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World Cup 2026 FIFA World Cup (Qualifiers)
- Thread starter Dirty Bird
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Ahhhh, what the ****?
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Pretty underwhelming draw no real stand out group and only a few interesting match ups, England V Croatia, France V Norway, Uruguay V Spain come to mind and a potential Italy V Switzerland, most other matches are pretty much muh.
I'd say probably the most interest group is group L not sure how good Ghana is these days but they might be a threat to England and Croatia but with pretty much three going through in most groups this Tournament wont get interesting or real until the knockout stages. We are gonna see a lot blow outs during the group stage too.
Not the hardest group for Australia but not easy either we just recently lost to the U.S.A and they will be very hard to beat again on home soil and potentially a Turkey or Slovakia, Paraguay ain't gonna be pushovers no South American country is when it comes to World Cups. It is going to be a challenge to get through but a perfect group to play Popa ball! Sit back soak it up and try and hit on the counter and pray to not get smashed and hope for either a lucky win and a draw and we will get through.
I'd say probably the most interest group is group L not sure how good Ghana is these days but they might be a threat to England and Croatia but with pretty much three going through in most groups this Tournament wont get interesting or real until the knockout stages. We are gonna see a lot blow outs during the group stage too.
Not the hardest group for Australia but not easy either we just recently lost to the U.S.A and they will be very hard to beat again on home soil and potentially a Turkey or Slovakia, Paraguay ain't gonna be pushovers no South American country is when it comes to World Cups. It is going to be a challenge to get through but a perfect group to play Popa ball! Sit back soak it up and try and hit on the counter and pray to not get smashed and hope for either a lucky win and a draw and we will get through.
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Group F is the standout for me. Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, one of Albania/Poland/Ukraine/Sweden. Any of those could progress or be knocked out.
TubbsFarquhar
TheBrownDog
We're not good, but it could've been a lot worse. Group F with Netherlands, Tunisia and UEFA Path A, Group H with Spain and Uruguay or Group I with France and Norway to name a few.
ExchangeStatMan
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- Sep 14, 2025
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Scotland with McTominay in the form they are in, should fear no one. Brazil obvious favourites.
Yep Saudis are fcuked.
Turkish league is rubbish. Mourinho was right in saying that if your a neutral, why on earth would you want to watch that league? League is corrupt. Bar Arda Guler, the Socceroos should not fear them at all. Im not even sold on the thought of them even qualifying from the UEFA World Cup playoffs.
A little confused about your profile pic. Are you an Israel supporter or Socceroos supporter? or both?
Would you consider hiring a car to do the drive along the West Coast? I did hire a car in San Fran back in 2017 and seeing the west coast of the US was awesome.
I wouldnt underestimate South Africa and Ireland. Although I dont see blowouts in that group.
The Turkish league is garbage, I'll say that. Apart from Kadiglou of Brighton and Arda Guler of Real Madrid- that Turkiye team is no 2002 World Cup team and they are a weaker team from previous generations. One thing I will give Turkiye- is they have passionate fans.
Paraguay will be a tricky opponent. In Diego Gomez of Brighton- he is the one to watch out for the Socceroos. Paraguay finished 6h in CONMEBOL qualifying. For the Socceroos if they were to draw any team, they would have preferred them over a: Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay or Colombia. Playing in that part of the world, the South American teams will get huge support. It will be safe to say that the games against USA and Paraguay the support for those sides will be close to 80-95%.
I also feel the home expectations may work against the USA here. I listened to a guy called Alexi Lalas, a US Pundit this week, where they put a pass mark as reaching the Round of 16. I wouldnt dwelve too much into the 1-2 loss to the USA in a friendly this year. On paper the US have a better team, Aaronson, Pulisic, Taylor Adams would be walk up starts in a Socceroos lineup. Feel like their campaign could go like the Copa America last year, where they underperformed.
Topkent
Confirmed ITK Drafting King
Lol mate if you don't know turkeys players why comment.
Yildaz, Calhanoglu, demerahal and Celik for example would all be our best players. And if you want to compare leagues the Turkish league compared to the a league lol
- May 20, 2014
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World cup hosts and VAR is not a good mix. They can do whatever they want with VAR and justify it afterwards.
ExchangeStatMan
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I did ask myself which Pot A team would Australia most want to face in their top 4, and id say in no particular order: Mexico, USA, Canada and probably Belgium.
Jose Mourinho who I don’t even like , is on point.Lol mate if you don't know turkeys players why comment.
Yildaz, Calhanoglu, demerahal and Celik for example would all be our best players. And if you want to compare leagues the Turkish league compared to the a league lol
Mourinho said: “Nobody abroad wants to watch the Turkish league. Who wants to watch this Turkish league abroad?”
