DJHazey

Saturday 22nd November Burnley 1-2 Chelsea (12:30) AFC Bournemouth 2-0 West Ham United Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Brentford Fulham 4-3 Sunderland Liverpool 2-0 Nottingham Forest Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Crystal Palace Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City (17:30) Sunday 23rd November Leeds United 1-1 Aston Villa (14:00) Arsenal 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur (16:30) Monday 24th November Manchester United 0-1 Everton (20:00

Chance of light rain for qualifying, sunny but relatively cool (67F/19C) on Sunday

Hey I don't mind, if you use my scores you can't pass me in the standings. But we can both potentially rise up the ranks together.

Saturday 8th November Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Manchester United (12:30) Everton 3-1 Fulham West Ham United 0-0 Burnley Sunderland 2-3 Arsenal (17:30) Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (20:00) Sunday 9th November Aston Villa 0-0 AFC Bournemouth (14:00) Brentford 2-3 Newcastle United (14:00) Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (14:00) Nottingham Forest 1-2 Leeds United (14:00) Manchester City 3-1 Liverpool (16:30)

Hey not bad, I've 22 points going into today's match.

Jeez, I actually won a week, let's try for two! Saturday 1st November Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Leeds United Burnley 1-3 Arsenal Crystal Palace 5-2 Brentford Fulham 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Chelsea (17:30) Liverpool 4-2 Aston Villa (20:00) Sunday 2nd November West Ham United 2-1 Newcastle United (14:00) Manchester City 1-0 AFC Bournemouth (16:30) Monday 3rd November Sunderland 1-2 Everton (20:00) Theme of this week is teams that have been struggling lately getting a much needed win.

What is very interesting about all three groups above is that the third place team has both matches at home in November. Well in the case of Haiti, they continue playing them at a neutral site. So, there is a solid chance at least one of them wins both matches and rises to the top of the table. They're all capable.

Final Match Schedule in November Group A Germany 9 (+5), Slovakia 9 (+3), Northern Ireland 6 (+1), Luxembourg 0 11/14 - Luxembourg vs. Germany - Luxembourg City 11/14 - Slovakia vs. Northern Ireland - Košice, Slovakia 11/17 - Northern Ireland vs. Luxembourg - Belfast 11/17 - Germany vs. Slovakia - Leipzig, Germany Group B Switzerland 10 (+9), Kosovo 7 (-1), Slovenia 3 (-3), Sweden 1 (-5) 11/15 - Slovenia vs. Kosovo - Ljubljana, Slovenia 11/15 - Switzerland vs. Sweden - Geneva, Switzerland 11/18 - Kosovo vs. Switzerland - Pristina, Kosovo 11/18 - Sweden vs. Slovenia - Solna, Sweden Group C Denmark 10 (+11), Scotland 10 (+5), Greece 3, Belarus 0 11/15 - Greece vs. Scotland - Piraeus, Greece 11/15 - Denmark vs. Belarus - Copenhagen, Denmark 11/18 - Belarus vs. Greece - Zalaegerszeg, Hungary 11/18 - Scotland vs. Denmark - Glasgow, Sotland Group D France 10 (+6), Ukraine 7 (+1), Iceland 4 (+2), Azerbaijan 1 (-9) 11/13 - Azerbaijan vs. Iceland - Baku, Azerbaijan 11/13 - France vs. Ukraine - Paris, France 11/16 - Azerbaijan vs. France - Baku, Azerbaijan 11/16 - Ukraine vs. Iceland - Warsaw, Poland Group E Spain 12 (+15), Turkey 9 (+3), Georgia 3 (-3), Bulgaria 0 11/15 - Georgia vs. Spain - Tbilisi, Georgia 11/15 - Turkey vs. Bulgaria - Bursa, Turkey 11/18 - Bulgaria vs. Georgia - Sofia, Bulgaria 11/18 - Spain vs. Turkey - Seville, Spain Group F Portugal 10 (+7), Hungary 5 (+1), Ireland 4 (-1), Armenia 3 (-7) 11/13 - Armenia vs. Hungary - Yerevan, Armenia 11/13 - Ireland vs. Portugal - Dublin, Ireland 11/16 - Hungary vs. Ireland - Budapest, Hungary 11/16 - Portugal vs. Armenia - Porto, Portugal Group G Netherlands 16 (+19), Poland 13 (+6), Finland 10 (-5), Lithuania 3, Malta 2 11/14 - Finland vs. Malta - Helsinki, Finland 11/14 - Poland vs. Netherlands - Warsaw, Poland 11/17 - Malta vs. Poland - Ta' Qali, Malta 11/17 - Netherlands vs. Lithuania - Amsterdam, Netherlands Group H Austria 15 (+16), Bosnia and Herzegovina 13 (+8), Romania 10 (+5), Cyprus 8, San Marino 0 11/15 - Cyprus vs. Austria - Limassol, Cyprus 11/15 - Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Romania - Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina 11/18 - Austria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vienna, Austria 11/18 - Romania vs. San Marino - Bucharest, Romania Group I Norway 18 (+26), Italy 15 (+10), Israel 9 (-4), Estonia 4, Moldova 1 11/13 - Norway vs. Estonia - Oslo, Norway 11/13 - Moldova vs. Italy - Chișinău, Moldova 11/16 - Israel vs. Moldova - Chișinău, Moldova 11/16 - Italy vs. Norway - Milan, Italy Group J Belgium 14 (+15), North Macedonia 13 (+9), Wales 10 (+3), Kazakhstan 7, Liechtenstein 0 11/15 - Kazakhstan vs. Belgium - Astana, Kazakhstan 11/15 - Liechtenstein vs. Wales - Vaduz, Liechtenstein 11/18 - Belgium vs. Liechtenstein - Liège, Belgium 11/18 - Wales vs. North Macedonia - Cardiff, Wales Group K England 18 (+18), Albania 11 (+3), Serbia 10 (0), Latvia 5, Andorra 1 11/13 - Andorra vs. Albania - Encamp, Andorra 11/13 - England vs. Serbia - London, England 11/16 - Albania vs. England - Tirana, Albania 11/16 - Serbia vs. Latvia - Leskovac, Serbia Group L Croatia 16 (+19), Czech Republic 13 (+4), Faroe Islands 12 (+4), Montenegro 6, Gibraltar 0 11/14 - Gibraltar vs. Montenegro - Gibraltar 11/14 - Croatia vs. Faroe Islands - Rijeka, Croatia 11/17 - Czech Republic vs. Gibraltar - Olomouc, Czech Republic 11/17 - Montenegro vs. Croatia - Podgorica, Montenegro

