2018 World Cup

[pineapple stu]

America losing again; 1-0 away to Honduras. Potentially they'll be out of the qualification spots entirely by the morning; Panama play Trinidad later.

Burkina Faso grab a late equaliser against Senegal to stay top of their group (ahead of the Cape Verde Islands). Gabon won away to the Ivory Coast and are only two points behind.

Argentina are out of it entirely at present - but their match hasn't started yet. Win it and they go second. Mad tight in that group.

[pineapple stu]

And America equalise with 5 minutes to go. Arse.

They'd still drop to fourth if Panama win, but they've the easiest run-in.

[pineapple stu]

Argentina 1-1 Venezuela. Wow.

So Argentina still in the play-off spots (as are the US, after Panama won 3-0). Chile - one of the best teams to watch last time - are currently going out altogether.

[Real ale Madrid]

Still though - 5th there is as good as through as New Zealand await in the P/O which you would think would be little more than a formality.

Panama beat T&T 3-0 so USA are 4th and host the Panamanians in Orlando in October. Everything to play for. The Americans are on a really poor run of form - it wouldn't surprise me at this stage if they ended up in the play-off. T&T are no pushovers at home either.

Ivory Coast losing was a big shock but Morocco not taking advantage was a bigger shock - after beating Mali 6-0 on Friday night, could only manage a 0-0 draw in Bamako ( tough place to go I'd imagine )

Tunisia , Nigeria, Ivory, Coast and Egypt would be my predictions for CAF - and I think Senegal will squeak through in Group D.

[geysir]

Double comfort for the arctic island teams who continue to pull off good results. First off were the Faroes, whose supporters "Skansen" (the fortress) should be in the contention for supporters of the year. This time the Faroes' home ground was rocking to the viking beat of the Skansen as they cheered their team from the kick off to the end and took the 3 points from Andorra in a refreshingly competitive game where both teams went for it 110%.

In Iceland it was Ukraine now managed by Shevchenko, as respectful, knowledgeable, courteous and a well spoken manager that you could ever expect to find, but even he was tested by the legality of Iceland's first.
https://youtu.be/thE6PDVkHv0?t=4

(https://youtu.be/thE6PDVkHv0?t=4)the ref was Willie Collum, Willie had a good view of the incident, deemed the attacking midfielder had the right to challenge for the loose ball.
Even though i think the ball was loose, I don't think many refs would have judged it in the same way as Willie.
Thinking about it, it is it not time to make wearing protective head gear, mandatory for goalies.?

[NeverFeltBetter]

Potential USA-Syria play-off for a place in the finals...

[pineapple stu]

Senegal v South Africa from last November is to be replayed (http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/other/fifa-orders-south-africa-senegal-to-be-replayed-after-referee-ban/ar-AArpeSq?li=AAdf4rm&ocid=mailsignout) after the referee who took charge was banned for life. Gave a match-winning penalty to Senegal for a handball which struck the guy's leg.

South Africa had won 2-1, which is their only win so far, and Senegal's only defeat. If Senegal now win, it knocks Burkina Faso and the Cape Verdes off the top of the group.

[ArFella]

Senegal v South Africa from last November is to be replayed (http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/other/fifa-orders-south-africa-senegal-to-be-replayed-after-referee-ban/ar-AArpeSq?li=AAdf4rm&ocid=mailsignout) after the referee who took charge was banned for life. Gave a match-winning penalty to Senegal for a handball which struck the guy's leg.

South Africa had won 2-1, which is their only win so far, and Senegal's only defeat. If Senegal now win, it knocks Burkina Faso and the Cape Verdes off the top of the group.

The penalty was given to South Africa with the score at 0-0...

[pineapple stu]

Well it won them the game in that it separated the teams at the end.

But yeah, didn't phrase it properly alright.

[pineapple stu]

Last round of games so. Germany and England qualified last night.

Another draw for Argentina though - 0-0 at home to Peru - and they're now in sixth, not even in the play-offs, with one game to go.

They will reach the play-offs at least if they beat Ecuador away on Wednesday. Another draw, and they're left hoping Paraguay don't beat Venezuela at home (unlikely) and that Colombia win away to Peru; otherwise they're out.

Chile in third are only one point ahead of Argentina in sixth, and they play Brazil away.

Fifth in that group will play New Zealand, who drew against the Solomon Islands in their second leg to win 8-3 overall.

Syria v Australia is 1-1 after the game in Indonesia; winners play fourth in the Hex, which is the US at the moment.

An interesting few days ahead.

[NeverFeltBetter]

US out of jail it seems, provided they don't balls it up against bottom Trinidad and Tobago.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Australia/Syria level at 2-2 at end of 90 in the second leg this morning. Been reading varied opinions praising the Syrian team as a bastion of inter-faith cooperation and others claiming the team is a cynical propaganda tool of Assad. Winner will likely play Panama in another two-legged play-off next month.

