Wow, that was intense. US into the WC.
Sweet.
When will the tables be drawn for the World Cup? I looked around the FIFA site, but nothing popped up at me.
It won’t be for a while. I don’t know the exact date, but they still have to fill up all the spots. After that the seed 8 teams. It’s supposed to be the top eight teams, but who knows how FIFA ranks teams. Then they add teams to each group by region. Since the US has no chance of being seeded, and we’re one of the better non seeded teams, we’ll probably end up in a difficult group.
The World Cup Finals draw will likely be in December. It’s a pretty “main” event, which will be held in South Africa, involve any number of dignitaries and soccer greats, be broadcast live around the entire globe, and will merit at most a page 8 mention in most American newspaper Sports sections, where if lucky it will get all of 2 column inches. 
Ah, yes, after poking around, it has the information on the Wikipedia site for the 2010 World Cup. The draw for the Finals will be held December 4, in CapeTown. That’s when we’ll know how [del]badly we’ve been screwed[/del] who we get the pleasure of stomping during the group stage. 
I’m going to add more than a touch of bitterness to this thred but f*ck US WC qualification. Absent a total, comeplete, utter meltdown they will always qualify. Their qualification group is complete crap. It always is. Mexico and the US will nearly always qualify regardless if the US never beat Mexico in Mexico. So the answer is, who cares as they always get in due to the easy process.
Was at Ireland v. Italy last night in Dublin. We made the play offs but now have to play one of France, Greece, Russia or Portugal over two legs. Unlike the US v. Mexico game we really can’t afford to lose and it is unlikely that we will qualify despite having the current World Champions in our group and not losing to them.
:mad::mad::mad:
Rant over. Go USA etc.
Ah, the World Cup is wasted on the Americans.
They always qualify, without realising what a big deal it is. The rest of us go into a period of mourning when we fail to qualify. Questions are asked in Parliament. The national coach is hung, drawn, and quartered, resurrected, spat on, set fire to, and quartered again. OTOH he does get to go on a lucrative book tour with Ulrika Jonsson.
Oh boohoo, you had to play Georgia and Cyprus.
US doesn’t know how good we have it with regards to qualifying every time? We didn’t qualify for forty fucking years between 1950 and 1990!
Ireland would struggle to qualify out of CONCACAF btw. There’s more than just the teams that go into the results. You think that Bolivia is 6 goals better than Argentina?
CONCACAF should lose 1 spot down to 2.5 though.
I think the real thing to do is to have the US and Mexico join CONMEBOL and have to qualify out of that federation. Then they can leave 1.5 spots available for the Central American and Caribbean fry.
Actually, the number of Americans who care is probably about the same as the number of people who care in a lot of European countries. Just that here it’s 10% of the population as opposed to 80% …
Your abject ignorance aside, let’s walk through what it actually means to qualify. Only one team qualifies auotmatically from the Irish group. