First Team Qualifys for 2006 World Cup Finals + Wednesdays World Cup Qualifying games

Japan beat North Korea 2-0 behind closed doors in Thailand on Wednesday to become the first team to qualify for the 2006 World Cup alongside hosts Germany.

Congratulations to Japan.

Also...other important games on...heres a full list:

UEFA:
Group 1
Czech Republic - Rep. of Macedonia
Romania - Armenia
Finland - Holland
...Wins for the Czech Rep and Holland will solify their top spots

Group 2
Kazakhstan - Turkey
Denmark - Albania
Greece - Ukraine
...Greece can close the gap in Ukraine, or Ukraine can virtually clinch qualification with a win

Group 3
Latvia - Liechtenstein
Estonia - Portugal
Luxembourg - Slovakia
...Change for Postual and Slovakia to put a gap between them and the rest

Group 4
Faroe Islands - Ireland
...We all know about this one!

Group 5
Belarus - Scotland
...Chance for the Scots to leapfrog Belarus and put them in contention for a playoff spot

Group 7
Spain - Bosnia-Herzegovina
...Opportunity for Spain to move into first place

Group 8
Iceland - Malta
...Big match between the bottom two!

CONMEBOL
Colombia - Ecuador
Paraguay - Bolivia
Chile - Venezuela
Argentina - Brazil
...A win or draw will send Argentina through, a Brazil win will send them through, other results may also send them through

Asia
Group A
Saudi Arabia - Uzbekistan
Kuwait - Korea Republic
...The Saudis and Kuwaitis qualify if they both win today

Group B
North Korea 0 - 2 Japan (RESULT)
Iran - Bahrain
...Iran is through if they win

CONCACAF
Costa Rica - Guatemala
Panama - USA
Mexico - Trinidad and Tobago
Wins for Mexico and USA will leave them in a very strong position with 5 games left

Excuse my ignorance but why was the Jap-NK match played behind closed doors. Was there a previous incident or is it just to avoid inevitable conflict?

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Originally Posted by Magoo

Excuse my ignorance but why was the Jap-NK match played behind closed doors. Was there a previous incident or is it just to avoid inevitable conflict?

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According to reports, it was done just to avoid crowd trouble, although there were 500 Japanese journalists there!!!!!!!

i assume the neutral venue is for similar reasons...?

That is correct.

Macedonia surprisingly takes an early lead against the Czechs....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Magoo

Excuse my ignorance but why was the Jap-NK match played behind closed doors. Was there a previous incident or is it just to avoid inevitable conflict?

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from fifa.com:

Quote:

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The clash was due to be held in front of 70,000 North Koreans at Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Stadium but was switched to Bangkok after crowd unrest following the team's 2-0 home defeat to Iran in a March FIFA World Cup qualifier.

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The BBC claim that Iran have also qualified. Iran 1-0 Bahrain

Facile wins for Czech Republic (6-1 v Macedonia), and Turkey (6-0 v Kazahkstan).

Saudi Arabia and South Korea also win today so Japan, Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia all qualify. The best third place team in Asia plays the 4th place team from Concacaf for another sport.

solomon islands finished ahead of new zealand in oceania. so its australia in play offs v solomon islands for chanc to play off agianst a south american team. 4 games between the solomon islands and the world cup!!

Up Solomons ! My respect for Australia is 0 after their conspiracy against the rest of the continent and their looking down on the other OFC members. Disgraceful kangaroos...


Anyway, maybe worth mentionning: due to a 1-0 win vs Bahrain also Iran qualified.

Spain scraped to a 1-1 with BiH, BiH went 1-0 up in the 35(or so) min. Then they had 2 sent off at the end and Spain got an equaliser. Looks like Serbia and Spain 1 and 2 in that group.

Ukraine look odds on to qualify from their group beating Greece on their own patch last night. Congrats to them!

http://www.sportinglife.com/football...Nightlead.html

Hope the USA draws Iran in their group, like they did in 98. :D

Amazed by Argentina's result against Brazil.

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Originally Posted by onenilgameover

Ukraine look odds on to qualify from their group beating Greece on their own patch last night. Congrats to them!

http://www.sportinglife.com/football...Nightlead.html

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hope that dodgy greek referee is choking on his ouzo! :D

Spain will probably sneak through to the WC somehow :rolleyes:

I absolutely dislike Brazil. The Brazilian football breathes arrogancy. I do like Argentina though, must admit I always had a soft spot for Claudio Canniggia :)