DJHazey

Now that we know that 48 nations represented in the World Cup, here is how I would currently rank them: TIER 1 - FAVORITES SPAIN ARGENTINA FRANCE PORTUGAL TIER 2 - WILL BE STRONG ENGLAND COLOMBIA GERMANY MOROCCO NETHERLANDS JAPAN SENEGAL TIER 3 - COULD GO EITHER WAY CROATIA BRAZIL NORWAY BELGIUM SWITZERLAND TURKEY MEXICO TIER 4 - MAYBE A DARKHORSE ALGERIA AUSTRIA ECUADOR CANADA URUGUAY AUSTRALIA UNITED STATES IVORY COAST TIER 5 - MILD EXPECTATIONS EGYPT SOUTH KOREA CONGO DR IRAN UZBEKISTAN PARAGUAY CZECHIA SOUTH AFRICA TIER 6 - LONG SHOTS PANAMA TUNISIA SWEDEN SCOTLAND JORDAN CAPE VERDE GHANA BOSNIA TIER 7 - THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA HAITI NEW ZEALAND QATAR CURACAO

In 2024, FIFA started a new design for the March window friendlies to give smaller countries especially the chance to play international foes they normally wouldn't and/or more challenging opponents. The picks groups of nations from different continental regions to meet at one hosting country and do little round robin sessions or tournaments in March. They try to group nations up by having similar standing in the World Rankings, though sometimes a minnow faces a decent squad. This year they ran the following mini "tournaments" Australia Series - Sydney & Melbourne 3/27 (Sydney) | China 2-0 Curaçao 3/27 (Sydney) | Australia 1-0 Cameroon 3/31 (Melbourne) | Cameroon 2-0 China 3/31 (Melbourne) | Australia 5-1 Curaçao Australia is considered the champion by winning the round robin group. Those results don't bode well for World Cup debutants Curaçao Azerbaijan Series - Sumgait 3/27 Semifinal | Azerbaijan 6-1 St. Lucia 3/30 Final | Azerbaijan 1-1 Sierra Leone | 9-8 Azerbaijan on PKs Indonesia Series - Jakarta 3/27 Semifinal | Bulgaria 10-2 Soloman Islands 3/27 Semifinal | Indonesia 4-0 St. Kitts and Nevis 3/30 Third Place | St. Kitts and Nevis 4-2 Soloman Islands 3/30 Final | Bulgaria 1-0 Indonesia Kazakhstan Series - Astana 3/25 | Kazakhstan 2-0 Namibia 3/28 | Namibia 0-0 Comoros | 5-4 Namibia on PKs 3/31 | Kazakhstan 1-0 Comoros Kazakhstan is considered the champion by winning the round robin group. New Zealand Series - Auckland 3/27 | Chile 4-2 Cape Verde Islands 3/27 | Finland 2-0 Australia 3/30 | Cape Verde Islands 1-1 Finland | 4-2 Cape Verde on PKs 3/30 | New Zealand 4-1 Chile Finland is considered the champion by winning the round robin group as they considered the Cape Verde/Finland match to be a draw as far as points are concerned. Puerto Rico Series - Bayamon 3/25 Semifinal | U.S. Virgin Islands 5-2 American Samoa 3/25 Semifinal | Puerto Rico 4-0 Guam 3/28 Third Place | Guam 6-0 American Samoa 3/28 Final | Puerto Rico 2-0 U.S. Virgin Islands Rwanda A Series - Kigali 3/27 Semifinal | Estonia 1-1 Kenya | 5-4 Estonia on PKs 3/27 Semifinal | Rwanda 4-0 Grenada 3/30 Third Place | Kenya 3-0 Grenada 3/30 Final | Rwanda 2-0 Estonia Rwanda Series B - Kigali 3/26 Semifinal | Aruba 4-1 Macau 3/26 Semifinal | Liechtenstein 1-0 Tanzania 3/29 Third Place | Tanzania 6-0 Macau 3/29 Final | Aruba 4-1 Liechtenstein Great result for Aruba, one of the Caribbean minnows, Liechtenstein's semifinal victory has to be one their best results in their history. Uzbekistan Series - Tashkent 3/27 | Venezuela 4-1 Trinidad and Tobago 3/27 | Uzbekistan 3-1 Gabon 3/30 | Gabon 2-2 Trinidad and Tobago | 3-2 Gabon on PKs 3/30 | Uzbekistan 0-0 Venezuela | 5-4 Uzbekistan on PKs They set this up as a group, even though it ended being like semifinals and a final. Either way, Uzbekistan is the champion.

Italy 🤡 Three straight World Cups they'll be missing, 4-1 Bosnia!

One more and they got it.

Czech Republic take their penalty shootout over Denmark 3-1. Bosnia out to a 1-0 lead over Italy in theirs.

