FIFA WC 26 - Other Nations LIVE Match Thread ⚽

[Punchanello]

I have no idea what the criteria for WC spots is other than politics. If you divide number of nations by WC wins as a criteria things would look pretty boring. The WC of South America and Western Europe.

It's probably fair to say European qualification is the most competitive nation to nation. But I doubt many of those sides would swap it for the hostility and geography of South America or the insane travel of Asia.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Serbia are an absolute shitshow and will be for some time, until most of the members of the actual federation are thrown out/resign and new ones elected.

If fans in Australia think its ‘jobs for the boys’ be grateful they don’t have to deal with the clusterfuck of the Serbian FA – where there are connections to the president, the government, local gangs and even the Italian mafia.

It’s a viper’s nest of people with different agendas and vendettas.

I’m not joking when I say the ex-president of the FA used the mafia in Italy to threaten Vidic from running for his position.

Another good example is what happened to AU’s luka jovanovic, who was contacted by a person from the federation (now he’s gone) asking him to declare for Serbia (which the player wanted to do) only to be ghosted by the federation and received no further communication.

a 3-0 loss to Croatia in the recent under 19’s European championship also hasn’t gone down well.

Now there’s uproar about the country trying to naturalise players who werent born there like Louis Zečević-John, who is coming through arsenals academy and looks a real prospect.

Sure mate, Ive heard but I wasnt necessarily talking about this cycle or the previous one, more a generalisation of traditionaly stronger teams that often qualify. .

 

[Beretta]

a 3-0 loss to Croatia in the recent under 19’s European championship also hasn’t gone down well.

are Vucic's "boys" still running the show? I've seen the terrace fights and riots.

The Serbian FA have been fucked for ages, some good doco's on youtube to see how far politicians and gangs have infiltrated the sport.

Can't say i feel sorry for them either lol

 

[Robbos]

I disagree, just because teams that dont often qualify like Bosnia, Turkey, Scotland and Czechia bowed out early, doesn't mean that other Euro teams like Italy, Denmark or Serbia would have done the same.

That's the idea of the Forum, we can disagree.

Those countries had a chance to qualify & missed out to those teams that were knocked out earlier. Those teams were the representatives for Europe.

It would be like me saying if Spain wins WC, well Portugal would've got to final if we didn't meet Spain in the last 16.

 

[theFOOTBALLlover]

I have no idea what the criteria for WC spots is other than politics. If you divide number of nations by WC wins as a criteria things would look pretty boring. The WC of South America and Western Europe.

It's probably fair to say European qualification is the most competitive nation to nation. But I doubt many of those sides would swap it for the hostility and geography of South America or the insane travel of Asia.

Should just have some sort of coefficient rankings based on performance.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

That's the idea of the Forum, we can disagree.

Those countries had a chance to qualify & missed out to those teams that were knocked out earlier. Those teams were the representatives for Europe.

It would be like me saying if Spain wins WC, well Portugal would've got to final if we didn't meet Spain in the last 16.

Exactly right. But those teams missing out on qualification from Europe are still, at least on average, better than the teams that missed out on qualification from AFC or CAF.

 

[Robbos]

I have no idea what the criteria for WC spots is other than politics. If you divide number of nations by WC wins as a criteria things would look pretty boring. The WC of South America and Western Europe.

It's probably fair to say European qualification is the most competitive nation to nation. But I doubt many of those sides would swap it for the hostility and geography of South America or the insane travel of Asia.

Nailed it.

 

[Robbos]

Exactly right. But those teams missing out on qualification from Europe are still, at least on average, better than the teams that missed out on qualification from AFC or CAF.

Not doubting that comment!!!

However, what is FIFA's objective, now FIFA, especially under this bloke gets most things wrong, are you trying to grow football;
Expand to 48 teams & have some weird & wonderful teams from 4 corners of the world & hearing & seeing wonderful stories or
Just have the top 48 countries compete, mainly from Europe & Sth America, where most of those teams outside (top 10 Europe, top 4 Sth America) have no chance of winning anyway.

 

[TheSecretScout]

are Vucic's "boys" still running the show? I've seen the terrace fights and riots.

The Serbian FA have been fucked for ages, some good doco's on youtube to see how far politicians and gangs have infiltrated the sport.

Can't say i feel sorry for them either lol

It wouldn’t surprise me if vucic has a say on which players are selected.

For a country that consistently year upon year has players playing weekly in the best leagues of the world, to be failing this badly in qualification/tournaments across all age groups shows a systematic issue from the very top.

 

[JS96]

Glad Colombia are out. Apart from a few good moments against minnows they were pretty tame and complacent.

 

[JS96]

If anything Morocco are a UEFA team.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Not doubting that comment!!!

