DJHazey

The forecast for Hungaroring is now showing only some showers in the morning Sunday, should be cleared out long before race time.

European qualifying finally involves all of their nations for the first time in September. Groups A-F are debuting their first matches. Group A 9/4 - Slovakia vs. Germany [Bratislava] 9/4 - Luxembourg vs. Northern Ireland [Luxembourg City] 9/7 - Luxembourg vs. Slovakia [Luxembourg City] 9/7 - Germany vs. Northern Ireland [Cologne] Group B 9/5 - Slovenia vs. Sweden [Ljubljana] 9/5 - Switzerland vs. Kosovo [Basel] 9/8 - Kosovo vs. Sweden [Pristina] 9/8 - Switzerland vs. Slovenia [Basel] Group C 9/5 - Greece vs. Belarus [Piraeus] 9/5 - Denmark vs. Scotland [Copenhagen] 9/8 - Belarus vs. Scotland [Zalaegerzeg, Hungary] 9/8 - Greece vs. Scotland [Piraeus] Group D 9/5 - Iceland vs. Azerbaijan [Reykjavik] 9/5 - Ukraine vs. France [Wroclaw, Poland] 9/9 - Azerbaijan vs. Ukraine [Baku] 9/9 - France vs. Iceland [Paris] Group E 9/4 - Georgia vs. Turkey [Tbilisi] 9/4 - Bulgaria vs. Spain [Sofia] 9/7 - Georgia vs. Bulgaria [Tbilisi] 9/7 - Turkey vs. Spain [Konya] Group F 9/6 - Armenia vs. Portugal [Yerevan] 9/6 - Ireland vs. Hungary [Dublin] 9/9 - Armenia vs. Ireland [Yerevan] 9/9 - Hungary vs. Portugal [Budapest] Group G 9/4 - Lithuania vs. Malta [Kaunas] 9/4 - Netherlands vs. Poland [Rotterdam] 9/7 - Lithuania vs. Netherlands [Kaunas] 9/7 - Poland vs. Finland [Chorzow] Group H 9/6 - Austria vs. Cyprus [Linz] 9/6 - San Marino vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina [Serraville] 9/9 - Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Austria [Zenica] 9/9 - Cyprus vs. Romania [Nicosia] Group I 9/5 - Moldova vs. Israel [Chisinau] 9/5 - Italy vs. Estonia [Bergamo] 9/8 - Israel vs. Italy [Debrecen, Hungary] 9/8 - Norway vs. Moldova [Oslo] Group J 9/4 - Kazakhstan vs. Wales {Astana] 9/4 - Liechtenstein vs. Belgium [Vaduz] 9/7 - North Macedonia vs. Liechtenstein [Skopje] 9/7 - Belgium vs. Kazakhstan [Anderlecht] Group K 9/6 - Latvia vs. Serbia [Riga] 9/6 - England vs. Andorra [Birmingham] 9/9 - Albania vs. Latvia [Tirana] 9/9 - Serbia vs. England [Belgrade] Group L 9/5 - Faroe Islands vs. Croatia [Torshavn] 9/5 - Montenegro vs. Czech Republic [Podgorica] 9/8 - Gibraltar vs. Faroe Islands [Faro, Portugal] 9/8 - Croatia vs. Montenegro [Zagreb]

Final matches in September for South America Argentina, Ecuador, and Brazil have all qualified, so it will be interesting to see how they play these final matches. It looks like Uruguay, Paraguay, and Colombia will also qualify unless they fall apart in these final two matches. The battle for Intercontinental Tournament will be between Venezuela and Bolivia, so their matches will be key. 9/4 - Uruguay vs. Peru [Montevideo] 9/4 - Colombia vs. Bolivia [Barranquilla] 9/4 - Paraguay vs. Ecuador [Asuncion] 9/4 - Argentina vs. Venezuela [Buenos Aires] 9/4 - Brazil vs. Chile [Rio de Janeiro] 9/9 - Ecuador vs. Argentina [Guayaquil] 9/9 - Peru vs. Paraguay [Lima] 9/9 - Venezuela vs. Colombia [Maturin] 9/9 - Bolivia vs. Brazil [El Alto] 9/9 - Chile vs. Uruguay [Santiago] Both Bolivia and Venezuela have brutal matches. It will be hard to see either one grab a point on the road, so it'll probably come down to their final match, both matches are at home. What is interesting is how Bolivia have changed their home matches to El Alto in 2026 qualifying. It is highest altitude for a major city in the world. They will be relying on that factor as they try to get a historic victory vs, Brazil to give them a chance in the battle with Venezuela.

The groups for Round 4: Group A Qatar [Host, Doha] United Arab Emirates Oman Group B Saudi Arabia [Host, Jeddah] Iraq Indonesia The matches will be October 8-14, with everybody playing each other once. 1st place in each group qualifies for the World Cup and 2nd place advances to a 5th round home-and-away matchup in November to determine Asia's representative for the Intercontinental Tournament.

3rd Round begins in September. Here's the slate for the first matches of the round: Group A 9/4 - Suriname vs. Panama [Paramaribo, Suriname] 9/4 - Guatemala vs. El Salvador [Guatemala City] 9/8 - El Salvador vs. Suriname [San Salvador] 9/8 - Panama vs. Guatemala [Panama City] Group B 9/5 - Bermuda vs. Jamaica [Devonshire Parish, Bermuda] 9/5 - Trinidad & Tobago vs. Curaçao [Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago] 9/9 - Jamaica vs. Trinidad & Tobago [Kingston] 9/9 - Curaçao vs. Bermuda [Willemstad, Curaçao] Group C 9/5 - Haiti vs. Honduras [Willemstad, Curaçao] 9/5 - Nicaragua vs. Costa Rica [Managua, Nicaragua] 9/9 - Costa Rica vs. Haiti [San Jose, Costa Rica] 9/9 - Honduras vs. Nicaragua [Tegucigalpa, Honduras] Biggest matches in that bunch to get things rolling will be El Salvador vs. Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago vs. Curaçao, and Haiti vs. Honduras as those could end up being the battle for 2nd place.

What a confident pk from Kelly. What a closer.

Aitana swoons with a lovely off-angle strike. Amazing finish.

60% chance of showers Sunday.

Caught the highlights (was at work when it occurred) -- that penalty was an absolute gift, I must say. Should've gone to the penalties..

Hoping it ends up England vs. Germany.

Does Chelsea even have a chance?

I think Norway winning outright in the home opener for the Swiss is minor upset and Finland over Iceland was definitely decent one.

I'll go 11 please.

Wow, Auckland will be telling that story for generations.

I tend to remember Ireland struggling in the heat versus Italy or Mexico in 1994, but I was only 11 at the time. Must have been the Mexico game they lost 2-1 played in Orlando, Florida in late June is oppressive levels of humidity. Drier heat in the South-west and pleasant on the west coast though. It's actually the east where humidity is the worst though.