Resource Non-AFL General Chat

[Dockeroo]

Qualified for every World Cup, won an Asian Cup which is more trophies than England in 60 years, and an Aussie winning trophies in Europe. You'd have taken that 20 years ago.

A league sucks because the media is hostile to it and most half decent youngsters get snapped up by European clubs. It's also on a streaming service with no reach, it was way bigger on Foxtel but when they lost the rights all of News Corp would run hit pieces about hooligan fans. Not to say anything about the clowns at Football Australia

To be fair the epicentre of football is Europe. Very very hard to set up an A league to be a serious level of football.
If high quality talent started coming through the A league it would simply become a feeder league to big European clubs anyway. We see it already - if there’s a sniff of a potential future talent in the A league they are off and gone to Europe at 17 or 18.

Every serious pro soccer player worth their salt is plying his trade in Europe.
Even leagues like the Greek or Dutch league would be paying a heck of a lot more $$ than a A league club can afford.

That’s not to mention the crowded Australian sporting landscape with the AFL and others dominating

 

[Docker82]

To be fair the epicentre of football is Europe. Very very hard to set up an A league to be a serious level of football.
If high quality talent started coming through the A league it would simply become a feeder league to big European clubs anyway. We see it already - if there’s a sniff of a potential future talent in the A league they are off and gone to Europe at 17 or 18.

Every serious pro soccer player worth their salt is plying his trade in Europe.
Even leagues like the Greek or Dutch league would be paying a heck of a lot more $$ than a A league club can afford.

That’s not to mention the crowded Australian sporting landscape with the AFL and others dominating

Think there should probably be more European slots in the World Cup.

The Italians complained about Africa but tbh I'd be looking more at Asia and North America - And how New Zealand basically needs to show up to qualifiers to make the World Cup now!

 

[Dockeroo]

About half the teams will be way worse than Ireland. Problem is the format is essentially one-legged round of 16, then one-legged quarter final format ending with four teams making the World Cup. Then penalties come in if it's draw after extra time. They'll be upsets and the best teams on paper might not get in.

An upset could see Germany in the qualifiers which is nuts.

They are seeded into pots of 4 and we will be in pot 3 most likely (unless Macedonia upset wales tonight). We’ll play a pot 2 side away from home in that case. Italy are in pot 1 and will likely play a minnow from pot 4.

Avoiding being the one of 4 pairings from pot 2/3 that have to face Italy in the final playoff is the important thing

 

[Dockeroo]

Think there should probably be more European slots in the World Cup.

The Italians complained about Africa but tbh I'd be looking more at Asia and North America - And how New Zealand basically needs to show up to qualifiers to make the World Cup now!

Couldn’t agree more it’s nuts. I’d safely say at least 25 of the world’s best 48 sides are in Europe but only 16 go to the finals.
Farcical how New Zealand stroll in by beating up on a few pacific island minnows while in Europe beating the likes of Portugal only gets a playoff.

FIFA level of corruption makes the AFL boys club look like Jesus of Nazareth’s disciples so it ain’t going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Lach72]

Scotland into the World Cup

 

[Purple Suit]

Couldn’t agree more it’s nuts. I’d safely say at least 25 of the world’s best 48 sides are in Europe but only 16 go to the finals.
Farcical how New Zealand stroll in by beating up on a few pacific island minnows while in Europe beating the likes of Portugal only gets a playoff.

FIFA level of corruption makes the AFL boys club look like Jesus of Nazareth’s disciples so it ain’t going to happen anytime soon.

It’s the World Cup, it needs the world there. If you weren’t good enough to be in the top 16 (1/3 of all teams) of your region then bad luck. Some gun South American teams use to be in the same boat.

Did they change NZ going through South America for a play off like we use to do?

 

[stax on the mull]

It’s the World Cup, it needs the world there. If you weren’t good enough to be in the top 16 (1/3 of all teams) of your region then bad luck. Some gun South American teams use to be in the same boat.

Did they change NZ going through South America for a play off like we use to do?

There's now a direct qualification for the top team in Oceania (OFC) so New Zealand won their way through that.

There's a play-off spot for New Caledonia who were the runners up to NZ.

