World Cup 2018 Qualification Draw

I know there's a World Cup thread in World Football but it probably makes more sense to discuss Ireland's fortunes here. It's live on RTÉ 2 from 15:55 tomorrow and also Sky Sports News HQ.


The pots again...

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 1 Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Croatia

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 2 Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, France, Iceland, Denmark, Bosnia-Herzegovina

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 3 Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, N Ireland, Serbia, Greece

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 4 Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Estonia

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 5 Cyprus, Latvia, Armenia, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova

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UEFA World Cup Qualifying Pot 6 Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Malta, San Marino, Andorra

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Fifa World Cup 2018 qualifying group draw: Pots, seeds and everything else you need to know

I did a mock draw earlier and we got Wales, Switzerland, Ukraine, Cyprus and Luxembourg.

As horror draws could go that would be pretty decent :)

Personally, I'd love Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Moldova and Andorra.

Ideally: Romania, Austria, Northern Ireland, Moldova, San Marino

I could live with: Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia and Andorra.

Goodnight and good luck: Spain, France, Serbia, Armenia, Georgia.

I'd be surprised if many of your fans are hoping to play us.

Not because of playing strength (I expect ours to decline quite a bit when Hughes, McAuley, Carroll, Baird and maybe Brunt and Ward retire after this campaign).

Just the inevitable tension, possible riots and maybe away fan bans that might ensue.

i've never gone into a qualifying draw with such low confidence... given that we look unlikely to finish 3rd in the euro group, the thought of coming second in this one and then negotiating a playoff seems like fantasy stuff.

When it comes to Ireland, optimism is my default setting.Glenn Whelan will surely be gone from the team. Cambuur could win the Eredevisie 15/16. Whoever's the gaffer starts building a team that becomes more than the sum of its parts...etc. etc.

And we get a draw as handy as the nordies did for the Euro's.

We're rubbish, so is the venue and FIFA. So who cares.

It's not so much that Russia as venue is rubbish it's that group games will be scattered all over the 'continent'.
And I note that in Russia's group the host team has it much handier than their opponents.
It will be travelling nightmare for fans.

Compare the venue schedule for the 2018 group game
to more simple times
1974 and 1982 World Cup where group game venues where just about within walking distance.

Really not seeing the problems with Russia as a host tbh.

Long-established football nation that's never hosted either the World Cup or the Euros - they're long overdue a major tournament.

Getting around Russia is very easy given its size; the train network is exceptional and obviously you can hop on a flight as well.

And games aren't spread over the whole country - in fact, the area looks to be smaller than that over which the Brazil and US World Cups took place.

Russia's games are quite awkward for a host nation, who traditionally had all three group games in their capital - now they've to go to Samara for one game, which is a good bit away from their other games in Moscow and St Peterburg

Only thing that's awkward is that groups aren't split over just the two cities any more.

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Originally Posted by Wolfman

We're rubbish, so is the venue and FIFA. So who cares.

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The majority that post in this section. I think you might be in the wrong place if you don't. Or are we only supposed to care when we're good?

i wouldn't say it's a bad venue necessarily - bear in mind women out number men there and tend to be quite attractive!

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Originally Posted by Wolfman

We're rubbish, so is the venue and FIFA. So who cares.

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I was wondering where you'd gone, AB! :)

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

I know there's a World Cup thread in World Football but it probably makes more sense to discuss Ireland's fortunes here. It's live on RTÉ 2 from 15:55 tomorrow and also Sky Sports News HQ.

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Worth noting I think the European draw doesn't start till 5:30

Cyprus, Armenia and Belarus are teams to avoid in 5.
Serbia to avoid in pot 3 - they have a core of outstanding players and some exceptional talent coming through. I'd consider the rest of the teams of a similar standard to us or not too much better than us. Sweden without zlatan will still be a very tough team, but I couldn't see them giving us a hiding and we could nick a win.
In pot 2, I'd love Iceland, Slovakia or Austria-all are currently better than us, but in a few years that might not be the case. The rest are totally superior to us.
In pot 1, the only team I'd be hopeful against would be Wales. Romania would offer some hope and we could take points off England. A point off any of the other teams would be a great result.

There will be a blow up when some players are eating cold, cold Borscht before training. I actually wouldn't mind going to Russia. there's this movie from the 80s with Gregory Hines and Baryshnakov and Phil Collins I always liked. Perhaps Charlie Darwin and I could take a tour of some gulags. I could order a black russian like in naked gun.

https://twitter.com/KieranCanning/st...664640/photo/1

If we end up getting a group similar to the group we got in the rehearsal draw, then we are in trouble.

England, Denmark, Nordies will do it for me.

Wales all day for me. We'd have a reasonable chance of taking points from England but no chance of finishing ahead of them. I genuinely think we'd challenge Wales in terms of group position. Maybe Romania next best from the top seeds.

I just want to play England. Put 'em unda presha, easy six points. Jack Byrne hat-trick.

whats happening ???

has the draw been done?

gone 4pm

im scared