If you thought we were bad these days spare a thought for the dutch. What on earth has happened to them?
In their lineup tonight they have Cillessen in goal who's played 1 league game in about 18 months, Janmaat who is at Watford, Ryan Babel who was good about 6-7 years ago, Davy Propper who is at Brighton and up front Vincent Jansson who was of course dreadful for Spurs last year. Arguably the worst Dutch side in my lifetime.
Who is likely to be the second placed team in Europe to miss out on the playoffs?
Didn't realise until today that points accrued playing the team that finished last in the group don't count towards your points total when looking at who gets into the playoffs (Scotland will get minus 6 for their wins against Malta). This is a like UEFA admitting those teams shouldn't be in the qualifying groups in the first place.
I think the reason games against the bottom ranked team don't count is because originally not all groups had 6 teams in them. They had to rule out games against the bottom teams so each 2nd place team had 8 matches counting towards their points total!
Arguably the stronger that a group is, the more likely that the team coming second will have less points and is a better side than a team that gains more points against the likes of the Scilly Isles.
The reasoning behind the points not counting against the bottom team is;
Second round (play-offs): The eight best runners-up from the first round will play home-and-away over two legs. The four winners will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. With the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo as FIFA members in May 2016, both national teams were eligible to make their debuts in World Cup qualifying.[6] With two groups of only five teams in the first round, Kosovo was assigned to Group I as it was decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should not play against Kosovo for security reasons, and Gibraltar was then added to Group H.
I'm hoping it's Greece who miss out as they cannot get any more points because their last game is against Gibraltar. Personally hope Ireland and Scotland make it. Would be great having one of the two in our group! I know we have rivalries against the both but it's usually just banter. Not fussed about Wales, they did far too well for my liking at the Euros!
If you thought we were bad these days spare a thought for the dutch. What on earth has happened to them?
In their lineup tonight they have Cillessen in goal who's played 1 league game in about 18 months, Janmaat who is at Watford, Ryan Babel who was good about 6-7 years ago, Davy Propper who is at Brighton and up front Vincent Jansson who was of course dreadful for Spurs last year. Arguably the worst Dutch side in my lifetime.
They're effectively out after Sweden beat Luxembourg 8-0, giving them GD 12 better than the Netherlands!
Netherlands would have to beat Sweden by 6 or 7 goals on Tuesday...
I think it would have been fairer to let the 8th and 9th worst second places play each other for the last play off place - only one game with the 8th best at home.
Croatia drop points at home to Finland. Iceland win in Turkey.
Iceland are two points clear with just one game left to play at home to Kosovo. They've all but qualified for their first World Cup.
They absolutely battered Turkey the other night as well. They had two or three good chances that went begging and they never looked like conceding. JBG got a goal and put in a perfect corner that Gunnarson headed across for Arnason to tap in. Bodvardson is a rapidly improving player, two assists, better technically than he looks, and an all around nuisance.
With Iceland, they're happy to have 30% possession and look to nick goals on the break or from set pieces/long throws, but that belies the fact that they have some good footballers in that side. JBG and Bjarnasson on the wings, aforementioned Bodvardson, plus Sigurdson and Gunnarson (who's a decent footballer) in the middle.
I'm not quite as confident as you Callum. I saw Iceland play Kosovo in the return fixture and Kosovo are the type of team that can cause Iceland problems--sitting deep and letting them have the ball. Despite only having 1 point, Kosovo have a handful of decent players, but this is their first round of qualification as a nation and its been a tough campaign in a deep group with the complications of getting international clearance, having players playing together for the first time, etc.
That said, maybe I'm just superstitious as I'd love to see Iceland qualify for a World Cup finals.
Croatia drop points at home to Finland. Iceland win in Turkey.
Iceland are two points clear with just one game left to play at home to Kosovo. They've all but qualified for their first World Cup.
