208 to 1. The Countdown to the 2014 World Cup.

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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Denmark would have score three away goals.
leohoenig
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SO in this, the final days of qualifying, each match is resolved into one qualifyer, and one team out.

22. Nigeria. 43. Ethiopia

With Nigeria leading from the away leg, this was likely to be comfortable and a penalty scored by Victor Moses on 20 minutes made it more so. Vicor Obinna added a second to give a 4-1 aggregate



23. Cote d'Ivoire. 42. Senegal

Senegal were handicapped by playing their home leg in Casablanca, after a riot in last year African Cup Qualification while losing to the Ivorians.

Still, Senegal, coached by Alain Giresse took the lead with less than 15 minutes to play from a Moussa Sow penalty. This reduced the aggregate deficit to 3-2, but the away goal meant another would put Senegal through. Cote d'Ivoire only breathed easily after an injury time equaliser in the game, from Solomon Kalou. Kalou is to some extent, Sow's replacement in the Lille team after Sow moved to Fenerbache



then on to Sunday.



24. Cameroon. 41. Tunisia

Another Fenerbache player, Webo opened the scoring for Cameroon early in the game, giving them a lead after a scoreless draw in Tunisia. Moukandjo added a second before half time. If Tunisia had time to hope when Akaichi, then two goals from Makoun ended this time.



Ghana will be the next through, Egypt are not going to overturn a 6-1 deficit. The final African game, in which Algeria start from 3-2 down to Burkina Faso is somewhat closer. That will gve 26 through, and numbers 40 and 39 on the count down list. Europe will take each list four teams further on, during Tuesday evening with the Intercontinental games on Wednesday
leohoenig
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Today in Africa.

25. Ghana. 40. Egypt.

Egypt scored in the first half and led by 2-0 with less than ten minutes to play. There was no chance for them to add the three more they needed and Kevin Prince Boateng pulled one back for Ghana at the end, to give them a place in Brazil on a 7-2 aggregate.

26. Algeria. 39. Burkina Faso

The closest of the African matches is won thanks to the two away goals Algeria scored in Burkina Faso. The 3-2 defeat meant a single goal win by 1-0 or 2-1 would be enough. The only goalscorer being Madjid Bougherra, the former Charlton and Rangers defender who now plays in Qatar - and so Algeria make it by the away goals rule
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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France! Allez Les Bleus.
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taxidave
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:France! Allez Les Bleus.
You really do amaze me, you cheer on France but don't give a sh!t about England. :(
leohoenig
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Four places for the Europeans.

27. Greece. 38. Romania
No surprise that the Greeks made it, after leading 3-1 from the first leg. If Romania's hopes depended on the away goal in the first leg - this was cancelled out when Mitroglou scored midway through the first half for the Greeks. An own goal, ten minutes into the second half gave Greece a draw on the night, but they went out 4-2 on aggregate

28. Croatia. 37. Iceland
A scoreless draw in Iceland was not enough, and even the sending off of Bayern's Mario Mandzukic seven minutes before half time did not halt Croatia. Mandzukic had scored before getting his red card, and Darijo Srna added a second early in the second half. Croatia won 2-0 on the night, and on aggregate

29. Portugal. 36. Sweden
And so to Zlatan and Cristiano. Portugal were one up going into the game, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's goal. No goals in the first half, but Ronaldo again broke the deadlock early in the second half. Then Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck twice to give the Swedes hope, but not the overall lead as Portugal would have gone through on goal difference. Not to be outdone, Ronaldo hit two more of his own, and Portugal win 4-2 on aggregate.

30. France. 35. Ukraine
France levelled the aggregate in the first half. Mamadou Sakho and Karim Benzema getting the goals. Still, they needed some help, and they got it. Ukraine were handicapped by Khacherida getting a second yellow card at the start of the second half, and then went behind on aggregate with Oleh Huysev's own goal.
Andy
What four teams are left to battle for the last two spaces Leo?
Si Robin
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Mexico, Uruguay, Jordan and New Zealand Andy.

I forget who is playing whom, but I know that Mexico and Uruguay are so far ahead in their respective matches that they have all but qualified, with the 2nd legs unlikely to see the turnarounds required from Jordan and New Zealand.

EDIT - A quick scan of the previous page shows the results from the 1st legs as:

Jordan 0-5 Uruguay
Mexico 5-1 New Zealand
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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taxidave wrote:
RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:France! Allez Les Bleus.
You really do amaze me, you cheer on France but don't give a sh!t about England. :(
Will be right behind England when the competition starts with a passion no matter what. And might want France gone in round one depending who is in their group.

