Socceroos World Cup Qualifier Intercontinental Play-Off Peru V Australia

[Zidane98]

Iran I'd argue also belongs in that statement.

Iran are pretty low in the world of politics.

 

[giggler99]

With all due respect to the ME nations they dont need the money. They are autocracies run by royal families who spare no expense on their national teams. They need proper competition to harden them up and Australia certainly provides that to them. There also generally isnt much of a competitive sporting culture in those nations amongst kids which is something money cant change.

China is finding that out the hard way - theyve gone backwards since Xi gave football pretty much unlimited resources in an attempt to improve the game.

Australia as a whole offers plenty to AFC in the corporate world as well as on the pitch. I would say only the ME nations are not happy with the rest of AFC happy. And Saudi Arabia are the only nation in the region that are politically stronger than Australia.

Such as? Name an Aussie company that actually sponsors anything within the AFC? All I ever see are Middle Eastern, Chinese, Korean and Japanese companies. This is where Australia needs to pull its weight if it wants any say or be regarded as a powerhouse in the region. Being only good on the pitch isn’t merely enough.

 

[Zidane98]

Such as? Name an Aussie company that actually sponsors anything within the AFC? All I ever see are Middle Eastern, Chinese, Korean and Japanese companies. This is where Australia needs to pull its weight if it wants any say or be regarded as a powerhouse in the region. Being only good on the pitch isn’t merely enough.

We hosted the best Asian Cup by far this century.

 

[jakey]

This is legit now one of my favourite moments in Aussie sport. No name off brand keeper strolls in WC qualifier in the 120th minute and absolutely *s s**t up, mind games galore, tossing water bottles, kicking balls away, playing the absolute baboon. The BALLS! Even his face at the end was 100% rolled gold troll. Truly magnificent.

 

[giggler99]

We hosted the best Asian Cup by far this century.

yeah and none of the sponsors around the stadiums where Aussie

 

[Munga]

Then maybe Jordan, UAE, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Qatar, Thailand, Iraq etc? Looking at the teams these are sides that Australia would be heavily favoured to beat out for qualification. Eight slots is too many in my view - imagine Vietnam vs Brazil or Iraq vs Germany.

Not just Asia, there are too many spots all over the place. It'll be a different World Cup that's for sure.

This is from an old article, but if anything it probably shows that Asia have better "depth nations" than other confederations:

According to the FIFA world rankings, the top nine teams in Africa currently include Burkina Faso, who have never played at a World Cup, and Democratic Republic of Congo, who took part only once as Zaire in 1974.
CONCACAF'S top six include Panama and Haiti while St Kitts and Nevis are seventh.
Asia's top eight include Uzbekistan and Qatar while China are ninth and Syria 10th.

They could easily take one spot each from CONCACAF and CAF and whack them on AFC.
3.5 more spots, but bizarrely still unrepresented looking at what those other regions are putting up.

 

[Marcel Proust]

Outside of Mexico. CONCACAF is a joke

 

[Freomaniac]

Id have us in the big 4 ahead of Saudi. Historically weve been a far bettter nation football wise than them.

Other nations are Iraq / UAE / China / Qatar / Oman who would be competitive for a soot.

Jordan / Thailand / Vietnam are a step down and not a realistic chance of qualifying even with 8 nations going to 2026.

I would say that AFC teams qualifying wont change much from 2026 onwards. You would have a battle between Iraq / UAE / China / Qatar / Oman battling it out for the bottom 3 spots.

I would also throw Syria in that middle group.

Syria nearly made the 2018 world cup. A lot of neutrals wanted them to be good enough to make it.

Australia popped them at the final hurdle

 

[Zidane98]

I would also throw Syria in that middle group.

Syria nearly made the 2018 world cup. A lot of neutrals wanted them to be good enough to make it.

Australia popped them at the final hurdle

I remember Syria getting a very dodgy penalty away and in general being outplayed hugely over the 2 legs. They were lucky to get anywhere near us IIRC. Yeah they hit the post from a FK late in the second leg - Ryan had it covered.

 

[TommyD13]

Not just Asia, there are too many spots all over the place. It'll be a different World Cup that's for sure.

This is from an old article, but if anything it probably shows that Asia have better "depth nations" than other confederations:

According to the FIFA world rankings, the top nine teams in Africa currently include Burkina Faso, who have never played at a World Cup, and Democratic Republic of Congo, who took part only once as Zaire in 1974.
CONCACAF'S top six include Panama and Haiti while St Kitts and Nevis are seventh.
Asia's top eight include Uzbekistan and Qatar while China are ninth and Syria 10th.

They could easily take one spot each from CONCACAF and CAF and whack them on AFC.
3.5 more spots, but bizarrely still unrepresented looking at what those other regions are putting up.

Always think if they are going to expand, needs to be to 64 sides, or just keep it at 32 (definitely my preference). 3 team groups are a joke, but not sure how you expand the cup whilst also maintaining integrity. Not a fan of uneven groups, and also not a fan of best 4 ranked second placed sides or something like that going through either. Leaves either 32 or 64 for me. Should have left it at 32, don't try and fix what isn't broken. Could have potentially altered slot allocation to improve equity across continents, but personally I am absolutely fine with how it is.

 

[FreoRicci]

Austrslia brings serious credibility to AFC. Theres no chance that we leave AFC, we are one of the most powerful nations in it! Japan & South Korea would be seriously pissed if we left and there would definitely be less WC qualifying spots for AFC.