However, what is FIFA's objective, now FIFA, especially under this bloke gets most things wrong, are you trying to grow football;
Expand to 48 teams & have some weird & wonderful teams from 4 corners of the world & hearing & seeing wonderful stories or
Just have the top 48 countries compete, mainly from Europe & Sth America, where most of those teams outside (top 10 Europe, top 4 Sth America) have no chance of winning anyway.

Thats a good question and Im all for growing the game to ALL corners of the world... Not fair though to countries ranked top 20 in the world to potentially miss out to countries ranked in triple figures if THATs the path they eventually take.

I dont have have the answers but representation at the world cup shouldn't JUST be about spreading the love to smaller nations, it should STILL be a prestigious tournament for the best national teams.

 

[JS96]

We saw how poor the non qualifying UEFA nations were in not getting to the tournament and they also have a range of dull performances at the Euros. The UEFA teams who've advanced this far are the top of the bunch.

 

[NicCarBel]

I have no idea what the criteria for WC spots is other than politics. If you divide number of nations by WC wins as a criteria things would look pretty boring. The WC of South America and Western Europe.

It's probably fair to say European qualification is the most competitive nation to nation. But I doubt many of those sides would swap it for the hostility and geography of South America or the insane travel of Asia.

I might look at how the metrics are, but ideally in FIFA's world it should be primarily based on member numbers in each confederation, but then adjusted for strength/past performances (eg, UEFA and CONMEBOL get a few more than the equality split, due to the fact they perform better historically). I might do a break down on how it is percentage wise at the moment, and how it probably should be with my above process.

 

[Robbos]

Thats a good question and Im all for growing the game to ALL corners of the world... Not fair though to countries ranked top 20 in the world to potentially miss out to countries ranked in triple figures if THATs the path they eventually take.

I dont have have the answers but representation at the world cup shouldn't JUST be about spreading the love to smaller nations, it should STILL be a prestigious tournament for the best national teams.

There are 16 teams from Europe to qualify for WC, if you are ranked in the top 20 in the world & miss out, do you deserve to be in the WC?

Italy is the best credential side (12th in the world) to miss the WC, they even failed after given a 2nd chance, are they more worthy than Cape Verde? Italian football are in turmoil.

 

[TheSecretScout]

We saw how poor the non qualifying UEFA nations were in not getting to the tournament and they also have a range of dull performances at the Euros. The UEFA teams who've advanced this far are the top of the bunch.

im not sure if that would be true though, let’s use the 2 groups were a european side finished bottom

Replace turkey (who might I add have some excellent technical players) as well as remove Czechia out of there group and replace with any of the following European nations that didn’t qualify.

Italy, Poland, Denmark, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary, and Wales.

You honestly don’t think that any of those sides could’ve bettered turkey/czechias points total in those 2 groups?

 

[Robbos]

im not sure if that would be true though, let’s use the 2 groups were a european side finished bottom

Replace turkey (who might I add have some excellent technical players) as well as remove Czechia out of there group and replace with any of the following European nations that didn’t qualify.

Italy, Poland, Denmark, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary, and Wales.

You honestly don’t think that any of those sides could’ve bettered turkey/czechias points total in those 2 groups?

No they wouldn't because they had the opportunity to do so but failed.

If Argentina wins by 2 goals in each of the 1/4s, 1/2s & final, can Egypt claim to be 2nd best in the world because they only lost by 1 to Argentina in the 1/16s.

All those teams above did not qualify ahead of Turkey, Czechia, Austria & they went home early.

 

[Football us life]

I must admit I have really enjoyed watching African teams....

There's a special vibe they bring – the raw passion, flair, rhythmic attacking football, and pure joy in every match on and especially off the pitch!

The energy from the fans and players is infectious. I’d argue only South Americans match that level of passion!

Even if the cold sobering reality is European teams are still the clear benchmark in consistency, depth, and overall quality. The World Game is for everyone, not just the elite nations si I’d keep the current qualifying status quo as it is.

 

[booney52]

Egypt to their credit went upfield in an attempt to score after Messi scored the equalising goal but got caught out and lost .A bitter blow and then they got stroppy and lost their rag.Such an interesting game and how well did Egypt play.Maybe Popa knew they would be too good for us if we had been more attacking but really you have to back yourself in a sudden death match as Argentina did.After six successful qualifications the Socceroos need to be pushing to win sudden death matches so need to change tactics.Maybe for the Asian Cup but I won't hold my breath.

 

[JS96]

im not sure if that would be true though, let’s use the 2 groups were a european side finished bottom

Replace turkey (who might I add have some excellent technical players) as well as remove Czechia out of there group and replace with any of the following European nations that didn’t qualify.

Italy, Poland, Denmark, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary, and Wales.

You honestly don’t think that any of those sides could’ve bettered turkey/czechias points total in those 2 groups?

Every game has its own circumstances but the teams listed are a bit more tournament hardened too so they'd probably go better. I think UEFA teams need to go through more intercontinental playoffs in tough places like Africa and South Amerca away.