World Cup 2022 Qualifiers

[Captain Ron 12876]

They've started.

To be fair, outside of Oceana, every confederation has started.

UEFA (13 teams) - Are currently only through matchday 3 of 10. There is a lot to be played.

CONMEBOL (4 or 5) - only through matchday 8, which is really 6 because they postponed 2 matchdays due to COVID. There are 18 matchdays total.

CAF (5) - Had eliminations of many lesser teams, won't get their next round started until September.

AFC (4 or 5 + Qatar)- Will wrap up the current phase in a week.

CONCACAF (3 or 4) - this is why I am really talking about this, they completed the first round today. That first round was 6 groups that were playing for 6 spots in round 2. Those 6 teams that advanced and their next round home and home opponents:

St. Kitts & Nevis vs El Salvador
Haiti vs Canda
Panama vs Curacao

Teams of note that failed to advance: Trinidad & Tobago & Guatemala. T&T for obvious reasons. Guatemala, because they had beaten the US in Guatemala the last 3 qualifiers in earlier group stages (not the Hex).

So the remaining 6 teams will play 2 legs next week for the right to advance to the Final 8, joining the US, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico.

[Ted Lange 16085]

 

 

[Captain Ron 12876]

Because of COVID travel restrictions, Canada is playing home qualifiers in the US. Their “home” match against Haiti will be in Chicago. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

Notes about the AFC qualification:

Asia has to have the most convoluted qualification process.

• Round 1 - reduced the bottom 12 to 6 teams and get to a total of 40 teams.
• Round 2 (current) - Group play. 8 Groups of 5 teams. Group winners + Top 4 runner-ups advance*.
• Round 3 - Group play. 2 Groups of 6 teams. Group winners and runner-ups advance to the World Cup
• Round 4 - The two 3rd place teams play a 2 leg playoff to qualify for the intercontinental playoffs.

Asia's qualifier is a combination of World Cup qualifier (all 4 rounds) and Asian Cup 2023 qualifier (Rounds 1 and 2). As such, Qatar is taking part in the first 2 rounds for Asian Cup purposes.

* Qatar won their group in Round 2, qualifying them for the Asian Cup. Since they are the World Cup host, their spot in Round 3 is being granted to a 5th 2nd place team.

Teams that have moved to round 3: Japan, South Korea and Syria. Australia will likely join them on the next match day

The 3rd place race is going to be interesting as China is currently not in a position to advance (they are a lower seeded runner-up). It's also a lot harder to compute because stupid N. Korea dropped out of the tournament after COVID, leaving only 4 teams in one of the groups (they were in a prime position to challenge for advancement too). Thus 3rd place seeding is based on performance against teams 1, 3 and 4 in your group. This affects 2 or 3 teams that really care about the 4th/5th place race.

Their next two match days: Friday and Tuesday.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

Guatemala has to be embarrassed being out so early. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

1 hour ago, SimonBolivar said:

Guatemala has to be embarrassed being out so early. 

Because of COVID shortening the qualifying calendar, the format this year was brutal and unforgiving. 4 games instead of 8 really didn't give anyone a margin for error.

That said, by seed they went out as expected. Curacao is the 8th seeded team in the tournament, Guatemala is 13th.

Trinidad & Tobago is the one that should be embarrassed, they were the 6th seed of those in the first round (11th overall) and top seed in their group. They were knocked out by their group #2 seed (St. Kitts & Nevis - 14th).

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Captain Ron

[SimonBolivar 10958]

53 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Because of COVID shortening the qualifying calendar, the format this year was brutal and unforgiving. 4 games instead of 8 really didn't give anyone a margin for error.

That said, by seed they went out as expected. Curacao is the 8th seeded team in the tournament, Guatemala is 13th.

Trinidad & Tobago is the one that should be embarrassed, they were the 6th seed of those in the first round (11th overall) and top seed in their group. They were knocked out by their group #2 seed (St. Kitts & Nevis - 14th).

 

Sure by seeding, but Guatemala is far and away the most populous country in Central America and they don't have baseball slowing them down. There's no reason for them to be so bad.

 

Of course nobody compares to Indonesia with their >100M people that view soccer as the top sport and they can't produce anything. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by SimonBolivar

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, good point.  Guatemala is 1/3rd of all the people of Central America.  Not one fucking pro baseball player.  And they don't seem to play football all that well either. Odd.

