Republic are first, but Croatia beating them 5-1 this
cycle says something.



Groups A to F haven't played because of reasons unclear connected to
some tournament called the Nations League.



RM

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)