They absolutely battered Turkey the other night as well. They had two or three good chances that went begging and they never looked like conceding. JBG got a goal and put in a perfect corner that Gunnarson headed across for Arnason to tap in. Bodvardson is a rapidly improving player, two assists, better technically than he looks, and an all around nuisance.
With Iceland, they're happy to have 30% possession and look to nick goals on the break or from set pieces/long throws, but that belies the fact that they have some good footballers in that side. JBG and Bjarnasson on the wings, aforementioned Bodvardson, plus Sigurdson and Gunnarson (who's a decent footballer) in the middle.
I'm not quite as confident as you Callum. I saw Iceland play Kosovo in the return fixture and Kosovo are the type of team that can cause Iceland problems--sitting deep and letting them have the ball. Despite only having 1 point, Kosovo have a handful of decent players, but this is their first round of qualification as a nation and its been a tough campaign in a deep group with the complications of getting international clearance, having players playing together for the first time, etc.
That said, maybe I'm just superstitious as I'd love to see Iceland qualify for a World Cup finals.
Won't be the same as the Euros though, as we won't have the " Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson plays for Charlton Athletic who've been relegated to League One" type comments
Back in 2009, All Whites (NZ) had to play a team from the AFC (Bahrain) for a spot at the World Cup in South Africa. In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf). This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America). Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
Croatia drop points at home to Finland. Iceland win in Turkey.
Iceland are two points clear with just one game left to play at home to Kosovo. They've all but qualified for their first World Cup.
They absolutely battered Turkey the other night as well. They had two or three good chances that went begging and they never looked like conceding. JBG got a goal and put in a perfect corner that Gunnarson headed across for Arnason to tap in. Bodvardson is a rapidly improving player, two assists, better technically than he looks, and an all around nuisance.
With Iceland, they're happy to have 30% possession and look to nick goals on the break or from set pieces/long throws, but that belies the fact that they have some good footballers in that side. JBG and Bjarnasson on the wings, aforementioned Bodvardson, plus Sigurdson and Gunnarson (who's a decent footballer) in the middle.
I'm not quite as confident as you Callum. I saw Iceland play Kosovo in the return fixture and Kosovo are the type of team that can cause Iceland problems--sitting deep and letting them have the ball. Despite only having 1 point, Kosovo have a handful of decent players, but this is their first round of qualification as a nation and its been a tough campaign in a deep group with the complications of getting international clearance, having players playing together for the first time, etc.
That said, maybe I'm just superstitious as I'd love to see Iceland qualify for a World Cup finals.
Won't be the same as the Euros though, as we won't have the " Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson plays for Charlton Athletic who've been relegated to League One" type comments
"Josh Magennis plays for Charlton Athletic who've been relegated to League Two"
Croatia drop points at home to Finland. Iceland win in Turkey.
Iceland are two points clear with just one game left to play at home to Kosovo. They've all but qualified for their first World Cup.
They absolutely battered Turkey the other night as well. They had two or three good chances that went begging and they never looked like conceding. JBG got a goal and put in a perfect corner that Gunnarson headed across for Arnason to tap in. Bodvardson is a rapidly improving player, two assists, better technically than he looks, and an all around nuisance.
With Iceland, they're happy to have 30% possession and look to nick goals on the break or from set pieces/long throws, but that belies the fact that they have some good footballers in that side. JBG and Bjarnasson on the wings, aforementioned Bodvardson, plus Sigurdson and Gunnarson (who's a decent footballer) in the middle.
I'm not quite as confident as you Callum. I saw Iceland play Kosovo in the return fixture and Kosovo are the type of team that can cause Iceland problems--sitting deep and letting them have the ball. Despite only having 1 point, Kosovo have a handful of decent players, but this is their first round of qualification as a nation and its been a tough campaign in a deep group with the complications of getting international clearance, having players playing together for the first time, etc.
That said, maybe I'm just superstitious as I'd love to see Iceland qualify for a World Cup finals.
Won't be the same as the Euros though, as we won't have the " Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson plays for Charlton Athletic who've been relegated to League One" type comments
I still think of him as a Charlton player. He's far too technically gifted to be a bloody Burnley player.
