RussellEbertHandball
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RussellEbertHandball
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Oh well at least his - I win trophies in my 2nd year - still holds, given he hardly got past 1/6th of 1st year.
It was dumb to take over a side after 3 games. I assume his lawyers made sure the pay out clause water tight so he still gets a few million pounds.
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RussellEbertHandball
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RussellEbertHandball
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From Ange's full presser yesterday before the Chelsea game that drew a lot of criticism from pundits in the media. Its a good read. Couldn't find a video so here is the transcript from Sky News in UK. The answer to this question gives you an idea of his almost all of the world against me mentality he has had in a lot of his jobs.
He has sort of set himself up to get the arse.
www.skysports.com
"If you look at it through the prism of: I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get this job - I know you're smirking at me and that's what's being said and I can find the print where that's being said - then of course it looks like this manager is under pressure.
"There is an alternative story. I came to the Premier League two years ago, I took over Tottenham - 'Spursy Tottenham'. I was told by the chairman at the time: 'This club has to win a trophy. We've tried to bring winners in, Jose [Mourinho] and Antonio [Conte] and it hasn't worked, we need something different.'
"I was slightly offended by that as I see myself as a winner.
"I took over Spurs who finished eighth. No European football. Massive club who can't have two years without European football. We finished fifth in my first year. And every time Harry Kane scores a goal, I wish he'd just stayed one more year. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
"But somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. In fact it was used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first 10 games because they were an anomaly apparently. Although the first 10 games here are very important apparently.
"We finished fifth, I got them back into European football where Tottenham should be. I was in meetings and people still at that club were in those meetings where I was told winning a trophy is everything for a football club. That's fine.
"We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being 'Spursy'. It's Champions League football which brings some rewards, the opportunity to bring in better players. But all I've heard since I finished at Tottenham is I finished 17th last year. So if you look at it from that prism of we finished 17th, then yeah, I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity.
"But if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it doesn't have to be too in-depth. Just look at the last five or six different team sheets in the league last year to see who I prioritised, who was on the bench and who I was playing. The last game against Brighton, the players were out for two days partying - which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
"So we finished 17th, if people think that's a reflection of me and my coaching, then people are looking at it through the prism of: I just don't fit.
"So we get to the current space where there's a different story to tell that maybe I'm maybe not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job - but maybe I'm a manager where if given time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same: me with a trophy.
"So just to finish up - and it's a longwinded answer which probably won't get any coverage but that's okay - you can look at these first five weeks and say 'he is under pressure because he was lucky to get this job'.
"Or you can look at it and say there has been a major change. I am trying to change the way we play. The players are adapting but there's been inconsistency in there for sure. But some will look at the weeds, I will look at what's growing.
"The flip side is I'm really still excited about the opportunity here. That's how I'm embracing it. I have a group of young players who are willing to change, that's the first thing. I'm heading down that road.
"The rest of it? I'm not going to waste my time or my energy worrying about that. Whether it's internal or external I couldn't care less. At the end of the day, I will do what I think is the right thing to do to bring success to this football club and that's what I'm focused on."
He has sort of set himself up to get the arse.
Ange Postecoglou: Read every word from Nottingham Forest head coach's memorable press conference where he discusses future
Ange Postecoglou has given an explosive press conference amid mounting pressure at Nottingham Forest; the Australian has not won from his opening seven games in charge; Postecoglou: If given time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same: me with a trophy
Does Chelsea feel like a big game because of the noise and the pressure?
"I guess from my perspective, I just don't fit. Not [talking about] here. Just in general."If you look at it through the prism of: I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get this job - I know you're smirking at me and that's what's being said and I can find the print where that's being said - then of course it looks like this manager is under pressure.
"There is an alternative story. I came to the Premier League two years ago, I took over Tottenham - 'Spursy Tottenham'. I was told by the chairman at the time: 'This club has to win a trophy. We've tried to bring winners in, Jose [Mourinho] and Antonio [Conte] and it hasn't worked, we need something different.'
"I was slightly offended by that as I see myself as a winner.