Indonesia isn't just >100m, it's almost 300m people.  (it'll catch the United States by 2040).  And haven't they only made the World Cup one time or some shit?  

 

[Captain Ron 12876]

CONCACAF and AFC played yesterday. 
 

AFC - just a little sorting out of teams. Australia punched their ticket to the next round, the final match day in this round will determine the teams. 
 

CONCACAF - the first of the home and homes was played, the usual suspects won their legs:

St. Kitts & Nevis 0-4 El Salvador
Haiti 0-1 Canda
Panama 2-1 Curacao

The second teams will be home team in the second leg. 

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

Wow.  I'm assuming some of this is Covid related, but in the Copa broadcast yesterday, they said Colombia had lost to Ecuador 6-1 in qualifying in November.

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:41 PM, Captain Ron said:

CONCACAF and AFC played yesterday. 
 

AFC - just a little sorting out of teams. Australia punched their ticket to the next round, the final match day in this round will determine the teams. 
 

CONCACAF - the first of the home and homes was played, the usual suspects won their legs:

St. Kitts & Nevis 0-4 El Salvador
Haiti 0-1 Canda
Panama 2-1 Curacao

The second teams will be home team in the second leg. 

Obviously El Salvador and probably Canada are through; however, that Panama game is going to be interesting assuming they're still using the away goals as an advantage.

[Captain Ron 12876]

12 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Wow.  I'm assuming some of this is Covid related, but in the Copa broadcast yesterday, they said Colombia had lost to Ecuador 6-1 in qualifying in November.

At home they have been tough it appears. Beat Uruguay 4-2 and that 6-1 win over Colombia. They did lose to Peru 1-2 though.

 

[Captain Ron 12876]

Asia has started their last matchday for round 2. Group play with 8 groups. 7 Group winners (Qatar won a group) + 5 best runner-ups advance (thus 3 miss out).

I woke up early and figured a lot of this out for some reason

Group H was finshed last match day
South Korea won the group, Lebanon has 10 points in the runner-up race. They are in a tenuous place and needs 2 more countries to remain behind them.

Group F finished play first today:
Japan 5-1 Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan 4-0 Myanmar
Japan had already won their group, these results bump Tajikistan into 2nd place over Kyrgyzstan. They are behind Lebanon in the runner-up standings.

A quick look at the rest of the groups:

Group A - Syria has won the group with 21 points. China is in 2nd with 16 points. They play head to head today in China (2 PM Eastern). With 10 points, China likely has enough points to advance to the next phase, but a win would guarantee that.

Group B - Australia has won the group with 21 points. Jordan sits second at 14 points, Kuwait 3rd at 11. Both of them are +11 GD.
Today's games - Australia v Jordan (noon) and Chinese Taipei v Kuwait (3 PM). If Kuwait overtakes Jordan for 2nd place likely that will eliminate both of them.

Group C - Still up for grabs. 1. Iraq 17 points, 2. Iran 15 points. They play today in Iran. If Iran wins, they probably both advance. If Iraq wins, Iran will be eliminated. A draw would help Iran too. 12:30 PM

Group D - almost identical to Group C. Saudi Arabia 17, Uzbekistan 15. They play today in Saudi Arabia with similar stakes.
THOUGH they have an interesting twist, because 5th place teams don't count against your 2nd place score, they very much care about the results of Palestine-Yemen today. That will determine the 5th place team - Yemen (currently) or Singapore. (These all kickoff at 2 PM)

Group E - Qatar has won the group (and can't advance in WC qualifying), Oman is going to finish 2nd. They travel to bottom dweller Bangladesh today (1 PM), if they win or draw, they advance. If they lose, they likely advance BUT could miss out on the next round (especially if Bangladesh climbs to 4th combined with an Afghanistan loss to India 10 AM - that would cost Oman points for 2nd place).

Group G - Vietnam 17 pts, UAE 15 points, they play in the UAE today. UAE needs at least a draw to have a chance to advance, a loss and they are done. Vietnam would likely advance with a draw. (12:45 PM)

Edited June 15, 2021 by Captain Ron

[Captain Ron 12876]

AFC follow up with 1 meaningless game still going on:

Group A - Syria, China
Group B - Australia
Group C - Iran, Iraq
Group D - Saudi Arabia
Group E - Oman (as runner-up to Qatar)
Group F - Japan
Group G - UAE, Vietnam
Group H - South Korea, Lebanon

Group winners in bold.

