World Cup 2022 FIFA World Cup (Qualifiers)

Left number is 2022 and right is 2026

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“A playoff tournament involving six teams will be held to decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths,[20] consisting of one team per confederation (except for UEFA) and one additional team from the confederation of the host countries (CONCACAF).”

So maybe the right number are the full places but that can rise by 1 for the last two World Cup spots. So a 7th nation in South America. That’s just crazy for a region of 10 nations.
I wonder how they'll pot teams up

Do they go completely random with the proviso of you can't play a team from your own confederation in the group stage.
Do they have pots to try and create even leagues
Do they go completely random altogether.

I'd personally expect them to go the 3 pots of 16 teams.
Then have the condition of no one plays anyone from the same confederation in the group stage (so 1 European team per pot)
 
Jun 21, 2007
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I wonder how they'll pot teams up

Do they go completely random with the proviso of you can't play a team from your own confederation in the group stage.
Do they have pots to try and create even leagues
Do they go completely random altogether.

I'd personally expect them to go the 3 pots of 16 teams.
Then have the condition of no one plays anyone from the same confederation in the group stage (so 1 European team per pot)

It would be interesting how it will happen. I think 48 nations are just way too many. It was 24 nations in 1994. 32 years later and we are up to 48.
 
Jul 5, 2011
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More dull WC finals games but my point was also around boring qualifiers. Look at South America..10 teams and play 18 games which is a lot. But it’s competitive…but it’ll change to the top 7(8?) going through so what’s the point for many of the games.

It will surly have to be a different format than the traditional league like qualifying process in South America. Like I said qualifying can still be interesting if the formats are changed and more playoffs introduced.
 
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Jesus, I was already rolling my eyes at Cruyff being a smart arse.
Now I have to deal with you being a ****

:rolleyes: 🤦‍♂️

Just happy Canada made it, dunno why you went to such lengths to talk them down.
 
Just happy Canada made it, dunno why you went to such lengths to talk them down.
Because we were talking about when teams clinch a spot, and I was pointing out they havn't officially punched their ticket yet, and it was still mathematically possible to miss. And that was the scenerio it could occur....
 
Aug 16, 2011
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Jesus, I was already rolling my eyes at Cruyff being a smart arse.
Now I have to deal with you being a ****

:rolleyes: 🤦‍♂️
I Love You Flirting GIF
 
It would be interesting how it will happen. I think 48 nations are just way too many. It was 24 nations in 1994. 32 years later and we are up to 48.
I'm piecing together a possibility for this year.

I've used the top 7 AFC teams from qualification, then placed 8 and 9 (Went China over Lebanon over a belief China would win that) into the playoff
Put the 9 best group stage winners of CAF straight through, with the 10th going into the playoff
Put the top 6 of CONCACAF and CONEMBOL straight through with the 7th placed sides in each going into the playoff
Placed New Zealand straight through (I believe they'll knock off the Solomon Islands) with Solomon Islands going into the playoff
And I've placed all UEFA Group stage winners through, as well as the 6 teams to get through to this weekends final games (Went Scotland over Ukraine due to the belief of all the events occuring in Ukraine to be a distraction some of the players minds - (2 thirds of their current squad is based at home)

The playoff you'd expect to have 2 teams through to the 2nd round, with the 4 lower ranked teams playing each other to face them.

So lets just add Chile and Jamaica to the final draw (They're the 2 higher ranked countries that would get the bye, sure, it'd be hard to split Jamaica, China, Iraq and the DR Congo - But I'd just gone Jamaica for hypotheticals. Not based on what I think will happen)

Pot 1 - Qatar (Group A) + 15 highest seeds
Pot 2 - Middle 16 seeds
Pot 3 - Bottom 16 seeds

Then do a Champions League type draw to ensure you don't get 2 teams from the same conference together.

This is what I just got then doing a random draw

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
AsiaQatarEuropePortugalSouth AmericaBrazilSouth AmericaArgentina
EuropeSerbiaAfricaTunisiaEuropeSwedenAsiaJapan
AfricaAlgeriaAsiaAustraliaAfricaGhanaEuropeScotland
Group EGroup FGroup GGroup H
EuropeSpainEuropeGermanyEuropeNetherlandsEuropeCroatia
South AmericaPeruAsiaSouth KoreaAfricaSenegalNorth AmericaCanada
North AmericaEl SalvadorAfricaCameroonOceaniaNew ZealandAsiaOman
Group IGroup JGroup KGroup L
EuropeSwitzerlandEuropeEnglandSouth AmericaUruguayNorth AmericaMexico
AfricaMoroccoPlayoffChileEuropeWalesAfricaNigeria
PlayoffJamaicaAsiaSaudi ArabiaNorth AmericaCosta RicaEuropeNorth Macedonia
Group MGroup NGroup OGroup P
EuropeFranceEuropeBelgiumEuropeDenmarkNorth AmericaUSA
AsiaIranAfricaEgyptSouth AmericaColombiaEuropePoland
North AmericaPanamaSouth AmericaEcuadorAfricaMaliAsiaUnited Arab Emirates


 
What I dont like about 48 teams, is it basically creates 1 strong, 2 average teams per group, rather than 2 strong, 2 average.

