World Cup 2006 Qualification thread

[willemvanoranje]

haha they do... but they play against Asia this time? Not the #5 of South-America?

 

[Hitro]

Bahrain isn't that bad either.

 

[antonio]

I watched bahrain v uzbekeztan both teams looked good sides. They could beat the aussies but the aussies will still be favourites in the game, and be the better side.

 

[Hitro]

I watched bahrain v uzbekeztan both teams looked good sides. They could beat the aussies but the aussies will still be favourites in the game, and be the better side.

Yep, I agree. But they won't be a free ticket for Australia, like I'd suspect the Solomons to be, although I've never seen them.

 

[FredLC]

As far as I know, winner of that will probably still have to face the 5th team of the South America qualification to decide who gets to go to the WC.

I'm rooting that it will be Australia X Uruguay, and that the Celeste will again represent America in the Cup.

Regards .

 

[willemvanoranje]

Bah.. Aussies are way cooler than Uruguayanos...

 

[SonicX]

That's true, I'd like to see the Aussies in the cup.
Not like last time, when the Aussies got spit at by the Uruguyans at arrival in Montevideo... uncivilized folks.

 

[farting bob]

That's true, I'd like to see the Aussies in the cup.
Not like last time, when the Aussies got spit at by the Uruguyans at arrival in Montevideo... uncivilized folks.

I'd hardly call australians the most civilized people on the world either.
Incidently, does anyone know why the 6 teams marla said arent competing? Is it just political, economical, or they just dont have 11 people who know how to kick a ball?

 

[Dell19]

Which 6 teams?

 

[farting bob]

Which 6 teams?

Sorry it was 7.

The 7 FIFA members who haven't participated to the qualifying round are Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Djibouti and Puerto Rico.

 

[Marla_Singer]

As far as I know, winner of that will probably still have to face the 5th team of the South America qualification to decide who gets to go to the WC.

Nope. That was true for the 2002 World Cup but it isn't anymore.

For this World Cup, the play-off is between Asian and Oceania. As there are still 2 teams running in each confederations, we know there will be a qualified between Australia, the Solomons, Uzbekhistan and Bahrain.

I'm rooting that it will be Australia X Uruguay, and that the Celeste will again represent America in the Cup.

This year, the playoff for the 5th Conmebol team will be against the 4th Concacaf team. I guess it will be Costa Rica or Guatemala against Colombia, Chile or Uruguay.

 

[Dell19]

Australia name strong squad for Oceania play-off
23 August 2005
by Reuters



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Australia have announced a full-strength squad for next month's Oceania FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers against the Solomon Islands.
Coach Guus Hiddink picked a 22-man squad featuring the cream of Australia's European-based stars - including Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka - for the two-legged play-off in Sydney on 3 September and Honiara three days later.

"We won't be taking any chances with the all-important first qualifying matches against the Solomon Islands," Dutchman Hiddink said in a statement.

"So we have picked our strongest squad and all the players are desperate to play, play well and stake their claim for (the next qualifying phase in) November and beyond."

There were no real surprises in the squad, which included just two Australian-based players, although Liverpool striker Kewell is unlikely to play despite being selected.

Kewell has been sidelined for most of the past year with niggling injuries and did not train when he joined the squad in the Netherlands last week.

Australia are overwhelming favourites to win the Oceania play-off against the Solomon Islands and advance to the final stage of qualifiers this November.

The Oceania winner will meet the fifth-placed South American team home and away to decide the last place for next year's FIFA World Cup finals in Germany.

"It is vital that we defeat the Solomon Islands because otherwise our World Cup dreams will be over," Hiddink said. "If we stumble then there will be no November."

Australia squad: John Aloisi, Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Ahmad Elrich, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Zeljko Kalac, Harry Kewell, Stan Lazaridis, Jon McKain, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Sasho Petrovski, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Josip Skoko, Archie Thompson, Tony Vidmar, Mark Viduka, Luke Wilkshire.

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050823/7/4ekq.html

It seems it is the 5th placed South American team that they will be playing unless FIFA have gotten it wrong on two articles. I did think you were right but I came across the same sentence when reading an article about how the Solomon Islands had qualified for the playoff.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I'd hardly call australians the most civilized people on the world either.
Incidently, does anyone know why the 7 teams marla said arent competing? Is it just political, economical, or they just dont have 11 people who know how to kick a ball?

From the FIFA World Cup 2006 website :

Burma (Myanmar) : The Myanmar FA withdrew from their participation in the preliminary competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™. Therefore, the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup decided at its meeting on 15 March 2001, that according to the regulations, the Myanmar FA is disqualified from taking part in qualifying for Germany '06.

Bhutan : Bhutan burst onto the world scene - relatively speaking - when they faced Montserrat in "The Other Final" for the self-proclaimed "worst team in the world" title. Coming the day before the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ final, Bhutan proved the far better side running out 4-0 winners. This football-country has chosen not to take part in the preliminaries for Germany '06.

the Philippines : With their history of poor results and a dogged determination to do better, the Philippine Football Association has decided to skip qualifying for Germany '06 and focus on developing youth football and competing in regional tournaments.