In the play-offs there's: 1 team from Oceania (New Caledonia), Asia (Iraq), Africa (Congo), South America (Bolivia) and 2 teams from North/Central America aka CONCACAF - those games are being played this morning - starting 9am WST. USA Canada and Mexico are host nations, so they already had places. From that confederation, there's 3 more teams that will qualify by finishing top of their group of 4, plus the 2 best runners up are the teams that go to the play offs.

There's a draw tomorrow for those inter-continental play-off games which will happen in March 2026 - although there's also a complicated system where there's 2 teams out of the 6 play-off teams that are seeded according to FIFA rankings that wait out for the 1st round for the other 4 teams to play knock-out games. The winners of each knock-out between these unseeded 4 teams then play the top 2 seeded teams to determine which two teams make the last 2 places for the World Cup.

We didn't always match up against South America in the play offs when Australia was part of the OFC. There was Iran that beat us on away goals. South Korea we beat to make it to the World Cup in 1974. There's a couple of other non-South American teams we lost to along the way. When we had the play-off against Peru it was because of our finishing position in the Asia Confederation, as it was when he had to win vs. Honduras. The win against Uruguay to get to the 2006 World Cup was the last time we were the team from Oceania (OFC).

 

[Purple Suit]

There's now a direct qualification for the top team in Oceania (OFC) so New Zealand won their way through that.

There's a play-off spot for New Caledonia who were the runners up to NZ.

In the play-offs there's: 1 team from Oceania (New Caledonia), Asia (Iraq), Africa (Congo), South America (Bolivia) and 2 teams from North/Central America aka CONCACAF - those games are being played this morning - starting 9am WST. USA Canada and Mexico are host nations, so they already had places. From that confederation, there's 3 more teams that will qualify by finishing top of their group of 4, plus the 2 best runners up are the teams that go to the play offs.

There's a draw tomorrow for those inter-continental play-off games which will happen in March 2026 - although there's also a complicated system where there's 2 teams out of the 6 play-off teams that are seeded according to FIFA rankings that wait out for the 1st round for the other 4 teams to play knock-out games. The winners of each knock-out between these unseeded 4 teams then play the top 2 seeded teams to determine which two teams make the last 2 places for the World Cup.

We didn't always match up against South America in the play offs when Australia was part of the OFC. There was Iran that beat us on away goals, and I think a few before that. South Korea we beat to make it to the World Cup in 1974. There's a couple of other non-South American teams we lost to along the way. When we had the play-off against Peru it was because of our finishing position in the Asia Confederation, as it was when he had to play Honduras. The win against Uruguay to get to the 2006 World Cup was the last time we were the team from Oceania (OFC).

I suppose Australia could also request to go back to Oceania for an easier route but I don't think that is good for improving the team. I'm surprised the Asian teams aren't trying to make us considering we have always grabbed a WC spot since we moved.

 

[stax on the mull]

I suppose Australia could also request to go back to Oceania for an easier route but I don't think that is good for improving the team. I'm surprised the Asian teams aren't trying to make us considering we have always grabbed a WC spot since we moved.

In the past I've heard some commentators sometimes drop hints that there's other teams in the AFC that aren't happy we're in there. There's also the weird situation where a NZ team play in our domestic competition - an OFC team playing in competition of an AFC team which apparently irked FIFA, maybe still does.

I'm just looking at the EURO qualifications and I notice Israel is there. I think maybe they were one of the teams that knocked us out way back in time in a play-off qualifier, although they might have been in a different confederation.

 

[Purple Suit]

In the past I've heard some commentators sometimes drop hints that there's other teams in the AFC that aren't happy we're in there. There's also the weird situation where a NZ team play in our domestic competition - an OFC team playing in competition of an AFC team which apparently irked FIFA, maybe still does.

I'm just looking at the EURO qualifications and I notice Israel is there. I think maybe they were one of the teams that knocked us out way back in time in a play-off qualifier, although they might have been in a different confederation.

I assume Israel must be in there for political reasons. Can't go playing all the Middle Eastern Countries and be a massive target for extremists.

I only really followed from the 90's when there were a lot of South America whooping's from Uruguay and others but can't remember playing them. I do remember that idiot who cut the net against Iran when we were up 2-0 at home in 97 (lost 3-3). I hope the Karma Bus has run over him since then and also backed back over him.

