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AFC qualifying thread

Corner flies in and lands on UAE forearm essentially being the swift ball the keeper needed to save. Penalty given and I'd say fair enough as the defender has received too much defensive advantage with use of the arm. The arm deflection is what the keeper had to save. It looked like a penalty at first.

UAE players flooding the ref. Iraqis surrounding the penalty spot to protect it from damage.

Penalty is scored after a lot of gamesmanship. Bedlam is Basra.
 
Wonder if Australia would play in Basra next time we face Iraq? You've got marketing for holidays in Northern Iraq with flights from Hannover now.

Unfortunately there's still mass banditry about but most of the vloggers there show great hospitality by the locals.
 
Pasquali said:

Click to expand...

That's really cool to see. I never really liked Arnie as Socceroos coach, but would love to see him take Iraq to the world cup. Imagine they ended up in our group!

Such a shame for Lucas Pimenta, Ruben Amaral, Luanzinho, Marcus Meloni, Bruno, Nicolas Gimenez, Caio who all started the match for UAE. Such dinky-di Emiratis, those blokes (eye roll). In all seriousness, what a joke that they're predominantly ring-ins.
 
Three minute highlight package. Iraq and little lucky after UAE smashed a shot into the crossbar which would have made it 2-0.

 
POTS (Subject to change with CONCACAF, although doing my best to predict/cover bases here)

POT 1
  • USA
  • Canada
  • Mexico
  • Spain
  • Argentina
  • France
  • England
  • Brazil
  • Portugal
  • Netherlands
  • Belgium
  • Germany
POT 2
  • Croatia
  • Morocco
  • Colombia
  • Uruguay
  • Switzerland
  • Japan
  • Senegal
  • Iran
  • Korea
  • Austria
  • Ecuador
  • Australia
POT 3
  • Norway
  • Panama *
  • Egypt
  • Algeria
  • Paraguay
  • Tunisia
  • Scotland
  • Ivory Coast
  • Uzbekistan
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
POT 4
  • Jordan
  • Cape Verde
  • Ghana
  • New Zealand
  • CONCACAF 2*
  • CONCACAF 3*
  • UEFA 1
  • UEFA 2
  • UEFA 3
  • UEFA 4
  • Intercontinental 1
  • Intercontinental 2
* The main things that can change around depending on CONCACAF's qualification results are (in order of FIFA Ranking) This is why I've just named CONCACAF 2 and 3 for Pot 4 - and made a prediction of Panama qualifying, as that's probably the most likely outcome:
  • In Group 3 - If Costa Rica qualifies, they will be in Pot 3
  • In Group 1 - If Panama qualifies, they will be Pot 3
  • In Group 3 - If Honduras qualifies, they will be Pot 3
All other outcomes in CONCACAF would lead to all 3 nations being placed in Pot 4, with Jordan going into Pot 3.
 
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POT 1
USA
Canada
Mexico
Spain
Argentina
France
England
Brazil
Portugal
Netherlands
Belgium
Germany

POT 2
Croatia
Morocco
Colombia
Uruguay
Switzerland
Japan
Senegal
Iran
Korea
Austria
Ecuador
Australia

POT 3
Norway
Panama
Egypt
Algeria
Paraguay
Tunisia
Scotland
Ivory Coast
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Africa

POT 4
Jordan
Cape Verde
Ghana
New Zealand
Haiti
Curacao
UEFA 1
UEFA 2
UEFA 3
UEFA 4
Intercontinental 1
Intercontinental 2
Intercontinental Playoffs

Intercontinental Playoffs​


Seeded
Iraq
DR Congo

Unseeded
Jamaica
Suriname
Bolivia
New Caledonia

UEFA Playoff Draw Pots​


POT 1POT 2POT 3POT 4
ItalyPolandRepublic of IrelandRomania
DenmarkWalesAlbaniaSweden
TurkeyCzech RepublicBosnia and HerzegovinaNorth Macedonia
UkraineSlovakiaKosovoNorthern Ireland

Playoff Format​


Round 1
Pot 1 vs Pot 4 — single leg (Pot 1 hosts)
Pot 2 vs Pot 3 — single leg (Pot 2 hosts)

Round 2
Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2
Home venue determined by random draw
 
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@NCB - I love your work

I would suggest opening a joint thread for the March 2026 EURO and Intercontinental Playoffs, or continue with the EURO thread and create a separate ICP thread

If Suriname draws New Caledonia whichever of Iraq or DR Congo is seeded in that path would be a strong favourite to qualify.

Bolivia's sole WC finals since 1950 was USA 1994, so for me they would be a cool team to see qualify and similar for DR Congo (formerly Zaire) who qualified for the 1974 World Cup and have had a long wait since and Iraq with the Arnie connection.
 
I was about to say - I don't remember making that table so lovely - so thank you to whichever mod fixed that hahaha
 
I reckon Iraq will get it done over Bolivia, unless there playing in high altitude.
 
NoMates said:
I reckon Iraq will get it done over Bolivia, unless there playing in high altitude.
Click to expand...
The four matches will be played at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, with each venue hosting two fixtures.
^^ per wikipedia

I don't know if either of the 2 Mexican Cities are at a high altitude.
 
GoAussies said:
The four matches will be played at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, with each venue hosting two fixtures.
^^ per wikipedia

I don't know if either of the 2 Mexican Cities are at a high altitude.
Click to expand...
Guadalajara is higher altitude than Monterrey so definitely high altitude will play a part if the Estadio Akron hosts Iraq's playoff match, and there's no guarantee that it will be an Iraq v Bolivia matchup because Suriname might well pull off an upset and make it into the final.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
Guadalajara is higher altitude than Monterrey so definitely high altitude will play a part if the Estadio Akron hosts Iraq's playoff match, and there's no guarantee that it will be an Iraq v Bolivia matchup because Suriname might well pull off an upset and make it into the final.
Click to expand...
No guarantees indeed, Iraq aren't a powerful AFC side politically so it would be no surprise to see them cop a higher altitude playoff final venue with the potential to benefit an opponent, whereas one would think Saudi or Qatar would be less likely to cop such bad luck if it were them in the playoff.
 
GoAussies said:
No guarantees indeed, Iraq aren't a powerful AFC side politically so it would be no surprise to see them cop a higher altitude playoff final venue with the potential to benefit an opponent, whereas one would think Saudi or Qatar would be less likely to cop such bad luck if it were them in the playoff.
Click to expand...
Iraq will host the playoff final in Monterrey (aka Guadalupe) and the other group final will be at higher altitude.
 
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