All of those results were absolutely brutal. Sorry to the Brits and Irish. Also devastated for Albania after getting the lead. Kosovo the underdogs now.

I am trying to remember why they left the field in the first place. Oh yeah Senegal protested their disallowed goal and Morocco's subsequent awarded penalty later. That felt a bit like home-cooking in the referee department so I can understand why Senegal was so upset at the time. Emotions in the moment were running high. Imagine if it had been the other way around, the home crowd+team reactions would have been even worse.

Friday 20th March AFC Bournemouth 0-2 Manchester United (20:00) Saturday 21st March Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Liverpool (12:30) Fulham 2-0 Burnley Everton 1-1 Chelsea (17:30) Leeds United 1-1 Brentford (20:00) Sunday 22nd March Newcastle United 2-0 Sunderland (12:00) Aston Villa 2-3 West Ham United (14:15) Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Nottingham Forest (14:15) Friday 10th April West Ham United 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (20:00) Saturday 11th April Arsenal 2-0 AFC Bournemouth (12:30) Brentford 1-1 Everton Burnley 4-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Crystal Palace 2-3 Newcastle United Nottingham Forest 1-2 Aston Villa Liverpool 3-1 Fulham (17:30) Sunday 12th April Sunderland 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (14:00) Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City (16:30) Monday 13th April Manchester United 1-0 Leeds United (20:00)

Saturday 14th March Burnley 0-1 AFC Bournemouth Sunderland 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion Arsenal 2-0 Everton (17:30) Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle United (17:30) West Ham United 2-4 Manchester City (20:00) Sunday 15th March Crystal Palace 2-0 Leeds United (14:00) Manchester United 2-2 Aston Villa (14:00) Nottingham Forest 2-1 Fulham (14:00) Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur (16:30) Monday 16th March Brentford 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers (20:00) Gotta have some wild predictions in order to try to make up some ground.

I'd like to see Wales, Albania, Kosovo, and Ireland win these, but think it will be Wales, Poland, Turkey, and Denmark.

At the end of the month, the final European spots in the World Cup will be decided. A reminder of the path layout: Path A Mar 26 SF | Bergamo, Italy | Italy vs. Northern Ireland Mar 26 SF | Cardiff, Wales | Wales vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina Mar 31 FINAL | Final venue at either Cardiff, Wales or Zenica, Bosnia. Winner of this path is placed into Group B at the World Cup, to play Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland. Path B Mar 26 SF | Valencia, Spain | Ukraine vs. Sweden Mar 26 SF | Warsaw, Poland | Poland vs. Albania Mar 31 FINAL | Final venue at either Valencia, Spain (if Ukraine wins) or Solna, Sweden. Winner of this path is placed into Group F at the World Cup, to play Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia. Path C Mar 26 SF | Istanbul, Turkey | Turkey vs. Romania Mar 26 SF | Bratislava, Slovakia | Slovakia vs. Kosovo Mar 31 FINAL | Final venue at either Bratislava, Slovakia or Pristina, Kosovo. Winner of this path is placed into Group D at the World Cup, to play the United States, Paraguay, and Australia. Path D Mar 26 SF | Copenhagen, Denmark | Denmark vs. North Macedonia Mar 26 SF | Prague, Czech Republic | Czech Republic vs. Republic of Ireland Mar 31 FINAL | Final venue at either Prague, Czech Republic or Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Winner of this path is placed into Group A at the World Cup, to play Mexico, South Africa, and South Korea. Who do you want to win these matchups? Who do you think will win them? Will Italy fail again?

It's embarrassing to be an American with you know who running the show, but it's even made worse with how he is handling the World Cup and I fear for Los Angeles 2028 as well. I won't be surprised if Iran stays home. If I was them, I certainly would.

Tuesday 3rd March AFC Bournemouth 2-1 Brentford (19:30) Everton 1-0 Burnley (19:30) Leeds United 1-0 Sunderland (19:30) Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Liverpool (20:15) Wednesday 4th March Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea (19:30) Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Arsenal (19:30) Fulham 2-2 West Ham United (19:30) Manchester City 4-1 Nottingham Forest (19:30) Newcastle United 0-4 Manchester United (20:15) Thursday 5th March Tottenham 2-1 Crystal Palace (20:00)

Friday 27th February Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Aston Villa (20:00) Saturday 28th February AFC Bournemouth 3-0 Sunderland (12:30) Burnley 3-2 Brentford Liverpool 3-1 West Ham United Newcastle United 2-0 Everton Leeds United 2-3 Manchester City (17:30) Sunday 1st March Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Nottingham Forest (14:00) Fulham 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (14:00) Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace (14:00) Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea (16:30)

The U.S. women's curling team giving up three in the 10th end to be forced into an extra end and then making that shot to seal the deal for medal rounds. Sorry to the Great Britain team! I know they were heart-broken.