Monday at 15:543 days Quick thoughts about the matches so far:What a thrilling clutch goal late Tomáš Bobček making his Slovakian national tam debut. Sets them up advance to the playoffs.Kosovo is on fire, winning at Sweden and then at Slovenia. They'll be a handful in the playoffs. (They'd have to beat Switzerland by six goals tomorrow to qualify directly)Scotland almost pulled off that comeback, but is fortunate Denmark tripped up at home. Belarus scored two goals back-to-back in minutes to take a 2-1 lead late in the second half and the Danes had to rescue a point. We're still set up for the de-facto playoff bout in Glasgow tomorrow. Winner takes all, a draw sees Denmark through.Poor Iceland, but how can you not be happy for Ukraine?The goal on the last kick by Ireland was insane scenes in Budapest. What a week indeed for Irish football.Bosnia beating Romania, means they could win in Vienna tomorrow and qualify still.Wales vs. North Macedonia tomorrow in Cardiff is not a deciding match as they qualify via Nations League either way.
Monday at 16:053 days 29 minutes ago, DJHazey said:Any questions about Norway's strength as a squad now? Like I said before, I don't think there is a team in the world playing better than Norway right now, except maybe Spain and Argentina.Hard to say really have they played anyone good? Italy are not a good comparison. It’s a bit like England really at the moment they’re kind of an unknown. You suspect the conditions are also going to play a huge part.Kind of feel this Norway side are a bit like the golden age of Belgium. They’ve clearly got a good squad all coming through together at the same time.
Monday at 16:463 days 38 minutes ago, Rooney said:Hard to say really have they played anyone good? Italy are not a good comparison. It’s a bit like England really at the moment they’re kind of an unknown. You suspect the conditions are also going to play a huge part.Kind of feel this Norway side are a bit like the golden age of Belgium. They’ve clearly got a good squad all coming through together at the same time.Possibly, but Norway have only ever been like third or fourth tier in Europe at best, now you can say they're among all the countries right under the two or three biggest favorites going into the World Cup. This is new territory for sure. I bet no one expected they'd just travel to Italy and dismantle them to confirm the 3-0 route they had back in Oslo.Yes, like many of the Northern Europe squads, the heat/humidity will be a factor too.
Monday at 18:293 days If Slovakia pull off a major upset today, they will qualify for the World Cup and Germany will join Italy as powerhouses in the playoff round.
Monday at 19:023 days Team Norway arriving in Oslo after their first qualification in 27 years.StreamableWatch Norway national football team arrives in Oslo after... Edited Monday at 19:123 days by DJHazey
Monday at 20:013 days 3 hours ago, DJHazey said:Possibly, but Norway have only ever been like third or fourth tier in Europe at best, now you can say they're among all the countries right under the two or three biggest favorites going into the World Cup. This is new territory for sure.I bet no one expected they'd just travel to Italy and dismantle them to confirm the 3-0 route they had back in Oslo.Yes, like many of the Northern Europe squads, the heat/humidity will be a factor too.They will enter the tournament as the dark horses 100%. Problem is, none of their players have ever played in an international tournament before, which 100% matters. I think they will also end up in a difficult group too with the way the seedings work. You'd back them against most of the home nations, but the World Cup throws up some weird stuff!
Monday at 21:203 days If Norway are there Ireland just have to qualify to be in their group just like USA 1994!
Monday at 21:213 days Troy Parrott celebrated his third goal yday the same way I celebrated his winner 🤣
Monday at 21:513 days Author Matchday 10 - MondayGroup AGermany 6-0 SlovakiaNorthern Ireland 1-0 LuxembourgGroup GMalta 2-3 PolandNetherlands 4-0 LithuaniaGroup LCzech Republic 6-0 GibraltarMontenegro 2-3 CroatiaA pretty undramatic day as Germany and Netherlands book their places.
Monday at 22:103 days Bloody help Germany growing into the qualifiers here. Got a feeling Ireland will draw Slovakia or Bosnia ok Thursday!
Tuesday at 00:043 days As good as it is for new and unusual teams to qualify for the World Cup I think there is a risk of some low quality or one sided matches taking place if there are too many new teams. Unrelated to European qualification but I've just read that Curacao who are ranked 82nd in the FIFA World Rankings are on the verge of securing a place at the World Cup. A team like this realistically are not likely to put up much of a fight against a more established national team and if you get two teams of this ilk playing each other it probably will not provide an end-to-end goal fest either.
Tuesday at 00:263 days Curacao aren't the best example as I would say currently they are at or above a Honduras or Costa Rica and those countries have done things in World Cups. Keep in mind Curacao is mostly made up players who were born in Netherlands as it was formerly Netherlands Antilles and they play in Dutch leagues.
Tuesday at 00:293 days The Irish announcers call of Parrott's game winner is incredible by the way. Edited Tuesday at 00:293 days by DJHazey
Tuesday at 06:243 days Must have watched that about 1000 times since and celebrated in my living room like Troy Parrott did there when he scored 🤣I was worried Ray Houghton was gonna have a heart attack lol.Football eh, imagine not loving it!! Edited Tuesday at 06:243 days by Steve201
Tuesday at 14:063 days To sum up today's final Round1 qualifying day, to make things easier and more straight forward to follow.Already Qualified (7/12)GermanyFrancePortugalNetherlandsNorwayEnglandCroatiaAlready in the Playoffs (10/16)SlovakiaNorthern IrelandSwedenUkraineRepublic of IrelandPolandRomaniaItalyAlbaniaCzech RepublicWill Qualify today (basically 99%< chance) (+3 Qualified)Switzerland (Kosovo would have to win by six goals)Spain (Turkey would have to win by eight goals)Belgium (they are hosting Liechtenstein)Qualification Up for Grabs (+2 Qualified)Denmark or Scotland in Glasgow (Game winner or Denmark if there is a draw)Austria or Bosnia-Herzegovina in Vienna (Game winner or Austria if there is a draw)Playoff Additions (+6 Advance)Kosovo (see above with Switzerland)Denmark or Scotland (Game Loser or Scotland if there is a draw)Turkey (see above with Spain)Austria or Bosnia-Herzegovina (Game Loser or Bosnia if there is a draw)North Macedonia (see above with Belgium)Wales (see above with Belgium) Edited Tuesday at 14:083 days by DJHazey
Tuesday at 19:572 days Author Let's not let it distract from the big story of the night: San Marino are 1-0 up away to Romania.
Tuesday at 20:122 days 13 minutes ago, LewisGT said:Let's not let it distract from the big story of the night: San Marino are 1-0 up away to Romania.They were upset they just missed being in the playoffs* and are taking it out on poor Romania!*The fact that Nations League ties into this is a joke and needs to be addressed, San Marino having actually been a possibility and Sweden who went winless in their qualifying group being in the playoffs are mind-boggling.
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