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World Cup 2026 Australia thread

I just can't wait to see Popa's starting line up compared to all the wish lists :)
Friday HIGH NOON ESTime showdown/duel can't come soon enough haha

I'm WFH yer yer.....
 
These 3rd placed rankings are slowly tightening. Here's hoping Bosnia and Qatar draw and group A has no surprises.
 
Really getting concerned if we lose by 2 goals or even 1. Advancement would be undeserved then but a free hit would be nice.

Hopefully we get a bit of luck with group B and A and C are already below us. Group E and F potentially too. We'll know so much more so we'll be able to adapt to hold on for a draw.
 
HonestSpursFan said:
Czechia being that low should ring alarm bells for them. They really should be at least going through to the round of 32.
Click to expand...
I think we learned the 4 playoff spots for UEFA are a joke. While they'd likely beat many from the other confederations who didn't qualify. CAF should have gotten one or two more.
 
Now comes the part where I'll look at third places - and I'm probably going to do this specifically for Socceroos. I'm going to assume they lose to Paraguay for this to be a thing. So for Socceroos to lose AND qualify for the 32, we'd need 4 of the scenarios below to happen. This does not cover all scenarios, but merely the most simple ones (ie, ones that don't pertain to goal difference unless we are already at that point).
  • Group A
    • Both Czechia and South Africa failing to win their match
  • Group B
    • Both Bosnia & Herzergovina and Qatar failing to win their match
  • Group C
    • Scotland to lose by either a higher margin than us, or by the same margin but without scoring more goals than us.
  • Group E
    • Ivory Coast to lose by either a higher margin than us, or by the same margin but scoring less goals (eg, we lose 2-1, but they lose 1-0), OR
    • Both Ecuador and Curacao failing to win their match
  • Group F
    • Sweden to lose by a higher margin than us, or by the same margin with us scoring 5 goals more (eg, we lose 7-6, but they lose 1-0)
  • Group G
    • Egypt to defeat Iran, AND
    • New Zealand to defeat Belgium
  • Group H
    • Spain to defeat Uruguay, AND
    • Saudi Arabia to defeat Cape Verde
  • Group I
    • Senegal to defeat Iraq by up to 2 goals more than our loss to Paraguay (eg if Senegal win 1-0, we can lose by up to 3), we progress OR
    • Iraq to defeat Senegal by up to 5 goals more than our loss to Paraguay (eg if Iraq win 1-0, we can lose by up to 5-0), OR
    • Senegal and Iraq draw
  • Group J
    • Austria to defeat Algeria, OR
    • Algeria to lose by either a higher margin than us, or by the same margin but scoring less goals (eg, we lose 2-1, but they lose 1-0)
  • Group K
    • DR Congo and Uzbekistan to draw, OR
    • Uzbekistan to defeat DR Congo by up to 6 goals more than our loss to Paraguay
  • Group L
    • Croatia to lose by a higher or same margin than our loss to Paraguay
Please feel free to poke any holes - it's 1am and I'm tired but not asleep, so may have some things a bit wrong.
 
Last edited:
JS96 said:
I think we learned the 4 playoff spots for UEFA are a joke. While they'd likely beat many from the other confederations who didn't qualify. CAF should have gotten one or two more.
Click to expand...
How many spots would you give the other confederations? Personally I think many UEFA teams that missed out are quite decent but it’s the World Cup so it should be teams from all around the world. Even Suriname looked decent enough but missed out, I think they’ll make it next time.

Here are the highest ranked teams that missed out:
  1. Italy (15th)
  2. Denmark (20th)
  3. Nigeria (24th)
  4. Ukraine (33rd)
  5. Russia (34th; banned)
  6. Poland (35th)
  7. Wales (38th)
  8. Hungary (39th)
  9. Serbia (40th)
  10. Cameroon (44th)
And here are the lowest ranked teams that did make it:
  1. Haiti (88th)
  2. New Zealand (84th)
  3. Curaçao (81st)
  4. Ghana (65th)
  5. Cape Verde (64th)
  6. Bosnia (62nd)
  7. Qatar (61st)
  8. Iraq (60th)
  9. South Africa (59th)
  10. Saudi Arabia (58th)
 
HonestSpursFan said:
How many spots would you give the other confederations? Personally I think many UEFA teams that missed out are quite decent but it’s the World Cup so it should be teams from all around the world. Even Suriname looked decent enough but missed out, I think they’ll make it next time.

Here are the highest ranked teams that missed out:
  1. Italy (15th)
  2. Denmark (20th)
  3. Nigeria (24th)
  4. Ukraine (33rd)
  5. Russia (34th; banned)
  6. Poland (35th)
  7. Wales (38th)
  8. Hungary (39th)
  9. Serbia (40th)
  10. Cameroon (44th)
And here are the lowest ranked teams that did make it:
  1. Haiti (88th)
  2. New Zealand (84th)
  3. Curaçao (81st)
  4. Ghana (65th)
  5. Cape Verde (64th)
  6. Bosnia (62nd)
  7. Qatar (61st)
  8. Iraq (60th)
  9. South Africa (59th)
  10. Saudi Arabia (58th)
Click to expand...
I don't think UEFA's qualifying issue is the numbers - it's the playoffs.
 
From looking at what's gone on today - Scotland likely gone, which essentially consigns us to Germany should we lose to Paraguay and get through.

Bosnia confirmed ahead of us. As noted earlier by someone, a 1-0 to Paraguay will mean we finish equal with Korea and be decided on fair play points - though a 1 goal loss where we score will see us ahead on goals scored.

Scotland already 7th of the 3rd placed nations, with 9 to play - so to finish ahead of them, we'd need no worse than a 3 goal loss
 
HonestSpursFan said:
How many spots would you give the other confederations? Personally I think many UEFA teams that missed out are quite decent but it’s the World Cup so it should be teams from all around the world. Even Suriname looked decent enough but missed out, I think they’ll make it next time.

Here are the highest ranked teams that missed out:
  1. Italy (15th)
  2. Denmark (20th)
  3. Nigeria (24th)
  4. Ukraine (33rd)
  5. Russia (34th; banned)
  6. Poland (35th)
  7. Wales (38th)
  8. Hungary (39th)
  9. Serbia (40th)
  10. Cameroon (44th)
And here are the lowest ranked teams that did make it:
  1. Haiti (88th)
  2. New Zealand (84th)
  3. Curaçao (81st)
  4. Ghana (65th)
  5. Cape Verde (64th)
  6. Bosnia (62nd)
  7. Qatar (61st)
  8. Iraq (60th)
  9. South Africa (59th)
  10. Saudi Arabia (58th)
Click to expand...
I'd really have to sit down and work it out. You could say many deserving teams did and didn't make the tournament. Teams like Nigeria only have themselves to blame.
 
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