Final matches of the round in November: Group A Suriname 6 (+1), Panama 6 (+1), Guatemala 5 (0), El Salvador 3 (-2) 11/13 - Suriname vs. El Salvador - Paramaribo, Suriname 11/13 - Guatemala vs. Panama - Guatemala City 11/18 - Guatemala vs. Suriname - Guatemala City 11/18 - Panama vs. El Salvador - Panama City Group B Jamaica 9 (+8), Curaçao 8 (+3), Trinidad and Tobago 5 (+1), Bermuda 0 11/13 - Bermuda vs. Curaçao - Devonshire Parish, Bermuda 11/13 - Trinidad and Tobago vs. Jamaica - Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 11/18 - Jamaica vs. Curaçao - Kingston, Jamaica 11/18 - Trinidad and Tobago vs. Bermuda - Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Group C Honduras 8 (+5), Costa Rica 6 (+3), Haiti 5 (0), Nicaragua 1 (-8) 11/13 - Haiti vs. Costa Rica - Willemstad, Curaçao 11/13 - Nicaragua vs. Honduras - Managua, Nicaragua 11/18 - Costa Rica vs. Honduras - San Jose, Costa Rica 11/18 - Haiti vs. Nicaragua - Willemstad, Curaçao

For the right to be the one African nation in the March 2026 intercontinental playoff. 11/13 - Nigeria vs. Gabon - Rabat, Morocco 11/13 - Cameroon vs. Congo DR - Rabat, Morocco 11/16 - SF Winner vs. SF Winner - Rabat, Morocco Cameroon have qualified for 8 World Cups since 1982, Nigeria have qualified for 6 World Cups since 1994, Congo DR only qualified for the 1974 World Cup, and Gabon have never been. I think we'll all be pulling for Gabon and Congo DR here, or Nigeria if you dream of another Nigeria/Argentina World Cup group.

For the right to be in March 2026's intercontinental playoff. 11/13 - United Arab Emirates vs. Iraq - Al Ain, UAE 11/18 - Iraq vs. United Arab Emirates - Basra, Iraq Both nations have been in the World Cup once, UAE in 1990 and Iraq in 1986.