Edit: Aussies win 2-1, Cahill with his second in 110th minute. His 51st goal for his country apparently.

[DannyInvincible]

US out of jail it seems, provided they don't balls it up against bottom Trinidad and Tobago.

They've just gone and done that. Panama's last-minute winner against Costa Rica sees the Panamanians qualify for the World Cup, sparking wild scenes of celebration. The US are out of qualification now altogether with Honduras taking the intercontinental play-off spot (so will play Australia). That's a shock.

Meanwhile, in CONMEBOL, Argentina managed to pull through in the end, Peru have taken the play-off spot (and will play New Zealand to qualify), whilst Chile have missed out altogether.

Edit: The US will be livid as Panama's first "goal" was nowhere near over the line, yet the ref awarded it. Panama's second - a half-volley rifled into the roof of the net from about 11 yards out - was definitely the sort of goal to befit the occasion of qualifying for a World Cup finals for the first time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6NqFy5I7gE

[pineapple stu]

Looks like Panama could have had a legitimate call for a penalty instead of that "goal" which was an outrageous decision alright.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Was quite shocked by the CONCACAF results this morning alright. A lot of wailing and nashing of teeth from Americans, this really is a calamity for a country that always seems to have someone ready to say their on the verge of becoming a major footballing power. I saw someone else make the point that it's also just a disaster from the simple reality that the World Cup is a huge marketing factor for the US mens team and MLS, in engaging casual fans by the thousands and hopefully getting a few of them to stick around after. Now they don't have that. But still, that federation should be a foregone conclusion for a team with the resources/population of America.

Some crazy decisions in that Panama game all the same. And poor Chile, to be the one of five to miss out!

[bennocelt]

Wasn't surprised by Chile, as thought they looked like a very disjointed team in the Confed cup. also Australia looked diabolical in that competition, Id fancy Honduras to give them a good game there, albeit both are pretty pants.............a few craps teams have qualified already, imagine whats its going to be like with the expanded competition........

As for Panama, had them a year before the last world cup at 80/1 (with PP, had to phone for that bet) to get to the last eight, do a Costa Rica in effect, but they let me down with a last minute goal to not qualify. This time it was their turn for a last minute goal, but i dont think they have considerably improved just that others have got worse. Knowing my luck though at the moment, they might do well! :p(hardly though!)

Edit: by the way this looks interesting, not sure how factual it is.but Spain not to be seeded top, and England as always, but if that is the seeding, teams in pots 3 and 4 have little or no chance of progressing
http://www.footballseeding.com/international-tournaments/world-cup-2018/

[BonnieShels]

Interesting to read that if Chile had lost the appeal against Bolivia they would have qualified as Peru would also have lost points.

Madness!

[DannyInvincible]

I hadn't even been aware of that, so I Googled for further info and came across this article on it: https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/south-american-champs-chile-missed-out-on-the-world-cup-for-unbelievable-reasons/

It explains the undesirable unintended consequence of Chile's self-destructive appeal, but also mentions the following:


To make matters worse, Peru's late free-kick goal [against Colombia] from Paolo Guerrero was an indirect free kick, meaning another player had to touch it before it went into the goal. He went near post, and it found the net. Had Colombia (and Arsenal) goalkeeper David Ospina simply not touched the ball, the goal would not have counted.

Funnily, there's also footage in an embedded video of the Colombian and Peruvian players during last night's match clearly encouraging one another (with their mouths concealed behind their hands) to settle for a draw, as they knew that result would guarantee they would progress to the World Cup and intercontinental play-off respectively at Chile's expense.

You can hardly blame them; both Peru and Colombia managed to get themselves into a position - on merit, over the course of the previous 17 games - where they could both settle for a draw to get where they wanted, so you can hardly hold it against them for protecting the precious advantage for which they'd already worked so hard. They'd already done the necessary work; Chile hadn't. It's Chile's fault ultimately that they allowed their fate to fall out of their own hands, so I have little sympathy for them on that front.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Apparently Bruce Arena was giving out before the Trinidad match, about perceptions of the "Hex", suggesting he'd like to see some "hotshot" European teams give it a try.

I wouldn't mind to be honest Bruce.

[BonnieShels]

I hadn't even been aware of that, so I Googled for further info and came across this article on it: https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/south-american-champs-chile-missed-out-on-the-world-cup-for-unbelievable-reasons/

It explains the undesirable unintended consequence of Chile's self-destructive appeal, but also mentions the following:



Funnily, there's also footage in an embedded video of the Colombian and Peruvian players during last night's match clearly encouraging one another (with their mouths concealed behind their hands) to settle for a draw, as they knew that result would guarantee they would progress to the World Cup and intercontinental play-off respectively at Chile's expense.