I just don't care about friendlies. If a game has no meaning it doesn't grab my attention.
leohoenig
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31. Mexico. 34. New Zealand
As we already new, Mexico would take their place, and Oceania would not be represented. Mexico led 5-1 from the first leg, with two of the goals from Oribe Peralta, and the New Zealand goal a late consolation. A first half hat-trick by Peralta raised the margin somewhat higher. New Zealand regained some repsect, if not parity late in the game. Chris James, who plays in Finland (I saw him score in the Champions League for Tampere - he has also played a few games for Barnet), scored from the penalty spot on 80 minutes, and St. Johnstone's Rory Fallon added a second. Mexico scored again on 90 minutes for mae it 9-3 on aggregate
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32. Uruguay. 33. Jordan
The qualifying trail ends with a wimper, as Uruguay and Jordan draw 0-0 in Montevideo. A surprising result given the 5-0 thrashing that Uruguay handed out on Jordanian soil a week ago. Uruguay are reportedto have dominated the game, with Diego Godin coming the closest, heading against the bar in the first half.
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Shade
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Uruguay v Jordan was live on the seemingly subscription free LiverpoolFCTV last night. I'm sure they were hoping to see a Suarez hat-trick.
I found it at half time and then unfortunately forgot all about it as the Ashes was about to start. So I was glad to see it was 0-0 and I didn't miss anything!
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FIFA announce the pots for the "seeding" tomorrow. It is likely to be a choice between straight geographic choice, or plain seeding.

It is known that FIFA are not likely to allow more than one team from any confederation other than UEFA in a single group, and no more than two Europeans

The top seeds group is known, FIFA rankings in brackets

Brazil (11), Spain (1), Germany (2), Argentina (3), Columbia (4), Belgium (5), Uruguay (6), Switzerland (7).

If by Geographic regions, the most likely is

Europeans - Netherlands (8), Italy (9), England (10), Portugal (14), Greece (15), Bosnia (16), Croatia (18), Russia (19)
Group 3 - The last European, the other two South Americans, and The Africans (conevniently 5 in number)
Chile (12), Ivory Coast (17), France (21), Ecuador (22), Ghana (23), Algeria (32), Nigeria (33) and Cameroon (59)
Group 4 - CONCACAF and Asia (4 of each)
USA (13), Mexico (24), Costa Rica (31), Honduras (34), Japan (44), Iran (49), South Korea (56), Australia (57)

With this, limitations are simple, France cannot draw a group already containing two Europeans (i.e they must pick a South American from the top seeds), while Chile and Ecuador cannot draw a South American from the top seeds. It also contains the making of truly strong groups, maybe Argentina, Netherlands, France and USA - but also rather weak ones such Switzerland, Russia, Cameroon and Australia.


To pick on seeding alone
Second seeds: Netherlands (8), Italy (9), England (10), Chile (12), USA (13), Portugal (14), Greece (15) and Bosnia (16)
Third Seeds: Ivory Coast (17), Croatia (18), Russia (19), France (21), Ecuador (22), Ghana (23), Mexico (24) and Costa Rica (31)
Lowest Seeds: Algeria (32), Nigeria (33), Honduras (34), Japan (44), Iran (49), South Korea (56), Australia (57) and Cameroon (59)

This causes confusion if maintaining the geographic rules. When the second seeds are drawn, the only rule would be that Chile must join a European, meaning either two or three groups would have two Europeans. It is the third grouping that gets complex. Ecuador can only be placed in three of the groups, the last three Europeans have two or three groups prohibited. Mexico and Costa Rica would not be allowed to draw against USA.

The lowest seeds group contains all four Asians, so they can still draw anyone - Honduras cannot draw any of the other three CONCACAF teams, and the three Africans in this grouping cannot draw the two better seeded Africans.

In this version, Argentina, Netherlands and France can still be drawn together, but they would be promised a weaker fourth team, while Cameroon and Australia cannot be drawn together, although either one can still draw both Switzerland and Russia - if this happened, then the fourth team would be either USA or Chile.

A third possibility is a bit of a hybrid. As the seedings show that generally Africans and Asians get the lowest seeds, Ghana could be placed into this seeding group, swopping with Honduras. This choice of geographic seeding is most likely to be a variant of the first suggestion, with Group 2 still containing 8 Europeans (but not France), and Group 3 containing all four CONCACAF teams, the remaining two South Americans, plus France and the Ivory Coast. By taking this mixed group last, this is the only one that would have complex rules.
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Malabus
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leohoenig wrote:FIFA announce the pots for the "seeding" tomorrow.
How will you sleep Leo. ;-)
Ralph
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Any idea What time the draw is today

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Andy
I think the tele start something about 4pm / 4.30ish so either straight away then or about 8 tonight depending on how much they can stretch out the intro...
Si Robin
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Draw not expected to get away until about 5pm.
Ralph
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Well that's us out in the first round possibly. Group of death is the USA one with Germany, Ghana and Portugal

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Andy
All I've seen on Facebook and Twitter is negativity over the World Cup because of the tough group England have been drawn in. So what. At least it's still 3 more games than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland get.
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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I fancy England to get second. Italy will be a close game but they are not much special and can be beaten.