 

[stax on the mull]

I assume Israel must be in there for political reasons. Can't go playing all the Middle Eastern Countries and be a massive target for extremists.

I only really followed from the 90's when there were a lot of South America whooping's from Uruguay and others but can't remember playing them. I do remember that idiot who cut the net against Iran when we were up 2-0 at home in 97 (lost 3-3). I hope the Karma Bus has run over him since then and also backed back over him.

1970 is the only time Israel Qualified in a group of 16. In 1969 they beat Australia in Tel Aviv 1-0 and then drew 1-1 in Melbourne to make it through, but there were several other times in the 70's and 80's where Australia were in the same group as Israel and New Zealand trying for a play-off spot.

WIKI does say about Israel's 1970 World Cup appearance that there was a threatened boycott by Morocco if they had to play Israel in the 1970 world cup and that this had previously happened in the same sport in the 1968 Olympics, so FIFA made sure that they put them in separate groups (by putting them in the same pot to make the draw), rather than use a seeding system as they had announced before the draw, they went for "geographical groupings" to spread the teams across 4 groups.

Boycotts all round apparently. African nations boycotted Rhodesia, and North Korea boycotted Israel, so only 6 teams - NZ, Australia, Rhodesia, South Korea, Japan & Israel competed for 1 spot. I guess the World Cup was pretty much a European and South American tournament in that era.

 

[stax on the mull]

I don't even know where this place is, but Curacao (population 155,900) have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

 

[Paracleet]

I don't even know where this place is, but Curacao (population 155,900) have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Was part of the Netherlands Antilles. I.e. the Dutch part of the Caribbean.

 

[Taylor]

Antilles

The only man with two death stars painted on the side of his X-wing

 

[stax on the mull]

Was part of the Netherlands Antilles. I.e. the Dutch part of the Caribbean.

I think I've seen the name on coffee brands. Might make more news as a war base for US troops.

 

[Scatter]

I don't even know where this place is, but Curacao (population 155,900) have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Actually been there on a Caribbean cruise pre Covid. Beautiful place, was our favourite stop. Still talk about it, named our dog after a common word we kept hearing in the local language. Good for them

 

[BStaff17]

Scotland into the World Cup

Meanwhile the Italians stumble & bumbling there way into potentially missing a 3rd straight World Cup

 

[greatgatsby]

I don't even know where this place is, but Curacao (population 155,900) have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Dutch colony, just off the South American coast. Pretty good football pedigree. The population base is crazy though. I assume they qualified through the West Indies.

 

[Piggy Smalls]

Stumps on day 4 they were 1 for 60 (leading by 110 or so) then lost 9 for 70 over 2 sessions on the last day and we knocked off the runs in the last session at a canter.
Never ever gets old.

Warnie had it on a string

 

[anchor man]

Mark Epstein,Jefferys' brother has apparently spilled the bean.

 

[BStaff17]

A new low for Man United

Losing to 10 man Everton at home.

And here is the kicker the Everton player red carded got it for slapping his own team mate haha.

 

[TimN2]

Meanwhile the Italians stumble & bumbling there way into potentially missing a 3rd straight World Cup

If I read it right, Italy need to beat Northern Ireland and then then winner of Wales vs Bosnia-Herzegovina.
You'd think they're good enough to do that but ... if they're that good, they wouldn't be in this position, so who knows?

 

[Troy Cooked It]

A new low for Man United

Losing to 10 man Everton at home.

And here is the kicker the Everton player red carded got it for slapping his own team mate haha.

UTFT
Everton now above Liverpool on the ladder makes it even better.

 

[greatgatsby]

When India brought Jaiswal into their Test team I thought they would do a much better job of transitioning from the old guard than we would. Turns out there weren't many others in the pipeline, just young blokes who want to bat for twenty minutes and play IPL.

 

[Quay Club]

When India brought Jaiswal into their Test team I thought they would do a much better job of transitioning from the old guard than we would. Turns out there weren't many others in the pipeline, just young blokes who want to bat for twenty minutes and play IPL.

Spot on they can get rich very quickly in the IPL.