"I took over Spurs who finished eighth. No European football. Massive club who can't have two years without European football. We finished fifth in my first year. And every time Harry Kane scores a goal, I wish he'd just stayed one more year. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
"But somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. In fact it was used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first 10 games because they were an anomaly apparently. Although the first 10 games here are very important apparently.
"We finished fifth, I got them back into European football where Tottenham should be. I was in meetings and people still at that club were in those meetings where I was told winning a trophy is everything for a football club. That's fine.
"We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being 'Spursy'. It's Champions League football which brings some rewards, the opportunity to bring in better players. But all I've heard since I finished at Tottenham is I finished 17th last year. So if you look at it from that prism of we finished 17th, then yeah, I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity.
"But if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it doesn't have to be too in-depth. Just look at the last five or six different team sheets in the league last year to see who I prioritised, who was on the bench and who I was playing. The last game against Brighton, the players were out for two days partying - which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
"So we finished 17th, if people think that's a reflection of me and my coaching, then people are looking at it through the prism of: I just don't fit.
"So we get to the current space where there's a different story to tell that maybe I'm maybe not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job - but maybe I'm a manager where if given time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same: me with a trophy.
"So just to finish up - and it's a longwinded answer which probably won't get any coverage but that's okay - you can look at these first five weeks and say 'he is under pressure because he was lucky to get this job'.
"Or you can look at it and say there has been a major change. I am trying to change the way we play. The players are adapting but there's been inconsistency in there for sure. But some will look at the weeds, I will look at what's growing.
"The flip side is I'm really still excited about the opportunity here. That's how I'm embracing it. I have a group of young players who are willing to change, that's the first thing. I'm heading down that road.
"The rest of it? I'm not going to waste my time or my energy worrying about that. Whether it's internal or external I couldn't care less. At the end of the day, I will do what I think is the right thing to do to bring success to this football club and that's what I'm focused on."
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To me it sounds like a bloke that shouldnt have jumped in to another epl head coach role so quickly. Still had Spurs on his mind.
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Taking the job at Notts Forest while having no pre-season to allow the players time to adapt to his structured system and an owner who demands instant results felt like he was the right guy for them, imo.
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Maybe the morbidly obese owner should've gone with the bloke who won his Greek team their championship and given that job to Ange.
RussellEbertHandball
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Last Sunday I watched this video by a Russlan guy who makes "documentaries and explainer videos about the business of football - money, power, cultural/social issues, and other essential for sports processes occurring beyond the pitch."
It follows on from me watching the recently released 3 part ESPN 30 for 30 doco series Berlusconi; Condemned to Win. Whilst this series covered a lot more than Berlusconi's ownership of AC Milan, there were similar themes about the purchase, control, management and eventually selling of a big Euro club held for 30 years for a huge profit.
The profile businesses/ private owners get from owning a big football club is good for business as well as other opportunities.
This first video is about the powerplay that has been going on at Spurs the last year or two years, and probably why Ange was never going to survive such a poor EPL season.
These big EPL and Euro clubs are all about big business and making large capital gains and getting out now that post GFC and post covid there is so much printed money to avoid disasters slushing around the world, the tech super billionaires, the energy rich Arab nations looking to buy high profile assets and a bit of sports washing all willing to pay big premiums to own a club.
Joe Lewis/his family trust and Daniel Levy via ENIC Group (English National Investment Company) bought 86.5% of Spurs in 2 tranches between late 90's and early 00's for a total cost of £56m. Spurs owned their stadium plus an adjoining chunk of land in north London which make them a very tasty investment opportunity.
Spurs is valued now at over £3bil and its expected to sell for well over £4bil and Levy's share of ENIC has grown to 30% over the last 25 years so he gets about 26% of the sales proceeds if ENIC sells 100% of its share holdings.
Old man Joe Lewis let Levy run everything and because he was making money for old Joe - profit and stability was more important than winning - sound familiar? It pissed off the fans but old Joe living in The Bahamas didn't care, Levy wore the heat.
In 2022 Lewis was up for a criminal charge in US and potential jail time and seizure of his assets so he moved ENIC and its holding of Spurs into a family trust and his two kids - Vivienne, 62 and Charles, 61 as the beneficiaries and they then started to take over controlling Spurs.