Suarez will see Uruguay through unless Gerrard snaps his shins in training. The other half of Europe's best traditional strike partnership, Sturridge, could see England follow close behind.

Switzerland get their usual joke draw. Three 1-1 draws to come second in the group is a dead cert.
Si Robin
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Italy are notoriously slow starters in tournaments, if we can handle the mugginess well then they are perfectly beatable.

Uruguay I expect us to lose, but then they did need a playoff to qualify so maybe they're not as special as people are making out.

We should be beating Costa Rica.

I think we could make the quarter finals, from there a rub of the green and you just never know....
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Si Robin wrote:Italy are notoriously slow starters in tournaments, if we can handle the mugginess well then they are perfectly beatable.

Uruguay I expect us to lose, but then they did need a playoff to qualify so maybe they're not as special as people are making out.

We should be beating Costa Rica.

I think we could make the quarter finals, from there a rub of the green and you just never know....
If we get out the group is basically a bye in the next round as would be made to play on of these teams:

Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan.

Coming second in our group would mean we face the winner of the Brazil vs Spain/Holland game in the quarters.
Andy
Typical tele rules the kick off times yet again. Surely if its that hot out there then a 2am kick off our time (9pm Brazil) would be better for the team welfare for our first game. Now its been brought forward 3 hours just for the tele. Yes, great for us viewers but not so great for the welfare of the team when its likely to still be quite hot early evening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25281867" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
leohoenig
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Time to restart this thread as the last 32 get reduced from tonight
Group A. If there is a loser in the Cameroon v Chile Group A game, then this team has been knocked out. A draw means both sides still have a chance to go through.

Group B. If the winners are Netherlands and Chile, then both of the pair are through, and both the others are out
If one out of Netherlands/Chile wins, with the other match ending in a draw then the team on six points is through and the team on zero is out.
If one of Netherlands/Chile wins, and the other loses then we have one team on six points, two on three and one on zero, meaning the final possibilities include three teams on three points or three teams on six, so nothing is decided
Similarly, if neither Netherlands or Chile win, then nothing is decided

Groups C/D. IN both groups, two winners play each other in one match, (Columbia v Cote d'Ivoire, Costa Rica v Italy). As with Brazil v Mexico, should these matches be drawn, then a loser in the other game is knocked out. Should one team win in these games, then three on three, or three on six remain options, but it depends on the detail. Should Italy and Uruguay win, then England can still go through on three points, but should Italy and England win, Uruguay are out and Italy are through. Similarly, wins for both Costa Rica and Uruguay put Costa Rica through and England out. No team can be knocked out, or qualify from the second match by drawing, but if one match is drawn then a team on six points is through and a team on zero is out.
When the two winners of the first games play in the second match and draw, then both know that whatever the other group match results, a draw will be enough for them in the final game.
Si Robin
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Cameroon v Croatia Leo.
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Love it if Spain are the first eliminated.
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32. Spain
31. Australia

both out at the same time, but I am calling it on goal difference
Chile and Netherlands through to Round 2.
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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YES.
leohoenig
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30. Cameroon
RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Haha Cameroon doing little to disprove the stereotype that African nations are a shambles who can't defend or play as as a team. This three minutes alone shows how laughable they are:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25285162" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
leohoenig
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It is often said that a slow start and improving is the way to win the cup, but Spain winning the cup after losing the first game was the exception, rather than the rule. Of the four cups featuring 32 teams, Spain were the only one to lose a match en route to the title. Italy drew one group game in 2006, while Brazil (2002) and France (1998) both came through the groups on 9 points.

While the maths say it is possible to fail to get out of the groups with six points and still possible to get through with just two, reality is different.

The last four cups have 64 teams getting out of the group stage. Every team managing five or more points gets through - this accounts for 52 of the 64.

11 teams got through on 4 points, while Chile (1998) made it after three draws.

35 eliminated teams get 0,1 or 2 points. 17 are eliminated with three, and 12 with four.

We came closest to a six point elimination in 2010, when Spain and Chile both had six, Switzerland were expected to reach six, playing Honduras in the last game, (Honduras having lost to both Chile and Spain), but the game ended 0-0
leohoenig
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29. England
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28. Bosnia
(Herzogovina are also out 8-) )
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27. Croatia
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26. Italy
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