Friday 24th October Leeds United 2-2 West Ham United (20:00) Saturday 25th October Chelsea 1-2 Sunderland Newcastle United 1-0 Fulham Manchester United 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (17:30) Brentford 2-4 Liverpool (20:00) Sunday 26th October AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Nottingham Forest (14:00) Arsenal 3-1 Crystal Palace (14:00) Aston Villa 1-4 Manchester City (14:00) Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Burnley (14:00) Everton 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (16:30)

If Max pulls off this comeback from the dead, his legendary status will grow exponentially.

It has been reported that Japan has considered starting an Eastern Asian Confederation and breaking away from the Middle Eastern portion of Asia/AFC, citing Qatar/Saudi corruption. This is very interesting if it actually gets off the ground, potentially also teaming up with Oceania and getting New Zealand to play against more competitive teams regularly.

Welp, looks like I will only be able to catch the YouTube highlights.

Now we know a bit more about who will be in this: Asia United Arab Emirates vs. Iraq - 11/13 in UAE and 11/18 in Iraq Africa Nigeria vs. Gabon Cameroon vs. Congo DR Semifinals & Final - played in Morocco - 11/13 and 11/16 North America TBD

Lets re-assess the European groups after October's matches. Group A Germany 9. Slovakia 9, Northern Ireland 6 The first domino to fall will be the 11/14 match in Slovakia vs. Northern Ireland. I think the only way the Slovakia/Germany match on 11/18 becomes interesting as far winning the group, is if Slovakia wins this. Otherwise, goal differential will make that match meaningless even if Slovakia pulls off another upset. Playoffs though, that's still anybody's guess. Group B Switzerland 10, Kosovo 7, Slovenia 3 Kosovo has two relatively tough matches, home vs. the Swiss and at Slovenia. They need to get a W in either match to clinch 2nd place. Group C Denmark 10 (+11), Scotland 10 (+5) Denmark has the far easier game on 11/15, hosting Belarus. Scotland needs to travel to the Athens. A draw there keeps them alive, but a loss all but ends things because of goal differential, assuming Denmark takes care of business. Then it would all come down to a 11/18 showdown in Glasgow, one of the biggest matches in Scottish football history. Group D France 10. Ukraine 7. Iceland 4 Ukraine does travel to France on 11/13, so I guess it's still possible for France to bottle this. Highly unlikely. That will probably go to the French, with Iceland probably hopefully winning in Azerbaijan, so the 11/16 match between Iceland/Ukraine would decide 2nd place. Group E Spain 12, Turkey 9 The only scenario where this isn't your final standing, is if Spain were to drop points in Georgia on 11/15. Turkey beats Bulgari at home, setting up a chance for the Turks to return the favor on 11/18 for their 0-6 meltdown at home in September. yeah, I didn't think so either. Group F Portugal 10, Hungary 5, Ireland 4, Armenia 3 One of the few groups where 2nd place is still in play for everyone. Well, not really, the only place Portugal is finishing is 1st. Armenia would really have to get a result in Portugal to even stand a chance, after beating Hungary at home. There are many ways for either Ireland or Hungary to be 2nd, but it will really come down to the 11/16 tilt in Budapest. Group G Netherlands 16, Poland 13 Poland could win an amazing game on 11/14 at home, smashing Netherlands 4-0 and still be down 5 goals on goal differential. Then both teams would have an easy three points on 11/17 where Poland would have to make up the rest of the differential then. What you see above will 99% be the final standing. Group H Austria 15, Bosnia 13, Romania 10 Bosnia hosts Romania on 11/15. The winner there would be the driver's seat for 2nd place. If Bosnia wins, they then travel to Austria on 11/18 with a chance to win the group (by winning). Group I Norway 18, Italy 15 Everyone's favorite outsider group-leader. For my money, nobody in the world can say they are playing better than Norway is right now. Their 29-to-3 goal differential dwarves Italy's. Italy beat Moldova at home 2-0, while Norway beat them 11-1. Norway is gonna rack up more hosting Estonia on 11/13, while Italy travels to Moldova. Then we get the match in Italy vs. Norway on 11/16. Italy would have to win by something like 6 or 7 goals maybe to come out on top on the tie-breaker, if they even win the match. Guess what, I think Norway has this group and Italy can't really do anything to stop it. Will Italy crumble again in the playoffs? It's time to start debating that lol. Group J Belgium 14, North Macedonia 13, Wales 10 This isn't as close as it looks, Belgium has two matches left against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein. Couldn't imagine an easier 6 points there for them. Wales will arrive at the 11/18 game in Cardiff with the same 13 points North Macedonia currently has, after beating Liechtenstein and a playoff spot will be on the line. Group K Albania 11, Serbia 10 Albania travels to Andorra on 11/13 and needs the 3 points there before hosting England on 11/16. In addition, if Serbia loses at England on 11/13, 2nd place will have already been clinched for the Albanians! That win in Belgrade was huge. Group L Croatia 16, Czech Republic 13, Faroe Islands 12 Well, I mean the Faroe Islands have to travel to Croatia with their final match and the Czechs get to host Gibraltar. You tell me how this finishing. Croatia has two matches left so the three-point lead is larger than it looks.