Levy was executive Chairman so he was the effective CEO but never had that title. The Lewis children started taking away his power in early 2025 - appointed a non-executive chairman, appointed a CEO to work alongside him as well as bring in new departmental heads and realised Levy ran too many things. He was forced out at the start of September after a couple of games this season. The Lewis' were setting Spurs up for a sale, with a proper structure which would mean potential buyers didn't need to find replacements to run all parts of the club Levy ran.
Within days of leaving there were two expressions of interest to buy Spurs, 1) from Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance (had owned 10% of Newcastle) and a consortium of investors led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited.
Then at the end of September there was another proposal to buy Spurs a consortium led by US tech billionaire Brooklyn Earick for £4.5bil has been "unequivocally rejected" by owners ENIC.
The £100m investment ENIC / Lewis family is making into Spurs to help with the transfer window coming up is probably a short term play to improve things with the aim for a long term sale. As the video maker says the Lewis family now want to Win More and Win Brighter - something Ange achieved in his first year.
The funny thing was that 3 days after I watched this, the New York Times' The Athletic FC did a 36 minute video on this same topic almost like they couldn't let an amateur explain it better than they had. They cover a lot of what is the above video but also add a few things and dig a bit deeper into those couple of areas. From their YouTube description;
In early September, Daniel Levy stepped down from his role as Spurs chairman after nearly 25 years. So who is running the show now? And are Spurs for up for sale? Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Jay Harris, Dan Kilpatrick and Matt Slater.
00:00 Intro
00:41 Life after Levy at Spurs
03:25 Who owns Spurs?
09:20 Has there been too much stability at Spurs?
13:02 Are Spurs for sale?
18:02 Who are the Lewis family?
20:56 Why have the owners injected £100m into the club?
30:57 The significance of the stadium
32:26 How has the Thomas Frank era gone so far?
36:22 Outro
It follows on from me watching the recently released 3 part ESPN 30 for 30 doco series Berlusconi; Condemned to Win. Whilst this series covered a lot more than Berlusconi's ownership of AC Milan, there were similar themes about the purchase, control, management and eventually selling of a big Euro club held for 30 years for a huge profit.
The profile businesses/ private owners get from owning a big football club is good for business as well as other opportunities.
This first video is about the powerplay that has been going on at Spurs the last year or two years, and probably why Ange was never going to survive such a poor EPL season.
These big EPL and Euro clubs are all about big business and making large capital gains and getting out now that post GFC and post covid there is so much printed money to avoid disasters slushing around the world, the tech super billionaires, the energy rich Arab nations looking to buy high profile assets and a bit of sports washing all willing to pay big premiums to own a club.
Joe Lewis/his family trust and Daniel Levy via ENIC Group (English National Investment Company) bought 86.5% of Spurs in 2 tranches between late 90's and early 00's for a total cost of £56m. Spurs owned their stadium plus an adjoining chunk of land in north London which make them a very tasty investment opportunity.
Spurs is valued now at over £3bil and its expected to sell for well over £4bil and Levy's share of ENIC has grown to 30% over the last 25 years so he gets about 26% of the sales proceeds if ENIC sells 100% of its share holdings.
Old man Joe Lewis let Levy run everything and because he was making money for old Joe - profit and stability was more important than winning - sound familiar? It pissed off the fans but old Joe living in The Bahamas didn't care, Levy wore the heat.
In 2022 Lewis was up for a criminal charge in US and potential jail time and seizure of his assets so he moved ENIC and its holding of Spurs into a family trust and his two kids - Vivienne, 62 and Charles, 61 as the beneficiaries and they then started to take over controlling Spurs.
Levy was executive Chairman so he was the effective CEO but never had that title. The Lewis children started taking away his power in early 2025 - appointed a non-executive chairman, appointed a CEO to work alongside him as well as bring in new departmental heads and realised Levy ran too many things. He was forced out at the start of September after a couple of games this season. The Lewis' were setting Spurs up for a sale, with a proper structure which would mean potential buyers didn't need to find replacements to run all parts of the club Levy ran.
