FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

[gallsman]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

[shark]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

And what about 16/48 ?
There will always be teams that underperform in a tournament that runs over a few weeks. The point I'm making is about qualification. At least half of the European places are picked up by teams in the top 10 in the world. The rest are fighting over crumbs, while 60% of South American teams will be there, along with an additional 4 Asian teams. Even Oman will piss through.

[seafoid]

Which is worse for a status team- not to qualify or to qualify but not make it to the second round ?

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

[Hound]

World Cup organisers are increasingly open to discarding the new three-team group format for the 2026 tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada. It comes after concerns that too many dead rubbers in the last round of matches could dilute the expanded, 48-team event.

Although Fifa's official position remains unaltered, multiple sources say there have been "informal talks" and "corridor chats" in Doha about the benefits of going with 12 groups of four teams rather than 16 groups of three.

That could lead to a 104-game World Cup if the top two in each group, plus the best eight third-placed sides, go through to a 32-team knockout stage – which is 40 more than will be played at Qatar 2022.

In a 3 team group with 2 qualifying, they'd need to make sure that whoever wins the first group game plays in the second group game. Then the 3rd group game should never be a dead rubber. If the first game is a draw, then the top seed plays the second game.
I think the main problem would be the potential for teams to be exactly level of goal difference, e.g. three 1-1 draws.
Van Basten has raised the idea of draws going straight to pen shootouts, with the winner of the shootout getting 2 points and the loser 1. Seems like a good idea for the purpose of that tournament.

[Armagh18]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

Unbeaten does not equal a decent team. And lets be honest if you can't beat Macedonia you have no business at a world cup.

[shark]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

Unbeaten does not equal a decent team. And lets be honest if you can't beat Macedonia you have no business at a world cup.

Macedonia would qualify from Asia for 2026. Easily.

[seafoid]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

In fairness they came second in their group and only 30% of second placed teams qualified. Scotland and Ukraine also had the mi adh.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

Unbeaten does not equal a decent team. And lets be honest if you can't beat Macedonia you have no business at a world cup.

Poor argument. Japan lost to Oman (Oman ffs) in the qualifiers and yet look at them now. Qatar are the actual current Asian champions. How? I have no idea

[Milltown Row2]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

Yes but Australia are in the second round and Denmark are out, finishing behind Tunisia by a 3 points ...

The world cup has shown that the teams from Asia and Africa can compete with the teams from Europe, Morocco and Japan topped their group. Ghana have a chance to get into the last 16as do Cameroon..

If France bate Germany and Spain in the group we'd all be saying its France's to lose, Japan did that and they will never get that recognition, just the fairy tale stuff

Been a good world cup for large parts

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

In fairness they came second in their group and only 30% of second placed teams qualified. Scotland and Ukraine also had the mi adh.

That's the point though. Second still got you qualified back in the day before they realised they could milk more money with all the extra playoff games

[seafoid]

Last couple of days going against the idea of us looking more European representation, 2 of the supposed better teams from Europe in Belgium and Germany embarrassed in the groups, plus last years Euro winners not even qualified. Still fancy France or maybe Portugal to win it though and that other shower to go deep.

Last years euros winners not qualifying surely shows why there should be more representation from Europe, not less. We are still looking at 6 of the last 8 being from Europe. Possible exception being USA making it 5. 2 of those 6 are in Ireland's next qualifying group. Thankfully in Euros there is a back door. Smaller European nations get screwed in this World Cup qualifying system.

13/32 places is grand for UEFA in a World Cup. Italy winning the Euros is irrelevant. They shat the bed in qualifying, end of story. Could just as easily make a spurious argument about how shit the likes of Wales, Germany, Denmark and Belgium have been, therefore they've no business being there.

Italy were unbeaten in their group. They lost one match against Macedonia and that was that, out. Have you seen the shit the likes of Australia play in Asia it would make non- league teams blush. World qualifying is the way forward and if the rest of the world is catching up well then they will be rewarded with even more places as of right and not as of some contrived shit from FIFA to rig it for marketing.

In fairness they came second in their group and only 30% of second placed teams qualified. Scotland and Ukraine also had the mi adh.

That's the point though. Second still got you qualified back in the day before they realised they could milk more money with all the extra playoff games

There are 10 groups. 6 would make more sense. Top 2 and no quailifiers

[David McKeown]

On the goal I see a lot of complaints that VAR awarded the goal without conclusive proof particularly from Souness who keeps calling for conclusive proof the ball was in. Is that not the wrong way to frame things. What I mean is surely if the on field officials think the ball is out the game stops and the goal kick is awarded. The goal then can't be given because the game has been stopped.

So in order to award the goal the goal must have been given and VAR would have had to have evidence to over turn it. So conclusive proof it was in isnt need and/or doesn't exist.

[Armagh18]

On the goal I see a lot of complaints that VAR awarded the goal without conclusive proof particularly from Souness who keeps calling for conclusive proof the ball was in. Is that not the wrong way to frame things. What I mean is surely if the on field officials think the ball is out the game stops and the goal kick is awarded. The goal then can't be given because the game has been stopped.

So in order to award the goal the goal must have been given and VAR would have had to have evidence to over turn it. So conclusive proof it was in isnt need and/or doesn't exist.

yeah surely conclusive proof of it being out would be needed in order to overturn the original decision. Haven't seen anything clear either way mysef tbh. Had to be very very fine margin

[Eire90]

it seemed to me spain try to be like the old spain with tiki taka  but they dont have the players to do it