DJHazey

Oop, Ghana only getting a draw in Chad, does that leave the door open a crack for others in Group I?

Interesting story in Group C. Both Zimbabwe and Lesotho have had their home stadiums deemed not CAF/FIFA regulation, so have opted to play their remaining home matches in neighboring South Arica. The trouble being South Africa is also in this group and their remaining matches are two home and two away to Lesotho and Zimbabwe, meaning all four of their remaining matches will be played at home. Nigeria and Rwanda have expressed their concerns with CAF about this. South Africa has built a 5-point lead on everyone in the group anyway, so it's not as controversial as it could be.

Yup we just needed Gabon not to choke and they didn't. Now it will be big match. Now if Cape Verde takes care of Mauritius we'll have the other one set up with Cape Verde/Cameroon. Winning that by a convincing 4-0 scoreline shows that Gabon is ready for this. Even though the Seychelles are one of the lowest ranked nations in Africa, any away match is a challenge in this area of the world especially. Even the Nigeria's, Cameroon's, and Ivory Coast's of the world historically come away with a late 1-0 snatch and grab raids in those games. Those two would be matches I'd try to find a stream of somehow.

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

Saturday 30th August Chelsea 3-4 Fulham (12:30) Manchester United 4-0 Burnley Sunderland 0-1 Brentford Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 AFC Bournemouth Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Everton Leeds United 0-4 Newcastle United (17:30) Sunday 31st August Brighton & Hove Albion 1-5 Manchester City (14:00) Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham United (14:00) Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (16:30) Aston Villa 2-1 Crystal Palace (19:00)

I'll try to get here each week, but it's not possible sometimes: Friday 22nd August West Ham United 1-0 Chelsea (20:00) Saturday 23rd August Manchester City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (12:30) AFC Bournemouth 3-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers Brentford 2-2 Aston Villa Burnley 1-1 Sunderland Arsenal 3-0 Leeds United (17:30) Sunday 24th August Crystal Palace 1-0 Nottingham Forest (14:00) Everton 4-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (14:00) Fulham 1-2 Manchester United (16:30) Monday 25th August Newcastle United 1-3 Liverpool (20:00)

After a long break, African qualifying picks back up in September and we finally have a match-day schedule: Group A 9/4 - Guinea-Bissau vs. Sierra Leone [Bissau] 9/5 - Djibouti vs. Burkina Faso [Bissau] 9/5 - Egypt vs. Ethiopia [Cairo] 9/8 - Guinea-Bissau vs. Djibouti [Bissau] 9/9 - Sierra Leone vs. Ethiopia [Paynesville, Liberia] 9/9 - Burkina Faso vs. Egypt [Ouagadougou]* *1st vs. 2nd place, though Egypt has a five point lead right now. Group B 9/5 - South Sudan vs. Congo DR [Juba] 9/5 - Mauritania vs. Togo [Nouadhibou] 9/5 - Senegal vs. Sudan [Diamniadio]* 9/9 - Congo DR vs. Senegal [Kinshasa]** 9/9 - Togo vs. Sudan [Lomé] 9/9 - Mauritania vs. South Sudan [Nouadhibou] *2nd vs. 3rd place, currently tied in points. **1st vs. 2nd place, currently Senegal leads by 1 point. Group C 9/5 - Benin vs. Zimbabwe [Abidjan, Ivory Coast] 9/5 - Lesotho vs. South Africa [Bloemfontein, South Africa] 9/6 - Nigeria vs. Rwanda [Uyo]* 9/9 - Zimbabwe vs. Rwanda [Johannesburg, South Africa] 9/9 - South Africa vs. Nigeria [Bloemfontein] 9/9 - Benin vs. Lesotho [Abidjan, Ivory Coast] *4th vs, 2nd place, Rwanda is currently 2 points ahead. Group D 9/4 - Angola vs. Libya [Luanda] 9/4 - Mauritius vs. Cape Verde [Saint Pierre] 9/4 - Cameroon vs. Eswatini [Yaoundé] 9/8 - Libya vs. Eswatini [Benghazi] 9/9 - Cape Verde vs. Cameroon [Praia]* 9/9 - Angola vs. Mauritius [Luanda] *1st vs. 2nd place, Cape Verde currently leads by 1 point. If you want crazy results/a new World Cup debutant, you need to be rooting for Cape Verde to hold serve at home here (and have not tripped up at Mauritius) Group E 9/5 - Congo vs. Tanzania [Brazzaville] 9/5 - Morocco vs. Niger [Rabat] 9/8 - Tanzania vs. Niger [Zanzibar] 9/8 - Zambia vs. Morocco [Ndola] Group F 9/3 - Seychelles vs. Gabon [Saint Pierre, Mauritius] 9/5 - Kenya vs. Gambia [Nairobi] 9/5 - Ivory Coast vs. Burundi [Abidjan] 9/9 - Kenya vs. Seychelles [Nairobi] 9/9 - Gabon vs. Ivory Coast [Franceville]* 9/9 - Gambia vs. Burundi [Nairobi. Kenya] *2nd vs 1st place, Ivory Coast currently leads by 1 point. Much like the Cape Verde story, we'd need to see Gabon win at home here for a surprise to occur. Group G 9/4 - Algeria vs. Botswana [Tizi Ouzou] 9/5 - Somalia vs. Guinea [Kampala, Uganda] 9/5 - Uganda vs. Mozambique [Kampala] 9/8 - Mozambique vs. Botswana [Maputo] 9/8 - Uganda vs. Somalia [Kampala] 9/8 - Guinea vs. Algeria [Casablanca, Morocco] Group H 9/4 - Sao Tome vs. Equatorial Guinea [Oujda, Morocco] 9/4 - Tunisia vs. Liberia [Tunis] 9/5 - Namibia vs. Malawi [Francistown, Botswana] 9/8 - Equatorial Guinea vs. Tunisia [Malabo] 9/8 - Malawi vs. Liberia [Lilongwe] 9/9 - Namibia vs. Sao Tome [Francistown, Botswana] Group I 9/4 - Chad vs. Ghana [N'Djamena] 9/4 - Madagascar vs. Central African Republic [Casablanca, Morocco] 9/4 - Mali vs. Comoros [Bamako]* 9/7 - Central African Republic vs. Comoros [Meknes, Morocco] 9/8 - Madagascar vs. Chad [Casablanca, Morocco] 9/8 - Ghana vs. Mali [Accra] *4th vs. 2nd place, Comoros currently leads by 3 points.

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.

It's such a scam and sadly seems to be an American thing where stadiums say 'no bottles of beverage or food' and claim it's a safety thing. Okay so you don't want me throwing bottles I brought in, but I'm more than welcome to throw the ones I bought inside the stadium, make it make sense! (I'm not advocating throwing anything, but if they're calling it safety, what are they trying to prevent exactly?) It becomes a legal situation if someone has issues with heat exhaustion/stroke.

True, I often rely on YouTube Highlight which uses the same Sky Sports coverage of the race us Americans get on TV via simulcast. However, I make it a habit to watch the qualifying highlights first and know the lineup going in.

Auckland City are apparently an amateur club according to New Zealand resident who posted about it on reddit, who won their National League and was the best choice to have an actual Oceania league member. They are often confused with Auckland FC who play in the Australian A-League and are counted as Asia, along with Wellington Phoenix. If they had been here instead, then it would not have been 10-0.