Brunei : Despite their slow growth, Brunei are regularly ranked near the bottom of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings. They chose not to compete in qualifying for Germany '06.

Cambodia : Cambodia are skipping the qualifiers for Germany '06 in order to concentrate on continuing to develop football's infrastructure at the youth and club levels.

Djibouti : Djibouti is currently skipping all international competition, both world cups and african nations cups. FIFA website doesn't mention why.

Puerto Rico : After many difficulties, the Puerto Rican Football Association has decided to forgo participation in the qualifying tournament for Germany '06 in order to reorganise their football structures, with the help of FIFA and CONCACAF.

 

[Marla_Singer]

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/050823/7/4ekq.html

It seems it is the 5th placed South American team that they will be playing unless FIFA have gotten it wrong on two articles. I did think you were right but I came across the same sentence when reading an article about how the Solomon Islands had qualified for the playoff.

Well sorry, I've read wrongly the qualifications preliminary format. So you and FredLC are both right.

However, that rather sucks I must say. It means there will be a playoff between the 4th CONCACAF team and either Bahrain or Uzbekhistan. :shakehead

An American playoff on one side and an Asia/Oceania playoff on the other side sounded as more logic to me. I guess that's the reason why I've made such a mistake.

 

[SonicX]

Why do Asia and North America both gain half a sport compared to last time ?
It's not as if Costa Rica, China and Saudi Arabia made such a great impression in Japan and Korea ?

 

[Dell19]

USA, Mexico, Japan and South Korea did quite well though.

 

[Marla_Singer]

Why do Asia and North America both gain half a sport compared to last time ?
It's not as if Costa Rica, China and Saudi Arabia made such a great impression in Japan and Korea ?

Actually Asia had already 4.5 slots for World Cup 2002. This hasn't changed.

The only change is the UEFA which used to have 14.5 slots in 2002 and which will have 14 slots in 2006. That half-slot is now given to the Concacaf zone, which used to have 3 slots and which now has 3.5 slots. Nothing has changed for the other confederations.

Now don't ask me why the Concacaf zone has a half-slot more now. It's true the US have reached the quarter-finals, however Senegal has done the same and South Korea has even reached the semi-finals. Why Concacaf and not Asia or Africa ? I don't know.

 

[Drewcifer]

Why do Asia and North America both gain half a sport compared to last time ?
It's not as if Costa Rica, China and Saudi Arabia made such a great impression in Japan and Korea ?

All 3 CONCANCAF teams advanced out of group play in the last world cup so it is not like the region embarassed itself. I'm not sure that the play-in slot is a new thing, though my memory may be faulty I think I remember it from previous world cups. If it is new it is probably to relfect the improved quality of football in the region; and the fact that now Mexico and the US always qualify and there is more than one other good team in the region. Ideally I would like to see CONCANCAF and CONMEBOL merge with the slots from both added together. At this point it would benefit both the US and Mexico experiencewise to play the heavyweights like Brazil and Argentina on a more regular basis in matches that matter.

 

[Marla_Singer]

All 3 CONCANCAF teams advanced out of group play in the last world cup so it is not like the region embarassed itself.

Costa Rica didn't. The big problem about the Concacaf zone is that there are only 2 real teams and 3 to 4 average teams. That's all. The other 30 members don't deserve to be mentioned. As such, giving the opportunity to 4 teams to qualify is giving free slots for Mexico and the USA.

However, this isn't really new. Mexico has participated to 12 World Cups on the 17 ! This is huge ! :eek :

That's the best performance after Brazil (17), Germany (15), Italy (13) and Argentina (15). However, those 4 teams have already won several times the World Cup. On the other side, in its 12 world cups, Mexico has never reached the semis !!

Just to push it a bit more, among the 5 World Cups in which Mexico didn't participate, Mexico has been eliminated in the Qualifiers only twice. Indeed, Mexico didn't participate to 1934 and 1938 qualifiers, and Mexico wasn't allowed to participate to the 1990 World Cup qualifiers because of infringement of age rules.

The problem isn't really about Mexico or the US. Those are real teams. However, the Netherlands, England, France or Sweden are also real teams. However they've been several times eliminated during the qualifiers. The issue is actually about the Concacaf zone. That thing shouldn't exist. It should be a merged American zone.

Actually, the Concacaf is in my opinion the main obstacles to Mexico and USA to perform better. If those teams could face Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile or Colombia more often, it's sure that it could only improve their quality and experience. The same can be said with Australia (Oceanian and Asian zones should merge either).

I'm not sure that the play-in slot is a new thing, though my memory may be faulty I think remember it from previous world cups. If it is new it is probably to relfect the improved quality of football in the region; and the fact that now Mexico and the US always qualify and there is more than one other good team in the region. Ideally I would like to see CONCANCAF and CONMEBOL merge with the slots from both added together. At this point it would benefit both the US and Mexico experiencewise to play the heavyweights like Brazil and Argentina on a more regular basis in matches that matter.

Oh ok then.
You agree with me actually.

 

[Inter4]

Bah.. Aussies are way cooler than Uruguayanos...

it's ''Uruguayos''...

And I don't agree with that statement.