World Cup Qualifying

[jdl22]

Today is the final day for qualification to the world cup finals. There are five matches played, all second legs of home and home series:
Australia - Uruguay (first leg 0-1)
Bahrain - Trinidad (first leg 1-1)
Turkey - Switzerland (first leg 0-2)
Slovakia - Spain (first leg 1-5)
Czech Republic - Norway (first leg 1-0)

For those unfamiliar they play one match in each country. At the end the two scores are added together. If one team is ahead they win and qualify. If they are tied then the team scoring the most away goals goes through. If they are tied with the same away goals then they play extra time followed by a shootout. In the above list the home team for the second leg is listed first.

I'm going to be boring and pick Uruguay, Bahrain, Switzerland, Spain and the Czech Republic. Biggest surprise is Switzerland I would say. I was talking to a couple Turkish professors today and they said that they were completely dominated in the first leg and could easily have gone down 4 or 5 nil. Spain going through is obvious. Bahrain I'm only choosing based on getting an away goal and hence having a nil-nil draw get them through. Similarly I'm picking Uruguay over Australia, though Australia are easily the most likely to overcome the first leg deficit. I have problems going forward and have to score 2 so I don't think they have much of a chance.

In case you don't know here are those countries already in, along with date qualified. This info comes from fifaworldcup.com

African Zone (5 Teams)
Angola (ANG) 08-Oct-05
Cote d'Ivoire (CIV) 08-Oct-05
Togo (TOG) 08-Oct-05
Ghana (GHA) 08-Oct-05
Tunisia (TUN) 08-Oct-05

European Zone (14 Teams)
Germany (GER) Host
Ukraine (UKR) 03-Sep-05
Netherlands (NED) 08-Oct-05
Poland (POL) 08-Oct-05
England (ENG) 08-Oct-05
Croatia (CRO) 08-Oct-05
Italy (ITA) 08-Oct-05
Portugal (POR) 08-Oct-05
Sweden (SWE) 12-Oct-05
Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) 12-Oct-05
France (FRA) 12-Oct-05

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone (3.5 Teams)
USA (USA) 03-Sep-05
Mexico (MEX) 07-Sep-05
Costa Rica (CRC) 08-Oct-05

South American Zone (4.5 Teams)
Argentina (ARG) 08-Jun-05
Brazil (BRA) 04-Sep-05
Ecuador (ECU) 08-Oct-05
Paraguay (PAR) 08-Oct-05

[kenberman]

this whole system is weird. how has Togo qualified, but not the Czech's or Spain?

at the same time, there are probably too many spots given to European teams.

I know it's practical, but I don't think geography should play a role in team selection. it's kind of like the ACC and Big East being given 7 teams in the NCAA tourney, regardless of how good those teams are, and smaller conferences granted 1 and 1 only team.

[smb394]

The qualified from teams from Asia (all qualified 08-Jun-05) are:

Japan
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Korea Republic

[HoldingFolding]

Grats to Oz on qualifying - a fine effort. It's amazing how good they are at sport considering their population. And that's from a Pom!

[jdl22]

[ QUOTE ]

this whole system is weird. how has Togo qualified, but not the Czech's or Spain?

at the same time, there are probably too many spots given to European teams.

I know it's practical, but I don't think geography should play a role in team selection. it's kind of like the ACC and Big East being given 7 teams in the NCAA tourney, regardless of how good those teams are, and smaller conferences granted 1 and 1 only team.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is very important that the world cup be a worldwide evenet. As such all regions need to get solid representation. Not unlike the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, part of the fun is the upsets. Having Senegal beat France last WC was big for instance.

Tiny countries like Togo being able to make it is necesary and good in the end. A team with any sort of reasonable shot at winning will still qualify. I think they need to tweak the number of qualifying teams perhaps but it still should be the case that countries like Togo qualify.

Also, most likely both the Czech Republic and Spain will qualify. As I pointed out in the OP they are playing today in the second leg of a home and home series and are ahead going into today. Spain is pretty much a lock, they would have to lose 4-0 or if they score they would have to lose by 5 goals to not go through. While the Spanish are amazing choke artists in international competitions this is beyond even them. The Czech republic won the first leg away 0-1 so they just need to draw at home against Norway, a national team with a reputation for being very solid in defense but not very good at creating scoring chances.

[jdl22]

[ QUOTE ]
The qualified from teams from Asia (all qualified 08-Jun-05) are:

Japan
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Korea Republic

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, I did a poor job with the copy and paste [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[RRRRICK]

Finally after 32 years of disapointment we're in.

It's been a long night of celebration in OZ.

[partygirluk]

[ QUOTE ]

Finally after 32 years of disapointment we're in.

It's been a long night of celebration in OZ.

[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats! Would be great to be drawn in your group. How big of a deal is this down under?

[RRRRICK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Finally after 32 years of disapointment we're in.

It's been a long night of celebration in OZ.

[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats! Would be great to be drawn in your group. How big of a deal is this down under?

[/ QUOTE ]

Its one of the proudest sporting moments in Australian history. That says a lot given Australia is a sporting nation with many achievements over the years in Cricket, Rugby, The Olympics.

But this is the World Cup, the biggest stage of the biggest sport and we are delirious with joy

[jstnrgrs]

When is the draw?