DJHazey

Group B has a chance to have the most storylines ever in a World Cup group.

Possibly Wales or Scotland with England and USA. Amazing!

The face of the Japanese coach knowing he was with Spain and Germany - priceless.

England, USA, Iran! The political nightmare!

Theres the Group of Death - Germany/Spain

USA vs. England!

Hmmm, I would argue we are stronger than Mexico right now. We might have finished 3rd in Concacaf but were 1 win 1 draw vs. Mexico and never had close to our full squad because of injuries. Don't underestimate this American squad if fully healthy.

The last time USA got a draw, we got Portugal, Germany, and Ghana, quite possibly the toughest group ever. Hopefully the football gods smile on us a bit better.

The host nation is automatically slotted into Group A from Pot 1. Qatar are ranked 51 by FIFA and would listed right in front of Ghana in Pot 4. They're okay, but have been scarier in recent years, though home field advantage will be a factor as it always is. Chance are great for a Group of Death if Germany doesn't get drawn into Group A with Qatar.

The Pots for Friday's Draw Pot 1 Qatar [Group A] Brazil Belgium France Argentina England Spain Portugal Pot 2 Netherlands Denmark Germany Mexico Switzerland USA Uruguay Croatia Pot 3 Senegal Iran Japan Morocco Serbia Poland South Korea Tunisia Pot 4 Cameroon Canada Ecuador Saudi Arabia Ghana UEFA Playoff Winner [Wales or Scotland or Ukraine] Peru-AFC Third Place Playoff winner [uAE or Australia] Costa Rica-New Zealand Playoff winner

Meanwhile in CONCACAF: Panama only draws Honduras at home, 1-1 Canada loses at Costa Rica 0-1 after going a man down United States grind out a 0-0 draw at Azteca Standings Canada | 25pts | +13 United States | 22pts | +9 Mexico | 22pts | +6 Costa Rica | 19pts | +2 Panama | 18pts | +1 Canada hosts Jamaica on Sunday, travels to Panama on Wednesday. They'll clinch with any point, but basically have clinched already on goal differential. United States host Panama on Sunday and travel to Costa Rica on Wednesday. A win versus Panama basically clinches it. Mexico travels to Honduras on Sunday and finishes up by hosting El Salvador on Wednesday. Again a win likely clinches for them too. The real battle is between Costa Rica and Panama for the playoff spot (likely versus New Zealand) Panama travels to the United States and hosts Canada, while Costa Rica travels to El Salvador then hosts the United States. ---- I can't wait until the World Cup if it's Canada-United States-Mexico at the very least. I think we're going to show out because if the Canadians and Americans are both healthy, who both have the most talent-rich rosters possibly that they've ever had, then we're going to turn heads this time around. Be ready, is all I'm going to say.

It literally IS coming home then?

It has been confirmed Poland advances on walk-over and will await the Czech Republic/Sweden winner, to be played in Chorzow, Poland. Also, the Scotland/Ukraine match will be postponed until June. Wales/Austria will go on in March as planned and the final of that path will also be played in June.

That doesn't seem fair to Sweden and Czech Republic, that they have to win two games and Poland only has to win one.

I wonder how they will handle the Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland section now. I would have them all play each once as a round robin table. Winner on points/goal differential advances.

FIFA needs to move the European Playoff Path involving Russia, which currently has Russia hosting both their semifinal vs. Poland and a potential final vs. Sweden/Czech Republic if they win. All three countries are threatening to boycott a trip to Moscow.

It was a fluke situation. Canada happened to be ranked lower before seeding for this. Suriname is by know means as strong as that showing. They lost to Canada 4-0 in that group and are like the equivalent of say Latvia or Estonia from Europe. If they were in this final round, the scores would be 10-0 more often than not. I do agree five auto-qualifiers is a bit much, the second round should have had all involved. I think the pandemic is what brought it about this time. They wanted the second round to not take as long as it would with more teams involved. They fell behind in qualifying schedule because of Covid. I don't think they will do it same for the next World Cup.

It's looking like Ecuador will qualify from South America and Canada from CONCACAF as both nations have clinched at least intercontinental playoffs with matches remaining in March. It would be a statistical improbability for either of them to not directly qualify at this point. It will be Canada's first World Cup appearance since their only other one in 1986. They made a real statement here as the best nation in CONCACAF right now by beating both the United States (2-0) and Mexico (2-1) at home and drawing (1-1) away at both.

Iran and South Korea have qualified. I'd expect Japan and Saudi Arabia to join them from Asia and Australia to face UAE in the Asian playoff.

Pulling for: Egypt Algeria Ghana (mostly to avoid another Nigeria/Argentina group *yawn*) Congo DR Mali

African Playoffs are set. Home-and-away ties March 24-26 and March 27-29: Egypt* vs. Senegal* (aka Salah vs. Mane) Cameroon vs. Algeria Ghana vs. Nigeria* Congo DR# vs. Morocco* Mali# vs. Tunisia* * = 2018 WC Participants: Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia # = Congo DR hasn't been to the WC since 1974, Mali has never been to a WC.

Germany

I am so glad Red Bull mastery of race stategy won the race and not a safety car. Red Bull out strategized circles around Mercedes and deserve it. What an amazing sports moment. So glad I got up early and watched from over here in U.S.

I just think Ronaldo will come up clutch like he usually does in bigger moments. -- In other news ESPN just published their latest ESPN FC Top 100. A Top 10 for every position. Find it here.

These matches in CONCACAF will be must-see TV: 1/30 | Canada vs. United States 2/2 | Mexico vs. Panama 3/24 | Mexico vs. United States 3/27 | United States vs. Panama 3/30 | Panama vs. Canada My Europe Playoff Picks Wales over Austria Scotland over Ukraine Scotland over Wales Poland over Russia Sweden over Czech Republic Sweden over Poland Italy over North Macedonia Portugal over Turkey Portugal over Italy