Gah. Here is the draw - teams drawn from groups C, I and L are playing down the street from me at Gillette, so no Germany. BUT: the winner of Group E will go to the next round at Gillette. It can still happen!
Group
Teams
A
Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, UEFA Playoff D winner
B
Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, UEFA Playoff A winner
C
Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
D
United States, Paraguay, Australia, UEFA Playoff C winner
E
Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curaçao
F
Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, UEFA Playoff B winner
G
Belgium, Egypt, IR Iran, New Zealand
H
Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde
I
France, Senegal, Norway, FIFA Playoff Tournament‑2 winner
J
Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
K
Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, FIFA Playoff Tournament‑1 winner
Iceland qualified for UEFA’s tournament, the championship of probably the toughest confederation in the world. They had to play some tough teams just to get there.
Curacao is coming out of CONCACAF, having qualified without having to play any of the three regional giants.
While anything is possible, Curacao hasn’t had the kind of toughening-up experience that Iceland had a decade ago, so I’m not expecting much from them.
I think they’re essentially just a Dutch B-team. I read that not a single player was actually born there; they all qualify due to having parent(s) or grandparent(s) who are from Curaçao.
Absurdly, zoning in my town prohibits short-term rentals. This appears to be a holdover regulation from decades ago (no flophouses allowed here!), but they have announced that they are intent on enforcing it.
I realize “Kansas City” encompasses several cities so I don’t know if this applies to you… But they seem to be relaxing the rules.
An updated ordinance in Kansas City aims to make it easier for residents to host visitors during next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Applications for short-term rental major events will be available on Dec. 15
The FIFA ranking is not as good as the ELO, IMHO.
Ecuador is a very difficult opponent, It ended up second in the CONMEBOL even starting with negative points due to player-nationality-shenanigans in the previous qualifier.
That’s a pretty damn tough group to me (esp given the new seeding changes). Not quite the group of death. But it says a lot for how much England have progressed in the last decade, that I do fancy their chances. Back in the day I would not, I would be dreading this group stage.
Have Panama improved since 2018? They were pretty dire when we beat them 6-1. Croatia worry me (we play them all the damn time, it seems). Ghana I assume will be tricky but England would be strong favourites still. I’ve been burnt too many times in the past to get my hopes up though. Crashing out on penalties (although we don’t do that so much any more) in the QFs or SFs is our thing.
Yeah though that’s a testament to how much they’ve improved IMO. Not so long ago I’d totally say getting 1-2 points from those two matches was a likely outcome. Now I’d say getting 4-6 points is a fairly safe bet. Which sees us safely through in the current format.
Still both Ghana and Croatia a far better than anyone we’ve played recently (or beaten at least we lost to Senegal). There is part of me that is concerned my confidence in England not being utterly rubbish is misplaced and based on the fact we’ve not played anyone remotely decent in ages.
Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde. Hm. Concerning Uruguay, I’ll better not ask @Frodo. And Saudi Arabia did beat Argentina in Catar, so I’ll better not ask him on that one either. They won the World Cup in the end, but still.
I hope we at least comfortably beat Cape Verde, everything else would be embarrasing for the favourite to win the title according to stupid AI.
I can’t see Serbia or Israel on the board:
Are they still in some play-off?
Thanks, good link for me. And some interesting pairings in the four European groups. I am going to start hoarding some Schadenfreude, but won’t reveal for which country so as not to jinx it.
It was a bit in the balance after blowing up fishing vessels and strafing the survivors. But it’s like jazz; you have to look at the innocents he isn’t killing or imprisoning.
My money was on him though; given that there were no other candidates.
Who wouldn’t want a bronze trophy with three pairs of rotting zombie’s hands raising from underground to grab the Earth as a paperweight?
Not to mention the undated diploma with the five or six different fonts, gilded decor double border elements, fake red ribbons on every corner and the golden FIFA seal. Great formatting!
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