Within days of leaving there were two expressions of interest to buy Spurs, 1) from Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance (had owned 10% of Newcastle) and a consortium of investors led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited.
Then at the end of September there was another proposal to buy Spurs a consortium led by US tech billionaire Brooklyn Earick for £4.5bil has been "unequivocally rejected" by owners ENIC.
The £100m investment ENIC / Lewis family is making into Spurs to help with the transfer window coming up is probably a short term play to improve things with the aim for a long term sale. As the video maker says the Lewis family now want to Win More and Win Brighter - something Ange achieved in his first year.
The funny thing was that 3 days after I watched this, the New York Times' The Athletic FC did a 36 minute video on this same topic almost like they couldn't let an amateur explain it better than they had. They cover a lot of what is the above video but also add a few things and dig a bit deeper into those couple of areas. From their YouTube description;
In early September, Daniel Levy stepped down from his role as Spurs chairman after nearly 25 years. So who is running the show now? And are Spurs for up for sale? Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Jay Harris, Dan Kilpatrick and Matt Slater.
00:00 Intro
00:41 Life after Levy at Spurs
03:25 Who owns Spurs?
09:20 Has there been too much stability at Spurs?
13:02 Are Spurs for sale?
18:02 Who are the Lewis family?
20:56 Why have the owners injected £100m into the club?
30:57 The significance of the stadium
32:26 How has the Thomas Frank era gone so far?
36:22 Outro
Last edited:
RussellEbertHandball
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The Russian guy that made the above video - Pull the Trigger - has done a video on why Man U have been on the decline.
In the full 35 minute video and in the short video version and he blames Alex Ferguson for interfering in the ownership structure and siding with the Glazer's being the reason that kicked off the long run decline, after the first few years were very successful under the Fregie and Glazer partnership.
manureid and other United fans on here is the short and fuller video an accurate explanation why United has declined?
The full video
In the full 35 minute video and in the short video version and he blames Alex Ferguson for interfering in the ownership structure and siding with the Glazer's being the reason that kicked off the long run decline, after the first few years were very successful under the Fregie and Glazer partnership.
manureid and other United fans on here is the short and fuller video an accurate explanation why United has declined?
The full video
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and long may the Gunners continue to finish 2nd......Long may United's decline last.
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We doing ok so far this seasonand long may the Gunners continue to finish 2nd......
but it's a long season and plenty of games to go. 
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This season might be a close one I think.We doing ok so far this season
I’m just happy that we finally appear to have a keeper who can catch a ball occasionally.
Oh and beating Liverpool was also ok!!
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Ange may have set a record for the shortest tenure of an EPL manager, but has anyone ever been sacked twice in the same EPL season? Nuno Espirito Santo looks like heading that way after West Ham lost to Leeds last night. He's yet to record a win after taking over from Graham Potter and West Ham's only win this season came against Forest when Nuno was manager there 
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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers quits, leaving possible opening for Ange Postecoglou
Celtic boss quits, prompting speculation of a return for Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou's name will inevitably be linked to a Celtic return after Brendan Rodgers resigns his post as manager of the struggling Scottish giants.
www.abc.net.au
RussellEbertHandball
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I wonder what Les would make of SBS' coverage of the world game these days. He passed away in July 2017 aged 71.
Whilst SBS retained partial rights to 2018 WC in Russia, then showed plenty after Optus stuffed up and had full rights to 2022 in Qatar and 2026 in CAM, expensive TV rights means they don't have coverage of A-League, EPL, Serie A, La Ligua, Champions League etc like they used to have.
I wonder if executives at SBS ever considered setting up a pay per view streaming service for soccer.
They are no longer home of the World Game - a phrase Les coined around 1990, and picked up in many countries overseas.
10/Paramount+ and now Stan dominate sports broadcasting the game, after Optus gave up and Foxtel lost rights to games from home and abroad.
Whilst SBS retained partial rights to 2018 WC in Russia, then showed plenty after Optus stuffed up and had full rights to 2022 in Qatar and 2026 in CAM, expensive TV rights means they don't have coverage of A-League, EPL, Serie A, La Ligua, Champions League etc like they used to have.
