2022 World Cup qualifying

[pineapple stu]

Starts tomorrow!

Mongolia-Brunei Darussalam
Macau-Sri Lanka
Laos-Bangladesh
Malaysia-Timor-Leste
Cambodia-Pakistan
Bhutan-Guam

Brief but interesting article on FIFA.com (https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/qatar-2022-qualifying-begins-in-asia) profiling the games.

Mongolia v Brunei starts at 10am Irish time tomorrow. Brunei's 1-0 win over Taiwan last time out was their first ever non-defeat in World Cup history; they had lost all of their other 13 games (including the first leg against Taiwan). This is only their fourth time in qualifying. Pakistan have never won a game in qualifying; their record is four draws from 30 games, and they've only scored once in their last four campaigns.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Stream of the very first game here, if anyone is interested: https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/asian-football/fifa-wc-asian-qualifiers/1112618/live-stream-2022-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-mongolia-vs-brunei-darussalam-updates/

I love the prelim stages of tournament qualifying, great excuse to look up obscure footballing trivia. To wit: You think the LOI is Dublin-centric, eight of Mongolia's ten Premier Division clubs are based in their capital. Nearly half the country still live a nomadic lifestyle.

Edit: Also love seeing little known stadia. Looks like Mongolia's is directly overlooked by a load of apartment blocks, and you can see a main road with heavy traffic behind one of the goals. It's also next to the much larger national stadium.

[bennocelt]

Stream of the very first game here, if anyone is interested: https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/asian-football/fifa-wc-asian-qualifiers/1112618/live-stream-2022-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-mongolia-vs-brunei-darussalam-updates/

I love the prelim stages of tournament qualifying, great excuse to look up obscure footballing trivia. To wit: You think the LOI is Dublin-centric, eight of Mongolia's ten Premier Division clubs are based in their capital. Nearly half the country still live a nomadic lifestyle.

Edit: Also love seeing little known stadia. Looks like Mongolia's is directly overlooked by a load of apartment blocks, and you can see a main road with heavy traffic behind one of the goals. It's also next to the much larger national stadium.


Lived there for a short while, their main stadium actually had a yurt by the corner flag...............good to see them win today.........

[NeverFeltBetter]

This could be in the notable/unusual thread, but Macau's association are refusing to travel to play the second leg of their tie with Sri Lanka, citing safety fears. Several Macau players are threatening to boycott the team in future if not allowed to play: https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/football-macau-players-threaten-to-quit-team-after-sri-lanka-withdrawal.html

Macau won the first leg 1-0, but the second will presumably be awarded 3-0 to Sri Lanka if Macau don't show.

What was Ireland's most difficult away trip, regards the stability of the country? Iran? Turkey?

[pineapple stu]

The North in 93 I'd say.

(Genuinely)

Don't think Iran or Turkey even compare. Iran is US bias; Turkey was just them playing silly buggers over the venue. The North was pure hate.

There was talk of Mount Etna maybe erupting during Italia 90 I think. Albania in 93 would have been an experience as well.

[NeverFeltBetter]

CONCACAF have streamlined their qualification extensively for 2022: https://www.concacaf.com/en/article/concacaf-appoints-nicholas-noble-as-director-of-communications

Top six ranked nations in June 2020 go straight into "the Hex", top three in that qualify. The rest play-off until the one remaining team faces 4th from the Hex in a play-off...to go into the intercontinental play-offs.

[pineapple stu]

That seems harsh. Basically if you're ranked seventh, you have pretty much no chance of qualifying.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I misread this a tad, the "rest" start out with a group phase (five groups of four, three of three). The winners of those groups go into the play-off structure. This means every team is guaranteed four matches at least, whereas in the previous structure it could only be two.

But, if outside the top 6 in CONCACAF, you'll need to a top a group, then win five straight two-legged play-off matches to get to Qatar.

I know the argument would be that teams outside of that top 6 are extremely unlikely to get to the World Cup anyway, but the US's disastrous showing in 2018 qualifying showed there was scope for surprises. They dropped points to Trinidad and Tobago and Guatemala on the way to crashing out. Those teams won't get that chance now.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Africa's qualification starts today with a preliminary play-off round. I'll always remember the description of Thirty One-Nil author James Montague about this portion of proceedings: "The competing countries read like a UN list of failed states and conflict zones".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_CAF_Fi rst_Round#Matches

Things of potential interest: the Eritrea team, since they tend to abscond the second the away leg is over rather than go back; South Sudan having to play in Sudan classic because of "stadium renovations" (no other home stadiums available I suppose); and Sierra Leone's triumphant return from suspension after nearly the whole of their FA executive was up in court over corruption charges, only to be acquitted for lack of evidence.

Edit: And FIFA are streaming most of the games (not Eritrea, probably because its the worst country in the world for journalists) for free if you want to watch some teams you'll never see otherwise - https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/qatar2022/live-stream/

Burundi's stadium has a spectacular background view I have to say.

[bennocelt]

Just seeing Yemen are playing saudi Arabia, are those guys not at war?

[NeverFeltBetter]

AFC qualifying is ongoing, matchday four of their Second Round group stage today. Notable for the first competitive fixture between North and South Korea - a scoreless draw - to be played in Pyongyang, that Infantino apparently attended. Lots of room for him of course, since no spectators or media were allowed: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/north-korea-south-korea-world-cup-qualifier-pyongyang-12001496

[NeverFeltBetter]

It's almost been a full year since the last games, but World Cup qualifying does re-start later today, with the South American group stage beginning. Uruguay/Chile the stand-out I suppose.

The whole process is a real question mark for many confederations as it stands. CAF and the OFC should be fine, but the AFC, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and UEFA all have plenty of games left to play in their current formats. AFC could change their final stage into smaller groups I suppose, so could CONCACAF and even UEFA, maybe. In the end the late start of the World Cup in 2022 could be an unexpected blessing, since it gives you more time to get to 32.