He then added: “It’s too grey, it’s too dark. It smells bad.”
The league plain simple is corrupt, has too much political influence, is rife with refs having too much influence on games. 14 of the 25 players in the squad were used from the domestic league in the last international break.
This was written from A journalism source The Roar fairly recently:
Topkent
Confirmed ITK Drafting King
No one's writing about the a league because it's miles worse. I have no idea what your point is
ExchangeStatMan
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Yes no one is denying that. Australia used 5 A- League players in the last international break. I doubt Popovic plays much A-League players in next years World Cup. I don’t even rate the A- League.
Türkiye achieved great things in 2002. As we have times in the past this Socceroos team tends to stand up and punch above its weight on the big stage. I don’t rate the Turkish league , even despite Galatasary beating Liverpool in this years Champions League.
For me Türkiye are on par with a Denmark, a team the Socceroos beat at the last World Cup being heavy underdogs. I’ve been fairly strong about this, I reckon the Socceroos are better than a lot of these UEFA teams in the 2nd round of qualifying eg Italys, Kosovo, Slovakia, Ukraine, Albania, Poland, Bosnia Herzegovina, Northern Ireland etc
On paper Türkiye will start as favourite should they meet but I don’t think that would phase Popovic or Australia that much.
And in breaking news, President Trump has announced that any country that beats the US will have their defence contracts annulled.
AUKUS or a win?
Mexico and South Africa opening the comp again. Did so in 2010
ExchangeStatMan
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A bit of history I read about today and its something that I was aware of. Algeria and Austria are drawn in the same group. The last time they were both in the same group in a World Cup was in 1982, when World Cup wins were rewarded with 2 points, and draws 1 point.
That tournament led to the changes with final group stage games being played simultaneously. And the points scoring system changed for future World Cups.
That tournament led to the changes with final group stage games being played simultaneously. And the points scoring system changed for future World Cups.
Have no choice now with this group.
We’re going to let Paraguay, Romania/Slovakia/Turkey attack? Would be stupid. Even USA should be 50/50 possession
ExchangeStatMan
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The Turkish league is an absolute joke. Im praying the Socceroos get them in the group stages. League is corrupt to the core:
I know the A-League has the yellow card fiasco , but at least its not corrupt as that league.
I know the A-League has the yellow card fiasco , but at least its not corrupt as that league.
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- Sep 16, 2006
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Unlucky we get a Euro qualifier for a pot 4 team. USA and Turkey (assuming they get through) will likely finish top 2.
TubbsFarquhar
TheBrownDog
A lot of assumptions about Turkey qualifying when Slovakia are more than capable.
Heck, in a one-off game, Romania could very well beat them too.
Heck, in a one-off game, Romania could very well beat them too.
- Mar 20, 2007
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As soon as we were put into a group with no European Pot 1 team, the chances of getting a European Pot 4 qualifier were going to be fairly high, given there wern't many European Pot 3 teams
Topkent
Confirmed ITK Drafting King
Yeah but any team good enough to beat them should wipe the floor with us in all honesty
- Dec 26, 2010
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In their first ever game, Algeria beat the finalists West Germany, the eventual runner up to Italy. Italy just got through their group as well with 3 draws.
Both finalists finished on equal points with 3rd place in their group, but both would have still got through with the 3 points for a win system as their opponents in 3rd place at the group stage also finished up with identical win/loss/draw results. Goal difference was the deciding factor for Germany and goals scored (+1 over Cameroon) in Italy's case where their goal difference was the same.
Only the top 2 teams in each group qualified for the next round which was another group phase where 12 of the original 24 teams played off in 4 groups of 3 teams, ( they played 2 matches each at this group stage - it was a winner of the first game rested for the 3rd game while the loser of the first game played the 3rd team) - with the top teams in each group playing knockout semi finals. Quite a different system.
I caught most games on the radio and only really remember watching the 1982 semi final - West Germany coming from behind and beating France in extra-time with the WG goalkeeper that was, or should have been sent off, took out a French player with a shirtfront to stop him scoring. A thug act. That put the sentiment towards Italy in the final, even though the Italian team had a bunch of players who had caught up in a betting scandal. Could have been the year Craig Johnston was co-hosting the coverage with Peter Wilkins on ABCTV. (Edit: I'd forgotten all this, but I looked it up and it was actually decided by a penalty shoot out after France had led 3-1 in extra time. First ever WC penalty shoot out.)
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- Dec 26, 2010
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Can you believe, no red card for this. (Sounds like Sean Connery narrating at the end).