You can hardly blame them; both Peru and Colombia managed to get themselves into a position - on merit, over the course of the previous 17 games - where they could both settle for a draw to get where they wanted, so you can hardly hold it against them for protecting the precious advantage for which they'd already worked so hard. They'd already done the necessary work; Chile hadn't. It's Chile's fault ultimately that they allowed their fate to fall out of their own hands, so I have little sympathy for them on that front.

Just like us v Holland in 1990. And then it all changed...


Apparently Bruce Arena was giving out before the Trinidad match, about perceptions of the "Hex", suggesting he'd like to see some "hotshot" European teams give it a try.

I wouldn't mind to be honest Bruce.

How great it would be to be in CONCACAF for a qualifying campaign. UEFA defo get screwed but what can ya do.

[geysir]

Edit: by the way this looks interesting, not sure how factual it is.but Spain not to be seeded top, and England as always, but if that is the seeding, teams in pots 3 and 4 have little or no chance of progressing
http://www.footballseeding.com/international-tournaments/world-cup-2018/

It's factual, Spain are certified pot 2. Survival in pots 3 and 4 at the WC finals looks perilous indeed.
Iceland would have safely made pot 2 had their FA not sent the 2nd and 3rd string teams to various corners of the globe to play a series of friendlies.
Now they would need 3 out of Italy/Switz/Denmark/Croatia to be eliminated in the play offs, in order to be in pot 2,
That assumes Peru secure their pot 2 position by beating NZ .

[NeverFeltBetter]

Just going over where things stand, and I find Group D in CAF fascinating. Senegal lead the group on 8 points, ahead of Burkino Faso and Cape Verde on 6, and South Africa on 4. But because the first Senegal/South Africa game was scratched off, they play each other twice in four days in Novemver, where if South Africa win both they top the group. Senegal might only need a point from the two games to top the group, depending on GD. So Burkina Faso/Cape Verde need to win their game against the other by as many goals as possible, and hope that South Africa win one of the other games by as wide a margin as possible, but then draws the other.

Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire are basically playing off for qualification in Group C as well.

Peru/New Zealand and Honduras/Australia in the play-offs Wasn't a big fan of Honduras' display in the last World Cup so would hope the Aussies can up their game there. New Zealand are 122nd in the world, but I imagine they are probably a good bit better than that placing. Good enough to give Peru a game?

[BonnieShels]

Would love to see Honduras turn over the Aussies.

[pineapple stu]

The final play-offs start tonight so.

Croatia are 3-1 up on Greece coming up to half-time; hard to see Greece coming back from that.

The North are 0-0 against Switzerland in what is presumably a riveting game between two technically excellent sides.

Sweden v Italy is tomorrow, as is Honduras v Australia and (on into Saturday morning) New Zealand v Peru.

[KrisLetang]

Peru are playing without Paolo Guerrero who was drug suspended for "chewing cocoa leaves to combat altitude sickness" according to himself. It's interesting, Peru and New Zealand have not met in any sport since the 1908 Olympic Games in London, where they battled in a round robin of Jeu De Paume, kind of a precursor to modern day Tennis played with bare hands. Peru lost, 716 to 400.

[BonnieShels]

The final play-offs start tonight so.

Croatia are 3-1 up on Greece coming up to half-time; hard to see Greece coming back from that.

The North are 0-0 against Switzerland in what is presumably a riveting game between two technically excellent sides.

Sweden v Italy is tomorrow, as is Honduras v Australia and (on into Saturday morning) New Zealand v Peru.

Apparently the Swiss are all over the IFA team. the Swiss should also be down to 10 men according to SS.
Just tuned into the second half now.

Greece are a shambles.

[BonnieShels]

IFA team are getting ridden solid by this ref

EDIT: Swiss score a pen. Never a penalty.

[KrisLetang]

the Swiss should also be down to 10 men according to SS.


The SS shot one of the Swiss? Can you elaborate? WTF is going on there?

[BonnieShels]

Sky Sports

[BonnieShels]

All over in the second city. IFA Rep team 1-0 Svizzzrrraweizerlanden

Brutal match. No danger of themmuns being in Russia.

[osarusan]

Too defensive from NI.

Never a penalty though, and Swiss didn't look like scoring apart from that.

[ifk101]

I think it's a penalty. The NI defence could see the ball would be taken on a volley, it reached the Swiss player from a lobbed cross - ie there is time to react. And there is a deliberate raising of the arms as the ball is struck - he twists his body and uses his arms/ hands to stop the movement of the ball. A braver player would have put his arms behind his back and taken the full force of the strike. It's not uncommon to see players do this in similar situations.