I wonder if executives at SBS ever considered setting up a pay per view streaming service for soccer.
They are no longer home of the World Game - a phrase Les coined around 1990, and picked up in many countries overseas.
10/Paramount+ and now Stan dominate sports broadcasting the game, after Optus gave up and Foxtel lost rights to games from home and abroad.
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Socceroos wunderkind Nestory Irankunda is at the centre of an alleged race-fuelled defamation case brought against a prominent youth development coach, over a social media comment casting doubt on the former Adelaide United star’s age.A defamation claim has been launched by Irankunda in the South Australian District Court, accusing Sydney football identity Tony Basha of posting the comment about Irankunda’s age on Facebook and X (Twitter) accounts bearing Basha’s name.The comment, posted on 24 April 2024, reads: “Australian football needs change. Players are just not up to it. Simple fact. Everyone is raving about Nestory Irankunda good player. Reports are coming out of Africa that he is 25 years old.”Irankunda was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania on 9 February 2006, making him 18 years old at the time the comment was posted.
RussellEbertHandball
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UEFA group qualifiers for the WC is coming to a climax this week/month. Some matches were scheduled for 13-15th window and others over 16-18th window.
UEFA have 12 groups, of either 4 or 5 nations, and the top sides of each group qualifies. They get 16 qualifying slots out of 48.
The 12 second placed teams advance to the next phase as well as the 4 teams based on Nation League ranking bullshit, so you could finish bottom of your group but still advance, like Sweden has. That 16 nations then through knock outs becomes the last 4 teams to qualify which will be known by March next year when all the intercontinental knockouts happen.
Asia 8 nations, Africa 9, Oceania 1 and South America 6, have all completed their automatic qualifying phase. Africa. Oceania and South America are down to the team that will represent them in the intercontinental knockout phase. UAE and Iraq drew 1-1 in Abu Dhabi Friday morning and Wednesday morning they play in Basra Iraq to see who represents Asia in the intercontinental knockouts.
CONCACAF / North American qualification is dragging its feet, nobody has qualified yet, but by Wednesday arvo the 3 auto qualifiers and the 2 intercontinental play off teams joining the 4 above will be known.
England were the first to qualify from UEFA on 14th October when they won their 6th game from 6 played in a group of 5 nations. They now have won all of their 8 games and surprise 2nd placed Albania progress to next phase on 14pts from 8 games over Serbia with 13 pts whose qualification chances are over.
Between 13-15th France in a group of 4 qualified and Ukraine advance to the next phase. Croatia in a group of 5 qualified with one game left to play and Czech Republic advance t
16th-18th window so far Norway qualified over night and Italy finished second in a group of 5 nations and advance to the next phase as everyone has played 8 games and Portugal have qualified and in the dying seconds of extra time Ireland score to knock Hungary out of 2nd place and they move into the next phase.
UEFA have 12 groups, of either 4 or 5 nations, and the top sides of each group qualifies. They get 16 qualifying slots out of 48.
The 12 second placed teams advance to the next phase as well as the 4 teams based on Nation League ranking bullshit, so you could finish bottom of your group but still advance, like Sweden has. That 16 nations then through knock outs becomes the last 4 teams to qualify which will be known by March next year when all the intercontinental knockouts happen.
Asia 8 nations, Africa 9, Oceania 1 and South America 6, have all completed their automatic qualifying phase. Africa. Oceania and South America are down to the team that will represent them in the intercontinental knockout phase. UAE and Iraq drew 1-1 in Abu Dhabi Friday morning and Wednesday morning they play in Basra Iraq to see who represents Asia in the intercontinental knockouts.
CONCACAF / North American qualification is dragging its feet, nobody has qualified yet, but by Wednesday arvo the 3 auto qualifiers and the 2 intercontinental play off teams joining the 4 above will be known.
England were the first to qualify from UEFA on 14th October when they won their 6th game from 6 played in a group of 5 nations. They now have won all of their 8 games and surprise 2nd placed Albania progress to next phase on 14pts from 8 games over Serbia with 13 pts whose qualification chances are over.