Never been a good feeling playing in the AFC. The Middle East countries hate Australia. Wouldn’t be surprised if they try and vote out Australia.
Eh. It’s really competitive and a great learning curve for players. Just the qualification of OFC was brutal. Almost like guaranteeing another spot for South America. Glad was at least CONCACAF. Somewhat competitive for Oceania.

 

[FreoRicci]

Outside of Mexico. CONCACAF is a joke

Not particularly. Really envious of USA, who are a model of what Australia can do. Not the number 1 nor 2 even 3 hell not even 10 sport in the country yet have good model of a league which has 20k stadiums and ideal development. Don’t bite off more then what they can chew

But you’re right, CONCACAF is a joke. Mexico automatically qualifies every time with USA. Just a mere formality

 

[gaskin]

It also helps having a population 10-15 times the size we do.

 

[FreoRicci]

It also helps having a population 10-15 times the size we do.

Don’t think it’s quantity.
Croatia is a prime example of taking it way beyond what they have. 4 million, yet can beat the best counties in the world on their day

 

[ioppolo]

The west Asian resistance is understandable (aside from the lack of financial benefits, the sheer distance and extremely weak competition) but this could have been easily solved like with divisions and pre-qualifying rounds. Anyway, the point is moot now.

I wonder who would be the most favoured to gain near-automatic qualification every campaign now there's at least eight slots - in my opinion:

Iran
Saudi Arabia
Japan
South Korea

The 'big 4'.

Australia would surely not sit too far behind them or at the least in the mix.

Then maybe Jordan, UAE, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Qatar, Thailand, Iraq etc? Looking at the teams these are sides that Australia would be heavily favoured to beat out for qualification. Eight slots is too many in my view - imagine Vietnam vs Brazil or Iraq vs Germany.

Not enough credit to Iraq. They're not a bad team.
15 years is a long time but they do have an Asian Cup in their trophy cabinet.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I hope someone pointed out to Redmayne that it was the pen where he stopped being a flog and steadied himself that he saved.

Outstanding shithousery with the water bottle though.

 

[Pessimistic]

I hope someone pointed out to Redmayne that it was the pen where he stopped being a flog and steadied himself that he saved.

Outstanding shithousery with the water bottle though.

Maybe that was the plan

I’m fascinated tha in penalty shoot outs, the team which misses the first penalty wins the shoot out a lot more often than they really should

Or maybe not

Statistics to win penalty shoot-outs

Statistics to win penalty shoot-outs With the World Cup nearly upon us we can look forward to another heroic defeat on penalties by England. England are in fact the worst country of any of the maj…

ibmathsresources.com

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Longer clip of the Peruvian keeper checking his notes then Redmayne chucking away the bottle.

 

[Zidane98]

Never been a good feeling playing in the AFC. The Middle East countries hate Australia. Wouldn’t be surprised if they try and vote out Australia.
Eh. It’s really competitive and a great learning curve for players. Just the qualification of OFC was brutal. Almost like guaranteeing another spot for South America. Glad was at least CONCACAF. Somewhat competitive for Oceania.

Australia will never leave AFC as it weakens the confederation significantly. The vast majority of nations in AFC are happy with Australia. The only few that aren't are the ones that are not good enough to be on Iran/Sth Korea/Japan's level and struggle to qualify but that's no longer an issue with 8 teams going through. If anything, AFC needs strengthening with nations that can offer competitive national teams. Kazakhstan switched from AFC to UEFA. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come back to AFC.

Oceania as a sub association of AFC would definitely strengthen AFC. Oceania nations would just play amongst themselves with the winner (NZ pretty much a guarantee) going into the last round of qualifying. Adding NZ/Kakahstan to the Asian Cup would also significantly strengthen the Asian Cup.

 

[Zidane98]

Not particularly. Really envious of USA, who are a model of what Australia can do. Not the number 1 nor 2 even 3 hell not even 10 sport in the country yet have good model of a league which has 20k stadiums and ideal development. Don’t bite off more then what they can chew

But you’re right, CONCACAF is a joke. Mexico automatically qualifies every time with USA. Just a mere formality

USA does have 300 million plus population. Also has to be mentioned that back in 2006 the US were actually behind us despite a clear financial advantage from a large population.

 

[Elmer_Judd]

Rapt for Graham Arnold.

Way to stick it up the haters, getting us into the World Cup with this ratchet squad is an extraordinary effort.

 

[Pessimistic]

Australia will never leave AFC as it weakens the confederation significantly. The vast majority of nations in AFC are happy with Australia. The only few that aren't are the ones that are not good enough to be on Iran/Sth Korea/Japan's level and struggle to qualify but that's no longer an issue with 8 teams going through. If anything, AFC needs strengthening with nations that can offer competitive national teams. Kazakhstan switched from AFC to UEFA. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come back to AFC.

Oceania as a sub association of AFC would definitely strengthen AFC. Oceania nations would just play amongst themselves with the winner (NZ pretty much a guarantee) going into the last round of qualifying. Adding NZ/Kakahstan to the Asian Cup would also significantly strengthen the Asian Cup.

There should be an east Asia club super league, with a couple of Australian based clubs. It would be awesome

 

[Zidane98]

There should be an east Asia club super league, with a couple of Australian based clubs. It would be awesome

A good idea considering the timezones.

 

[Pessimistic]

Rapt for Graham Arnold.

Way to stick it up the haters, getting us into the World Cup with this ratchet squad is an extraordinary effort.

58th worldwide in value, 50 mill euro. Which is an efl championship level

The most valuable national teams

www.transfermarkt.com