The draw for the 3rd round is June 24

[Ted Lange 16085]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:41 PM, Captain Ron said:

CONCACAF and AFC played yesterday. 
 

AFC - just a little sorting out of teams. Australia punched their ticket to the next round, the final match day in this round will determine the teams. 
 

CONCACAF - the first of the home and homes was played, the usual suspects won their legs:

St. Kitts & Nevis 0-4 El Salvador
Haiti 0-1 Canda
Panama 2-1 Curacao

The second teams will be home team in the second leg. 

No Copa tonight but we find out the final 3 teams of the OCHO tonight.  Canada on Paramount+ and Telemundo

[SimonBolivar 10958]

It'd be cool to see someone different make it. Syria, Iraq, China, Vietnam, UAE, Lebanon, or Oman would be an interesting change of pace.

Edited June 15, 2021 by SimonBolivar

[Trey3216 15346]

2 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

It'd be cool to see someone different make it. Syria, Iraq, China, Vietnam, UAE, Lebanon, or Oman would be an interesting change of pace.

In for the Lebanese lady fans on the screen.  And the Vietnamese too.  

[Captain Ron 12876]

Panama just had a PK that was saved. Still 0-0 in Curaçao.

No, I don’t know if they count away goals. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

Fuck it, I am pulling for Curaçao. If we don't get Trinidad and Tobago, then I want this tiny ass Ergilio Hato Stadium in the Octagonal. You can't beat this crap low angles and artificial turf!

 

OH MAN! Curaçao should have just scored, perfect ball into the box and #10 just missed it by inches on his head. 

75'

Edited June 16, 2021 by Captain Ron

[Captain Ron 12876]

19 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Panama just had a PK that was saved. Still 0-0 in Curaçao.

No, I don’t know if they count away goals. 

They DO count away goals. Curaçao just needs 1 goal.

81'

Edited June 16, 2021 by Captain Ron

[Captain Ron 12876]

Curacao just hit the crossbar on a clean shot!

And Panama with the time wasting. We see a stretcher.

84'

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

6 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Curacao just hit the crossbar on a clean shot!

And Panama with the time wasting. We see a stretcher.

84'

Curacao has dominated ever since Panama's missed PK.

[Captain Ron 12876]

There is no question who this announcer is pulling for. Bummer 0-0 today and Panama advances.

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

That sequence is proof that, no matter how many times you kick the ball straight at the keeper's chest, it's chances of going in are not going to improve. Hit it where they ain't, fella.

[Captain Ron 12876]

3 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

That sequence is proof that, no matter how many times you kick the ball straight at the keeper's chest, it's chances of going in are not going to improve. Hit it where they ain't, fella.

Yeah, the announcer was hyping up the Haitian keeper, and sure, he "made himself big" but all 3 shots were RIGHT AT HIM. He didn't do anything but stand there!

Canada is dominating possession, but not doing much with it early on. I should rephrase - they aren't doing much of quality with it. 

I also think the ref might have missed a foul in the box against Canada. Haitian defender kicked a Canadian player as he was about to take a shot. Bad no call, IMHO.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Captain Ron

[Captain Ron 12876]

Ok, now THAT was finally something good from Canada. They should have scored that, if not for an alert defender at the right place/time.

Haiti has no ability to link their play when they try to break. They seem to be trying to do it all alone taking the ball down and the play just stalls out.

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

The might be the worst thing I've ever seen. Not once, but twice.

[Captain Ron 12876]

WHOLE
LEE
SHIT

Are you kidding me on that OG?!?!?

[Captain Ron 12876]

https://streamja.com/qaaRG

You just gotta see it

[Captain Ron 12876]

Not that it mattered, but El Salvador scored early in their game (25' or so) and is up 5-0. St Kitt and Kaboodles is done done done.

I can't really say that there is much drama left in this match either. Haiti hasn't shown me that they can score a goal, much less two. They've only taken 2 shots in this game!

[Captain Ron 12876]

No second yellow? That is almost as bad as Herrera not getting a 2nd yellow.

[TexasMan 10891]

22 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

The might be the worst thing I've ever seen. Not once, but twice.

 

18 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

WHOLE
LEE
SHIT

Are you kidding me on that OG?!?!?