Assuming Trump doesn't actually move venues like he is threatening... You'll be praying for these Groups in the draw, due to climate: Group B - Canada and West Coast U.S. Group D - West Coast U.S./Vancouver Group G - West Coast U.S./Vancouver You don't want: Group A - Mexico/Atlanta Group C - East Coast U.S. Group E - East Coast U.S./Houston/Kansas City Group F - Mexico/Texas/Kansas City Group H - Mexico/Southeastern U.S. Group I - Northeastern U.S./Toronto Group J - Texas/Kansas City but also has a couple Santa Clara games which are good. Group K - Southeastern U.S./Texas/Mexico Group L - Texas/Northeast U.S. but also has Toronto In summary: You wants matches in Toronto/Vancouver Canada, Santa Clara/Inglewood/Seattle in the U.S. You don't want Mexico City/Guadalajara/Monterrey in Mexico or Atlanta/Miami/NY/Phily/Boston/Kansas City/Houston/Dallas in the U.S. as these areas are very humid in the summer. West Coast is very pleasant year-round.

England: "Kings of qualifying" at it again, lol. The only fun leader at the moment is Norway. The return match to Italy is going to be spicy.

That was a great draw in Panama by Suriname, the dream is quite alive! Honestly both the home match vs EL Salvador and the away one in Guatemala next month are winnable. There is scenario where Guatemala wins their first match at home vs. Panama and is playing at home for a ticket to the World Cup and that will be beyond difficult for Suriname. However, that would literally be a match to decide which nation goes to the first World Cup! (Assuming Suriname is coming off a win too) Curaçao kind of dropped the ball a little by only drawing at home vs. Trinidad and Tobago. In November, I see Curaçao winning at Bermuda but Jamaica can be had on their trip to Trinidad and Tobago. You could see Curaçao on 11 points and Jamaica on 9/10 points going into a showdown in Kingston on 11/18 to decide the World Cup berth. Curaçao would just need to hold it 0-0 in theory.

Sad for Burkina Faso. They're turning into 'Uzbekistan-lite' along with Mali. A couple of nations (along with Cape Verde who've ascended) that were always right on the edge of being considered among the elite African football nations. The matchups for the playoffs will be 1vs.4 and 2vs.3 based on the next FIFA Rankings. Right now, that's: Nigeria 45 Cameroon 52 Congo DR 60 Gabon 79 Considering their results in October I don't foresee this changing much, so it will unfortunately be: Nigeria vs. Gabon Cameroon vs. Congo DR So, there's a chance no debuting nation comes out of this if Nigeria and Cameroon win, but the matches will be played at a nuetral site in Morocco. Straight up semifinals and final.

I think Iraq takes that, but funny how now it's an aggregate home and away match after FIFA got their bank accounts i.e. Saudi Arabia and Qatar through.

Both Nigeria (2-0 over Benin) and South Africa (2-0 over Rwanda) are dominating early in the second half, so it looks like South Africa will get that World Cup berth and overcome the points reduction. It will be their first qualification since hosting the 2010 tournament.

I don't see Suriname hanging on to this, I think Panama will get it by the end. Curaçao however has a better chance. They need to get a result in Kingston and also hope Jamaica loses their away fixture with TnT. Honduras/Costa Rica was always going to be very close. The only difference between them so far is that Costa Rica tied Haiti at home 3-3 and Honduras won that 3-0. Also, in Honduras home fixture between the two, it was 0-0, so if Costa Rica takes the home game it will swing to them. Costa Rica still also has to travel to Haiti, and Honduras already did that and only has a less challenging trip to Nicaragua. This will come down to the last matches. Hait isn't out of this either.

This Asian qualifying round is such a scam for the away sides. Some kind of international committee that monitors fair play in sports should look at how Saudi Arabia and Qatar get to host a critical round of World Cup qualifying, with extra days off between their matches.