FIFA World Cup 2022
- Thread starter JamieBrown
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tomos2019
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I just assumed Wales would lose, as someone partially Welsh I couldn't believe it when mum told me we actually qualified! First time since 1958! 
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I'm really trying not to get into politics and it is genuinely difficult (!) but if you hate the UK, then surely supporting self-determination of Celtic peoples or independence movements of Celtic nations would appear the logical way of not hearing so much about the artificial political construct of the UK. You would at least hope that independence movements would not fail just because they are in Western Europe!
I don't mean it in a bad way and I admit that I don't watch or play football but if a country isn't very good at it then you can only be so lenient, I mean wouldn't it be bad if every country was genuinely trying to let Ukraine win and they still lost the World Cup?! It's not quite the same thing as Eurovision where winning depends on how many people like it or 'vote' for who they want to win, football is based on how well people play at that particular time and you could call it the ugly game really.
Manic Street Preachers - Together Stronger (C'mon Wales) [Official Video]
Manic Street Preachers – Together, Stronger (C’mon Wales) (Official Video)Stream Lifeblood here: https://ManicStreetPreachers.lnk.to/Lifeblood20thAnniversary...
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I'm really trying not to get into politics and it is genuinely difficult (!) but if you hate the UK, then surely supporting self-determination of Celtic peoples or independence movements of Celtic nations would appear the logical way of not hearing so much about the artificial political construct of the UK. You would at least hope that independence movements would not fail just because they are in Western Europe!
I don't mean it in a bad way and I admit that I don't watch or play football but if a country isn't very good at it then you can only be so lenient, I mean wouldn't it be bad if every country was genuinely trying to let Ukraine win and they still lost the World Cup?! It's not quite the same thing as Eurovision where winning depends on how many people like it or 'vote' for who they want to win, football is based on how well people play at that particular time and you could call it the ugly game really.
LakZaNokte
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Our group is ok, I guess.
We can beat all of them.
Also, we can lose from all of them.
I’m ready for everything.
We can beat all of them.
Also, we can lose from all of them.
I’m ready for everything.
ShoeFlo
Well-known member
Congrats !
Those dance moves of the Australian keeper during the penalty shoot-out made me giggle
Tbh I did not expect Australia do win this one but then again it affirms my opinion that the CONCACAF has lost quality in the last couple of years. Brazil and Argentina are still powerhouses but the formerly strong sides like Columbia, Chile and so on are struggling these days.
Australia has built up some consistency in this century.... 5th WC in a row.. funnily they are once again grouped with France and Denmark just like in 2018... and the third opponent in 2018 was Peru
No way they will reach the Round of 16 though. Maybe they can put on a fight for the third place in the group with Tunisia being a beatable opponent
!Those dance moves of the Australian keeper during the penalty shoot-out made me giggle
Tbh I did not expect Australia do win this one but then again it affirms my opinion that the CONCACAF has lost quality in the last couple of years. Brazil and Argentina are still powerhouses but the formerly strong sides like Columbia, Chile and so on are struggling these days.
Australia has built up some consistency in this century.... 5th WC in a row.. funnily they are once again grouped with France and Denmark just like in 2018... and the third opponent in 2018 was Peru
No way they will reach the Round of 16 though. Maybe they can put on a fight for the third place in the group with Tunisia being a beatable opponent
Remember the curse that's going on with all precedent winners !
Also France is last of it's Nations League group so far, so who knows
cegs5
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You mean Conmebol.
I think it's still the most competitive qualifier zone. Having Colombia and Chile out only proves that no team is guaranteed a spot. Unlike UEFA where you have many fillers.
Peru played really bad tonight, not even half the quality they played in their last few games in Conmebol qualifiers. One of those days.
Himan
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Ah yes, that's why Italy didn't qualify twice in a row. UEFA is way more competitive, Chile is of about the level of lets say Switzerland or Norway or Sweden. The thing in UEFA is that you can't make many mistakes, like Italy have done against Switzerland last year. If Argentina would have lost against Chile and against Ecuador away nothing would have happened. They still would have qualified. In UEFA you have to be first of 6, yes there is San Marino and Estonia in your group, but every country with more than 500.000 inhabitants can be competitive, sometimes out of nothing(Look at Iceland). And then there is just 1 spot out of 4 competitive teams, while in South America its 4,5 out of 10(or 8/9 if you don't count Bolivia and\or Venezuela, though I think both might be good enough to qualify with a good generation).