So even though it increases the odds of seeing a smaller nation get out of the group, it decreases the risk for the bigger teams. Take 2014 for example, Spain got knocked out in the group stage. But if you took Netherlands out of the group. Spain gets through despite slipping up in 1 game.

So even though I can enjoy a greater chance at an Australia cup run (Dont rule it out, look at South Korea/Senegal 2002), we reduce the chance of seeing a poor run (Ie. Germany 2018, Spain/Italy/England 2014)

It's an interesting argument. There's positives and negatives either way and I dont know the answer. We are lowering the standard. However, with extra groups, we're creating a less predictable group stage, and then a greater chance of an underdog run in the knockouts.

At face value, expansion I don't like. But when I dive deeper, I wouldn't be shocked if it made a more enjoyable cup.
 
Oct 6, 2011
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Europe qualifying i think would still be the hardest of all that.

I read somewhere that Europe wanted more than their allocated 16 spots based on the depth and quality of what comes from there. ( i cant see it happening though)

I think there would be no personal shame in not qualifying from Europe in future world cup ,even if the format is 48 teams.

But Qualifying from South American with a potential 7th team defeats the purpose of their rigorous qualifying campaign. Surely they reduce the load and there wont be a requirement of an 18 game round robin in future. I could see teams like : Brazil, Argentina treating dead rubbers of their campaign by resting key European based players, if it was the same format of the 18 game round robin.
 

Dump Truck

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I'm piecing together a possibility for this year.

I've used the top 7 AFC teams from qualification, then placed 8 and 9 (Went China over Lebanon over a belief China would win that) into the playoff
Put the 9 best group stage winners of CAF straight through, with the 10th going into the playoff
Put the top 6 of CONCACAF and CONEMBOL straight through with the 7th placed sides in each going into the playoff
Placed New Zealand straight through (I believe they'll knock off the Solomon Islands) with Solomon Islands going into the playoff
And I've placed all UEFA Group stage winners through, as well as the 6 teams to get through to this weekends final games (Went Scotland over Ukraine due to the belief of all the events occuring in Ukraine to be a distraction some of the players minds - (2 thirds of their current squad is based at home)

The playoff you'd expect to have 2 teams through to the 2nd round, with the 4 lower ranked teams playing each other to face them.

So lets just add Chile and Jamaica to the final draw (They're the 2 higher ranked countries that would get the bye, sure, it'd be hard to split Jamaica, China, Iraq and the DR Congo - But I'd just gone Jamaica for hypotheticals. Not based on what I think will happen)

Pot 1 - Qatar (Group A) + 15 highest seeds
Pot 2 - Middle 16 seeds
Pot 3 - Bottom 16 seeds

Then do a Champions League type draw to ensure you don't get 2 teams from the same conference together.

This is what I just got then doing a random draw

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
AsiaQatarEuropePortugalSouth AmericaBrazilSouth AmericaArgentina
EuropeSerbiaAfricaTunisiaEuropeSwedenAsiaJapan
AfricaAlgeriaAsiaAustraliaAfricaGhanaEuropeScotland
Group EGroup FGroup GGroup H
EuropeSpainEuropeGermanyEuropeNetherlandsEuropeCroatia
South AmericaPeruAsiaSouth KoreaAfricaSenegalNorth AmericaCanada
North AmericaEl SalvadorAfricaCameroonOceaniaNew ZealandAsiaOman
Group IGroup JGroup KGroup L
EuropeSwitzerlandEuropeEnglandSouth AmericaUruguayNorth AmericaMexico
AfricaMoroccoPlayoffChileEuropeWalesAfricaNigeria
PlayoffJamaicaAsiaSaudi ArabiaNorth AmericaCosta RicaEuropeNorth Macedonia
Group MGroup NGroup OGroup P
EuropeFranceEuropeBelgiumEuropeDenmarkNorth AmericaUSA
AsiaIranAfricaEgyptSouth AmericaColombiaEuropePoland
North AmericaPanamaSouth AmericaEcuadorAfricaMaliAsiaUnited Arab Emirates


Now to the real questions!....

Would we beat Tunisia?
 
Who has the TV rights to the other Asian World Cup qualifiers (outside of Socceroos game)?

Also do Optus still have right to World Cup European qualifiers?
Asia - Channel 10 and Paramount
Africa - I think is youtube (and SBS)
Americas - BeIN Sports (and maybe ESPN)
European - Optus
 
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