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2026 UEFA WC Qualification

Unreal we are so shyte !
9 goals friggin ET now 6mins get it over with please
Now 8mins ffs
 
Thank F it’s over FT !

Graz purely for conversation be interesting what has contributed to my Azzurris decline the last number of years.
 
LFC said:
Thank F it’s over FT !

Graz purely for conversation be interesting what has contributed to my Azzurris decline the last number of years.
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A massive shadow of their former selves. They still won a tournament fairly recently but massive cracks like many nations riding on the tails of a better generation before them. Very complacent.

A good proposal for big nations like this is to bring in others in the first division who seemingly care more. They're good footballers. An England selection of EPL and Championship players would certainly go hard if that's something missing. Tuchel would slow them down though.
 
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I just checked the stats, we gave Isreal 2 OG's !
Even though not good enough !
Estonia next Oct 12 that we beat 5 zip last outing - surely got to get those points before return leg against Isreal Oct 15.

For a Nation that won '20 Euro I had hope that was proof Azzurri were back on the up, alas not.
 
Absolutely fucking mental

NicCarBel

Post in thread 'World Cup Qualification Thread for 2026 - Socceroos/Asia'

grazorblade said:
Would be interested to know if any euro nations ranked above us are in trouble in qualifying and might be a chamce to be automatically pot 4
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Yeah this is primarily the reason why I'd want to do this. At the moment - based off current standings - Germany and Italy potentially in this boat

I mean.. if I was to do this with projections right now:

Disclaimer* - bold nations are already qualified. These are SOLELY using the current standings of WCQ groups - the only exception will be the rest of AFC as this has not started (using seeds as the basis)

EDIT: Have updated as of 9...
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LFC said:
Thank F it’s over FT !

Graz purely for conversation be interesting what has contributed to my Azzurris decline the last number of years.
Click to expand...
Not sure!

I remember when troisi went tp atalanta i saw there there was a stat that italy is one place they are really reluctant to play youth

Another possibility is that it is hard to change national style and they seem to struggle to play possession football. Their backs seem less press resistant than a lot of nations. Id be curious to hear others thoughts
 
Another possibility is the participation rate

Italy's governing body claim 4.8 million players compared to the UK's 14million
The netherlands also claim a quarter play football. So either football hasn't grown the same rate as other countries, or it has declined in popularity a bit
 
Ireland stuffed losing 2:1 in Armenia. Ukraine dented by 1:1 draw against Azerbaijan.
 
JS96 said:
Ireland stuffed losing 2:1 in Armenia. Ukraine dented by 1:1 draw against Azerbaijan.
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Sometimes war torn countries punch miles above their weight, hope ukraine rally
 
grazorblade said:
Sometimes war torn countries punch miles above their weight, hope ukraine rally
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Those two orient nations have had their tiffs lately too. Since the 06 side ended, I've not liked Ukraine. I really liked that particular 06 squad. Australia should have played them in the quarters.
 
England thrash 10-man Serbia 5-0 in their group K World Cup qualifier to go five wins from five unbeaten with +13 for and against.
 
Damn a lot of underdogs were winning but ended up losing. Austria crucial win in Sarajevo.

Norway 11 Moldova 1
 
Am doing this here first, as this is the one that will be most affected

Disclaimer* - bold nations are already qualified - confirmed for the playoff stage. These are SOLELY using the current standings of WCQ groups - the only exception will be the rest of AFC as this has not started (using seeds as the basis)

EDIT: Have updated as of 10 Sep 2025 AM AEST

Intercontinental Playoffs

  • Iraq (58)
  • Bolivia (80)
  • New Caledonia (150)
  • Congo DR (60)
  • El Salvador (88)
  • Curacao (84)

AFC
  • Japan (18)
  • Iran (21)
  • Uzbekistan (54)
  • South Korea (23)
  • Jordan (62)
  • Australia (24)
  • Qatar (53)
  • Saudi Arabia (59)
CONMEBOL
  • Argentina (1)
  • Brazil (5)
  • Ecuador (25)
  • Uruguay (15)
  • Colombia (14)
  • Paraguay (42)
OFC
  • New Zealand (83)
CAF
  • Morocco (12)
  • Egypt (32)
  • Senegal (19)
  • South Africa (55)
  • Cape Verde (70)
  • Ivory Coast (45)
  • Algeria (38)
  • Tunisia (48)
  • Ghana (75)
UEFA
  • Slovakia (41)
  • Switzerland (17)
  • Denmark (20)
  • France (3)
  • Spain (2)
  • Portugal (6)
  • Netherlands (7)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina (73)
  • Norway (31)
  • North Macedonia (63)
  • England (4)
  • Croatia (9)
UEFA Playoffs (will be unseeded in Pots)
  • Germany (11)
  • Italy (10)
  • Belgium (8)
  • Austria (22)
CONCACAF
  • USA (host) (16)
  • Mexico (host) (13)
  • Canada (host) (27)
  • Suriname (132)
  • Jamaica (69)
  • Costa Rica (43)

Pot 1​

  • USA (Host) (16)
  • Mexico (Host) (13)
  • Canada (Host) (27)
  • Argentina (1)
  • Spain (2)
  • France (3)
  • England (4)
  • Brazil (5)
  • Portugal (6)
  • Netherlands (7)
  • Croatia (9)
  • Morocco (12)

Pot 2​

  • Colombia (14)
  • Uruguay (15)
  • Switzerland (17)
  • Japan (18)
  • Senegal (19)
  • Denmark (20)
  • Iran (21)
  • South Korea (23)
  • Australia (24)
  • Ecuador (25)
  • Norway (31)
  • Egypt (32)

Pot 3​

  • Algeria (38)
  • Slovakia (41)
  • Paraguay (42)
  • Costa Rica (43)
  • Ivory Coast (45)
  • Tunisia (48)
  • Qatar (53)
  • Uzbekistan (54)
  • South Africa (55)
  • Saudi Arabia (59)
  • Jordan (62)
  • North Macedonia (63)

Pot 4​

  • Jamaica (69)
  • Cape Verde (70)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina (73)
  • Ghana (75)
  • New Zealand (83)
  • Suriname (132)
  • UEFA 1 - Germany
  • UEFA 2 - Italy
  • UEFA 3 - Belgium
  • UEFA 4 - Austria
  • Intercontinental 1 - Congo DR
  • Intercontinental 2 - Iraq
Assuming a 1 v (4v5) and 2 v (3v6) fixture for playoffs, using that projection, the playoffs will be:

Iraq v (Curacao v El Salvador)
Congo DR v (Bolivia v New Caledonia)
 
Last edited:
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JS96 said:
Damn a lot of underdogs were winning but ended up losing. Austria crucial win in Sarajevo.

Norway 11 Moldova 1
Click to expand...
That all but consigns Italy to the playoffs if my calculations are correct.

Given that the groups are held to regular tie-breaker rules (GD, then goals scored), unless Italy win all their remaining games (which includes hosting Norway on the final day) AND Norway also drop points elsewhere (home to Estonia, and home to Israel), then Italy will have to overcome a current GD of 17 goals to jump Norway into top spot.
 
When England plays a reasonably decent side they seem to play much better. When they play the smaller nations, like Andorra they tend to rush around trying to thrash them out of sight but they make too many basic errors....

Against Serbia, who are a very well drilled side they were much more controlled and were able to break them down easier.

In an English football parlance England v Andorra should have been a top 6 EPL side playing a National League mid table one.

England v Serbia would be like playing a top 6 Championship side.

But after seeing the two games it looked like the other way around.

Football is weird..... 🫣
 
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