Big yikes

 

 

 

 

 

[Ted Lange 16085]

Wow. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

Well Canada gets a real one. Glad they did make the howler not hurt so bad. 2-0 on the night and 3-0 overall. 

[InkaUtexas 25940]

26 minutes ago, TexasMan said:

 

Big yikes

 

 

 

 

 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..

Definitely worse than the Scotland keeper. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

With the El Salvador match wrapping up, World Cup qualifying will take a break until September for all confederations.

 

Booo. But September - March is going to be a gauntlet for everyone.

[Firemans4Horn 18049]

[Captain Ron 12876]

The disparity of teams in Asia really results in some lopsided GD. Japan feasted on it, but weren't the only ones. China (30/+27), Australia (28,+26), Iran (34,+30) and South Korea (22/+21) all took part.

On the other end ... Guam -30, Chinese Taipei -30, Cambodia -42

[Helobious 9454]

I thought the US-Mexico game last week was for the right to qualify for the WC. Win or go home. Are they both qualified for it already? Or are neither qualified yet and that was just a bragging rights type of situation?

[Braff Zacklin 13573]

3 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I thought the US-Mexico game last week was for the right to qualify for the WC. Win or go home. Are they both qualified for it already? Or are neither qualified yet and that was just a bragging rights type of situation?

Last week's match was the final (championship) of the inaugural Nations League tournament, a relatively meaningless fixture put on by the local federation (CONCACAF) and exclusively featuring teams from that region. In other words, it was a "bragging rights type of situation."

The US and Mexico have not yet qualified for the 2022 World Cup. The final stage (Octagonal) of qualifying for the eight remaining eligible teams from the CONCACAF region begins in September and ends in March. The top three teams earn a ticket to the World Cup. The fourth-place team will have a home-and-home play-in, probably against the fifth-place side from CONMEBOL (South America), but I'm just guessing there and that might not be correct.

[InkaUtexas 25940]

9 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Fuck Burma. 

[Captain Ron 12876]

47 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I thought the US-Mexico game last week was for the right to qualify for the WC. Win or go home. Are they both qualified for it already? Or are neither qualified yet and that was just a bragging rights type of situation?

Honey, we went over this last week

 

Props to @Ted Lange for posting this.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Captain Ron

[Captain Ron 12876]

IT'S BACK!

So today we get Africa and UEFA!

This break everyone will be in action, except Oceana (who hasn't figured out their schedule of games yet).

[shnsajax 3591]

[Bottlecap 1523]

are these qualifiers streaming anywhere?

[Bottlecap 1523]

According to the internet:

ITA-BUL 1:45PM CT on ESPN

POR-IRE on TUDN.com, TUDNxtra, UniMás, TUDN USA, Univision NOW, TUDN App

FRA-BOZ on STUDN App, TUDN.com, TUDNxtra

I'm guessing a select amount of others will be on the ESPNs and ESPN+

[Captain Ron 12876]

Today's full slate of games:

Africa (AFC):

Central African Republic vs Cape Verde - 9am ET
Guinea-Bissau vs Guinea - Noon ET
Senegal vs Togo - Noon ET
Mali vs Rwanda - 3pm ET
Libya vs Gabon - 3pm ET

Europe (UEFA):

Kazakhstan vs Ukraine - 10am ET
Portugal vs Ireland - 2:45pm ET
France vs Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2:45pm ET
Latvia vs Gibraltar - 2:45pm ET
Norway vs Netherlands - 2:45pm ET
Faroe Islands vs Israel - 2:45pm ET
Moldova vs Austria - 2:45pm ET
Denmark vs Scotland - 2:45pm ET
Russia vs Croatia - 2:45pm ET
Luxembourg vs Azerbaijan - 2:45pm ET
Turkey vs Montenegro - 2:45pm ET
Slovenia vs Slovakia - 2:45pm ET
Malta vs Cyprus - 2:45pm ET

[Captain Ron 12876]

Central African Republic vs Cape Verde 1-1 draw

Kazakhstan vs Ukraine 2-2 draw

The first and last goals of this game ...

https://streamable.com/clpbpi

https://streamable.com/tlxbha

[Captain Ron 12876]

What the heck? They don't use the Goal Line Tech in the qualifiers? France just scored a goal that needed a VAR check.  Right call, just shocked they are using that not GLT.

[Scary Stranger 1714]

Holy Shit.  Fucking Ronaldo.