[jbyrne]

I think it's a penalty. The NI defence could see the ball would be taken on a volley, it reached the Swiss player from a lobbed cross - ie there is time to react. And there is a deliberate raising of the arms as the ball is struck - he twists his body and uses his arms/ hands to stop the movement of the ball. A braver player would have put his arms behind his back and taken the full force of the strike. It's not uncommon to see players do this in similar situations.

I think you are very much alone on this one. not even remotely nearly a penalty. a ridiculous decision

[ifk101]

There is a video from behind the play and it is clearly seen that the NI player (Corey Evans) raises his arms before the ball is struck. He is anticipating the volley and is using his arms to stop the movement of the ball. I think if it was a NI central defender in the same scenario, the body shape and arm positioning would be different.

[jbyrne]

There is a video from behind the play and it is clearly seen that the NI player (Corey Evans) raises his arms before the ball is struck. He is anticipating the volley and is using his arms to stop the movement of the ball. I think if it was a NI central defender in the same scenario, the body shape and arm positioning would be different.

he didn't raise his arm, its in the natural position in relation to the ball. it looks to the world that it hits the shoulder

[NeverFeltBetter]

You're giving Evans a lot of credit in terms of having intent on breaking the rules in what was a split-second of game time. The laws of the game are clear enough that referee's should take into account "unexpected ball" when it comes to determining whether an arm touching the ball is in an infringement or not, and there's no clear movement to stick his arm out that couldn't more easily be considered natural movement of his arm in such circumstances. I think it's not credible that Evans intended, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to block the ball illegally.

I'm not even sure an improved VAR system would have stopped it though, the ref seemed to have it in for the North.

Croatia heading to the finals it would seem. Their fourth was a real calamity for the Greek defence.

Senegal will be all but qualified with a draw against SA tonight, barring some unlikely final day results. First leg of Honduras/Aussies at 2200, New Zealand/Peru at 0315.

[ifk101]

The ball is lobbed in, ie there is no pace to the ball, and the Swiss player has time to position himself to take it on the volley. There is nothing unexpected about it, Evans clearly anticipates the volley and actually jumps into the strike leading with his arm.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Senegal book their place, beating South Africa 2-0 in the replayed fixture. The two play a dead rubber in Senegal in a few days. Senegal's first World Cup since reaching the last 8 in 2002. South Africa have proven to be quite mediocre post-hosting the tournament.

[pineapple stu]

The Swiss penalty reminds me a bit of Andy Boyle's handball against Legia last year.

I think there's a different interpretation of what is handball amongst fans and officials - I think the actual rules are applied stricter than people realise. Look at referees warning players in the wall not to raise their arms or they can be done for handball - similar enough to this incident.

I can see the argument for a penalty, but I don't think it is one myself. But that's not what makes it a penalty or not.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Watched the second half of Honduras/Australia. Two poor sides struggling on a bad surface. Aussies marginally better. Would fancy them over 120 minutes.

[pineapple stu]

New Zealand v Peru also finished scoreless last night; second leg in Peru to come, so you'd fancy them there.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Some trying travel time/adjustments for all those sides, probably contributes to lack of goals. A one game playoff in neutral ground (Qatar maybe? ;)) might make for better contests.

[NeverFeltBetter]

If you can find a stream Cote d'Ivorie/Morocco seems a good pre-playoff watch. Winner take all, a draw gets CI in, but Morocco currently 2-0 up after a half-hour.

[pineapple stu]

A draw would have seen Morocco through, not Ivory Coast. But Morocco won in the end anyway.

Also wasn't mentioned, but Egypt qualified last month - first time since 1990, and only the third time overall. Since they last qualified for the World Cup, they've been African champions four times, but have been jinxed when it comes to the World Cup. Their starting keeper - Essam El-Hadary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essam_El-Hadary) - is 44 years old and will break Faryd Mondragon's record as the oldest player to play at the World Cup if he appears next summer; he'll be 45 in January.

[osarusan]

A pity, as there are few names that sound better than Faryd Mondragon, and mentioning that record would be one way to hear it.

[Kingdom]

Imagine, we could be dreaming of a group of Russia, Peru, ourselves and the Saudi's in a few weeks time......I love this time of year, pre-World Cup.

[NeverFeltBetter]

The Swiss can have no complaints if they don't make it. They've had a load of chances in the first half hour.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Big chance for Evans at the end, but that's it. The North are out, the Swiss in.

[BonnieShels]

The Swiss were brutal. Almost felt sorry for the Occupied Zone going out to such a pile of puke. Almost.

[osarusan]

NI will reflect on the decision that cruelly cost them, but really Switzerland should have killed the tie off on numerous occasions.