The chance that Chile qualifies is way bigger than Sweden's chances. The chance that Brazil qualifies are way bigger than France's, while they are of about equal level. Hence UEFA is more difficult.
There is nothing wrong with that, but it's the obvious truth. I mean in Asia, Sweden and Chile would always qualify. in North America probably also. In Africa maybe not, cause there are 20 nations of about equal level, and only 5 spots, bit more like Europe.
cegs5
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I think in UEFA only up to three teams per group have real chances to qualify, so it's in the end a competition out of three max, not six. In Conmebol even Bolivia (especially at home) or Venezuela can steal points to powerhouses or teams with chances to qualify, that's why it's more unpredictable. Yes, Brazil is seeded qualifier, but Argentina has struggled to qualify in the past.
Italy not qualifying is not an outcome of a competitive tournament, but an unlucky draw in 2018 (they could have qualified in another group or with another play off rival) and a one-off accident against Macedonia.
ESC94
Well-known member
Well, from 2026 on they have more or less guaranteed spot at the WC because of the increase in participating nations from 32 to 48 and therefore Oceania getting a full spot.
Yeah a well deserved spot tbh
ShoeFlo
Well-known member
The UEFA vs Conmebol comparisons are imo useless... It's a comparison between a federation of 50+ teams and a federation of 10 teams with totally different qualification systems... I think the Round Robin system of Conmebol favours the big teams though because even if they fail once or twice against minor sides they've got enough matches left to fix it especially since many teams are on a similar level and steal points from each other, so there is a low risk of one team running away unless it is Brazil or Argentina.
Argentina struggled to qualify in a time when the second tier teams of South America (Uruguay, Colombia) were very very strong, and had world class individual quality in their squads, so they could challenge the best teams of the world. These days some of the second tier teams appear to be in a rebuilding process. At least that's what it looks like to me.
What makes South America competitive is the lack of whipping boys such as San Marino or Liechtenstein. However, Bolivia didn't won an competitive away match since the Early 1990s and Venezuela has a no-name squad (apart from a few exceptions like Herrera) so those are at least two or three matches an ambitious team should definitely win.
Anyway, I wanna strike a blow for South America... while I don't rate the likes of Uruguay and Ecuador very highly, I think there is a good chance we will see a South American World Champion again. Argentina is overdue imo.. they've lost many finals in the last decades... now after they broke the unlucky streak in the Copa America they might have the maturity to win the World Cup, too. I'd be happy for Messi if he manages to crown himself and his great career
Argentina struggled to qualify in a time when the second tier teams of South America (Uruguay, Colombia) were very very strong, and had world class individual quality in their squads, so they could challenge the best teams of the world. These days some of the second tier teams appear to be in a rebuilding process. At least that's what it looks like to me.
What makes South America competitive is the lack of whipping boys such as San Marino or Liechtenstein. However, Bolivia didn't won an competitive away match since the Early 1990s and Venezuela has a no-name squad (apart from a few exceptions like Herrera) so those are at least two or three matches an ambitious team should definitely win.
Anyway, I wanna strike a blow for South America... while I don't rate the likes of Uruguay and Ecuador very highly, I think there is a good chance we will see a South American World Champion again. Argentina is overdue imo.. they've lost many finals in the last decades... now after they broke the unlucky streak in the Copa America they might have the maturity to win the World Cup, too. I'd be happy for Messi if he manages to crown himself and his great career
Schlagerman1
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Now with all 32 countries qualified for Qatar 2022, I decided to do my usual check to see who would win the World Cup. So I used this on soccerway.com, where I decided to only count the most recent match between the two nations. In the playoffs, if their last match is a draw, the most recent win is counted. If there aren't any matches between the two nations, I have made a draw with using this football result randomizer, where the advantage goes to the better ranked nation of the two. Here is what the World Cup would look like:
GROUP A:
GROUP B:
GROUP C:
GROUP D:
GROUP E:
GROUP F:
GROUP G:
GROUP H:
Round of 16:
Quaterfinals:
Semifinals:
Bronze Match:
Final:
GROUP A:
GROUP B:
GROUP C:
GROUP D:
GROUP E:
GROUP F:
GROUP G:
GROUP H:
Round of 16:
Quaterfinals:
Semifinals:
Bronze Match:
Final:
The host cities for World Cup 2026 in Canada, the United States and Mexico have been announced! Here they are:
Western Region: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Guadalajara
Central Region: Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Monterrey, Mexico City
Eastern Region: Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New York City/New Jersey
Western Region: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Guadalajara
Central Region: Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Monterrey, Mexico City
Eastern Region: Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New York City/New Jersey