Bobfoc Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 France drew against Greece, leaving Portugal as the only team with a perfect record in qualifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 23, 2023 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 Quote Wales have been drawn to host Finland in the semi-finals of the qualification playoffs for Euro 2024. The match will take place on 21 March at Cardiff City Stadium. Should Rob Page’s men win that single-leg tie, they would then host either Poland or Estonia five days later to play for a place at next summer’s tournament in Germany. Finland finished third in Northern Ireland’s qualifying group – four points behind both Denmark and Slovenia – after winning six of their 10 fixtures. They sit 62nd in the Fifa rankings, 34 places below Wales, and are aiming to qualify for the European Championships for only the second time following their debut at Euro 2020. Wales are seeking to secure a third successive appearance at the finals of the competition and reach a fourth major tournament out of the last five after last year ending their 64-year wait to play at the World Cup. They finished third in Group D of qualifying, behind pool winners Turkey and second-placed Croatia. Just three of the 24 places at Euro 2024 remain up for grabs, with Wales attempting to navigate Path A of the playoffs. In Path B, Israel face a semi-final against Iceland following Thursday’s draw at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, while Bosnia and Herzegovina will host Ukraine. Georgia take on fellow potential tournament debutants Luxembourg in Path C, while Kazakhstan travel to 2004 champions Greece in the other semi-final of that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 I don't really understand the thinking behind having Nations League performances at all levels influence the playoffs. Georgia got one point in the entire qualifying campaign, but because they got promoted from the Nations League C, their playoff route is easier than that of Wales, who finished third in their qualifying group and were in the Nations League A. It seems like a system that can be exploited rather easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 It's a good way to secure the votes of smaller countries in UEFA/FIFA elections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 It's also completely incomprehensible which makes it even more fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naitch Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 @Bobfoc It was Estonia who only got one point, which makes it more baffling that they're in the Path A playoffs - presumably because they "topped" League D? This bit claims to explain how these paths were drawn. If anything it sounds like Finland were the most screwed over in drawing the short straw between themselves, Ukraine, and Iceland. It also almost guarantees that the three teams drawn with the Path C playoff winners' group will advance to the second round next summer. I'd like to see Finland, Ukraine (although Israel would be an acceptable alternative), and Luxembourg or Kazakhstan as the qualifying teams, solely because these are the teams who were most competitive in their qualifying groups. The group seeding looks interesting too 👇 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 Why are Scotland, the best team in Europe, only in pot 3? : / 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 If you'd beaten Norway by a few goals you'd have been pot 2. Better off in 3 anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naitch Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 Basically this ^ The Wiki page says that Portugal through Albania is group winners by overall performance and Austria through Switzerland is the same for group runners up. I know Pot 2 is five group winners and the best runners up, but you could've told me that was Pot 4 and I'd have believed it. It also looks like one goal difference in either of the Belgium/Austria games (in Austria's favour) would've swapped them round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorka Posted November 23, 2023 Report Share Posted November 23, 2023 I'm pretty happy with the draw, Wales have decent form against Finland (based on our recent Nations League matches) and fortunately we avoided Ukraine. Poland actually beat us in Cardiff the last time we played but still, home advantage is massive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFF Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 On 23/11/2023 at 13:40, Naitch said: @Bobfoc It was Estonia who only got one point, which makes it more baffling that they're in the Path A playoffs - presumably because they "topped" League D? This bit claims to explain how these paths were drawn. If anything it sounds like Finland were the most screwed over in drawing the short straw between themselves, Ukraine, and Iceland. It also almost guarantees that the three teams drawn with the Path C playoff winners' group will advance to the second round next summer. I'd like to see Finland, Ukraine (although Israel would be an acceptable alternative), and Luxembourg or Kazakhstan as the qualifying teams, solely because these are the teams who were most competitive in their qualifying groups. The group seeding looks interesting too 👇 Looking forward to England drawing Hungary, Netherlands and Italy and limping to about 1-2 points... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 I don't see England, the country that has rigged every tournament draw in history to get the easiest possible group, getting Hungary, Netherlands and Italy. They'll get Albania, Slovakia and Estonia, limp to 1-2 points but still qualify for the next round and probably get to the final where they'll get beaten by the first reasonably competitive team they face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colly Posted November 28, 2023 Report Share Posted November 28, 2023 Forgot to say, 8 of us applied for 3 games each, none of us got a ticket. Now hundreds on resale sites which are inexplicably legal. Yay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted March 13 Author Admin Report Share Posted March 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 Luxembourg are out. They would have been fun to watch at the Euros. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted March 21 Author Admin Report Share Posted March 21 1 hour ago, Bobfoc said: Luxembourg are out. They would have been fun to watch at the Euros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFF Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Still an outstanding effort for Luxembourg to get as far as they did. They may be more fortunate next time if they can keep the effort up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 Happier for Georgia tbh. They've never been to a tournament either and unlike Luxembourg don't have the luxury of wiping their tears away with all their money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 Okay so these are friendlies, but whatever. Christoph Baumgartner scored the fastest goal in international football history tonight, striking after 6 seconds for Austria against Slovakia Almost unbelievably, later in the evening Florian Wirtz scored for Germany after 7 seconds against France...if not for Baumgartner, this would have been the quickest goal ever. Bizarre coincidence. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Georgia have qualified for their first major tournament by beating Greece on penalties. There was also a big brawl at half-time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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