Austria finished behind England in qualifying, and won every game in the qualifiers, apart from two losses to England and a draw against the North
Scotland or Austria away from home .... Could be better and could be worse ... Avoided Switzerland/Iceland/Belgium who are strong.
Tough one all right.. could have been better but I suppose being honest, all the teams left in the play offs were in and around each other in rankings, so the best we could have hoped for was a home draw.. and didn't get itOriginally Posted by swinfordfc
Austria ranked 12th in Europe, Scotland ranked 14th.. we're ranked 16th
Belgium could conceivably beat Iceland (should they face them) in one of the other play offs, so that would give us a path straight to the finals should we win
Huge, huge game all right
It is kind of hard to judge in womens football though, certainly harder than in the male equivalant
In the games that mattered i.e. between the top 3 teams in each group
Austria's record - played 4 w 1 d 1 l 2
Ireland's record - played 4 w 2 d 1 l 1
Austria gave up goals to N Ireland in both games (1 at home, 2 in Belfast)
It's going to be tough.. but its WC qualification, it was always going to be tough
Maybe this might prove 1 tournament too soon.. but we're definitely there and thereabouts for the next Euro's.. any qualification for a major finals would have been huge (missing out on England was a real loss )
they really should have lost in Belfast, only equalised in the last minute
https://www.uefa.com/womensworldcup/match/2032363/
Scotland had a similar record in qualifying to Austria, won every game except for the two against group winners Spain, and a draw against third placed Ukraine, who were leading in that game until a last minute equaliser from Scotland
https://www.uefa.com/womensworldcup/match/2032323
There'd not a lot between any of the three teams I'd say
It's not the quality of the opposition that's the import here but that it's an away fixture. IMO such a game, a final play-off for a world cup finals should either be 2 legged or played at a neutral venue. The strong advantage should not be given to one team by a virtual toss of a coin, I think that's insulting to the ethics of sport considering the prize, the highest on offer.
Regardless, for numerous reasons I'd be hoping that Scotland can scrape a win v Austria.
Frankly, it's b..LS..t!
Scotland v Austria tonight..
Portugal beat Belgium tonight to move to a home game v Iceland
into extra time, possibly penalties.
Is that good or bad for the second round against Ireland?
Scots 1 up..
Scotland it is... hopefully Veras knowledge of the Scots will pay off
Biggest game in Irish football is on tonight..
The women qualifying for the World Cup would be huge for the womens game here, and bring a huge amount of publicity to the FAI and game in general in Ireland
Both other games currently 1-1 with 15 mins left to play.. vert surprised UEFA didn't start all three together
On the upside, both Ireland and Scotland will know exactly what they're playing for by half time
Iceland also down to 10 women since the 59th minute
Switzerland battering Wales on possession stats.. 76/24.. but finishes 1-1.. heading to extra time
Portugal 2-1 up...
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