Back in 2009, All Whites (NZ) had to play a team from the AFC (Bahrain) for a spot at the World Cup in South Africa. In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf). This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America). Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
I wonder if it alternates as remember Australia (when they were Oceania) having to play Uruguay in a Play-Off
Back in 2009, All Whites (NZ) had to play a team from the AFC (Bahrain) for a spot at the World Cup in South Africa. In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf). This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America). Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
I wonder if it alternates as remember Australia (when they were Oceania) having to play Uruguay in a Play-Off
It definitely does as Uruguay played Jordan in a play off for the 2014 world cup
Costa Rica Poland (first time since 2006) Egypt (first time since 1990)
Fifteen spots taken, seventeen more left to fill.
I seem to recall Egypt being in the same group at England back in 1990. Think we drew 1-1.
Its about time Egypt qualified for the World Cup again!!... Crazy that they've been one of the strongest Nations in the African Nations Cup each year yet come Qualification for the World Cup they've flopped each time.
They've certainly improved after almost being an Underdog scalp in the 2nd Round!! (lost 1-0 to Chad in the 1st Leg)
Back in 2009, All Whites (NZ) had to play a team from the AFC (Bahrain) for a spot at the World Cup in South Africa. In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf). This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America). Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
I wonder if it alternates as remember Australia (when they were Oceania) having to play Uruguay in a Play-Off
If Australia hadn't moved to Asia, maybe OFC would have an automatic spot again?
Back in 2009, All Whites (NZ) had to play a team from the AFC (Bahrain) for a spot at the World Cup in South Africa. In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf). This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America). Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
I wonder if it alternates as remember Australia (when they were Oceania) having to play Uruguay in a Play-Off
Australia did play Uruguay both in 2001 and 2005 though.
Comments
In their lineup tonight they have Cillessen in goal who's played 1 league game in about 18 months, Janmaat who is at Watford, Ryan Babel who was good about 6-7 years ago, Davy Propper who is at Brighton and up front Vincent Jansson who was of course dreadful for Spurs last year. Arguably the worst Dutch side in my lifetime.
Assuming there's no shock results, they'll be joined by Tunisia, Senegal and Egypt. Morocco can still make it very difficult for Ivory Coast.
Second round (play-offs): The eight best runners-up from the first round will play home-and-away over two legs. The four winners will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
With the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo as FIFA members in May 2016, both national teams were eligible to make their debuts in World Cup qualifying.[6] With two groups of only five teams in the first round, Kosovo was assigned to Group I as it was decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should not play against Kosovo for security reasons, and Gibraltar was then added to Group H.
Netherlands would have to beat Sweden by 6 or 7 goals on Tuesday...
Should be a interesting evening.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/41472696
With Iceland, they're happy to have 30% possession and look to nick goals on the break or from set pieces/long throws, but that belies the fact that they have some good footballers in that side. JBG and Bjarnasson on the wings, aforementioned Bodvardson, plus Sigurdson and Gunnarson (who's a decent footballer) in the middle.
I'm not quite as confident as you Callum. I saw Iceland play Kosovo in the return fixture and Kosovo are the type of team that can cause Iceland problems--sitting deep and letting them have the ball. Despite only having 1 point, Kosovo have a handful of decent players, but this is their first round of qualification as a nation and its been a tough campaign in a deep group with the complications of getting international clearance, having players playing together for the first time, etc.
That said, maybe I'm just superstitious as I'd love to see Iceland qualify for a World Cup finals.
In 2013, they had to play Mexico (from Concacaf).
This time, they play a team from Conmebol (South America).
Doesn't exactly get any easier for a team from the OFC, does it?
Costa Rica
Poland (first time since 2006)
Egypt (first time since 1990)
Fifteen spots taken, seventeen more left to fill.
They've certainly improved after almost being an Underdog scalp in the 2nd Round!! (lost 1-0 to Chad in the 1st Leg)