Between 13-15th France in a group of 4 qualified and Ukraine advance to the next phase. Croatia in a group of 5 qualified with one game left to play and Czech Republic advance t
16th-18th window so far Norway qualified over night and Italy finished second in a group of 5 nations and advance to the next phase as everyone has played 8 games and Portugal have qualified and in the dying seconds of extra time Ireland score to knock Hungary out of 2nd place and they move into the next phase.
RussellEbertHandball
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Scotland thru to the world cup. BBC commentator nearly lost his voice between 3rd and 4th goal.
RussellEbertHandball
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Was going to put this in yesterday, but got distracted by the draft. 2026 is the 23rd WC. In brackets is the # of times each nation has qualified.
UEFA teams
already qualified - England (17), France (17), Croatia (7), Norway (4), Portugal (9)
qualified yesterday - Germany (21), Netherlands (12), Belgium (15), Austria (8), Switzerland (13), Spain (17), Scotland (9)
The 2nd placed teams advancing to next round
Kosovo (0), Albania (0), Slovakia (1), Ukraine (1), Bosnia (1), Türkiye (2), Ireland (3), Wales (2), Denmark (6), Poland (9), Italy (18), Czech Rep (9 inc when Czechoslovakia)
4 other teams made in to next phase of 16. 16 teams will become 4 to qualify.
Northern Ireland (3), Sweden (12), Romania (7), North Macedonia (0)
The surprise packets not to get to final 16 knock out phase are Hungary (9), Serbia (13 inc Yugoslavia) and Greece (3).
CONCACAF produced a couple of surprises with the 3 countries automatic qualifying, Panama, Haiti and the small constituent country of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Curacao, population 150,000. Curacao are the smallest nation by population to have qualified. At 440 square kms they are probably the smallest nation by area.
Iceland population was a bit over 350k when they qualified in 2018. Cape Verde qualified for the first time a few weeks ago and their population is 490k.
The 2 teams that progress to the intercontinental knock out phase where 6 teams - end up resulting in 2 qualifiers are Jamaica and Suriname.
Been a big surprise that Costa Rica and Honduras haven't qualified as either one of 3 auto qualifiers or make the intercontinental knock out phase.
UEFA teams
already qualified - England (17), France (17), Croatia (7), Norway (4), Portugal (9)
qualified yesterday - Germany (21), Netherlands (12), Belgium (15), Austria (8), Switzerland (13), Spain (17), Scotland (9)
The 2nd placed teams advancing to next round
Kosovo (0), Albania (0), Slovakia (1), Ukraine (1), Bosnia (1), Türkiye (2), Ireland (3), Wales (2), Denmark (6), Poland (9), Italy (18), Czech Rep (9 inc when Czechoslovakia)
4 other teams made in to next phase of 16. 16 teams will become 4 to qualify.
Northern Ireland (3), Sweden (12), Romania (7), North Macedonia (0)
The surprise packets not to get to final 16 knock out phase are Hungary (9), Serbia (13 inc Yugoslavia) and Greece (3).
CONCACAF produced a couple of surprises with the 3 countries automatic qualifying, Panama, Haiti and the small constituent country of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Curacao, population 150,000. Curacao are the smallest nation by population to have qualified. At 440 square kms they are probably the smallest nation by area.
Iceland population was a bit over 350k when they qualified in 2018. Cape Verde qualified for the first time a few weeks ago and their population is 490k.
The 2 teams that progress to the intercontinental knock out phase where 6 teams - end up resulting in 2 qualifiers are Jamaica and Suriname.
Been a big surprise that Costa Rica and Honduras haven't qualified as either one of 3 auto qualifiers or make the intercontinental knock out phase.
RussellEbertHandball
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Oz ends up in a decent group to advance into final 32 at 2026 WC.
Drawn in Group D with USA, Paraguay and winner of UEFA Group C qualifier, which is between Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.
Drawn in Group D with USA, Paraguay and winner of UEFA Group C qualifier, which is between Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.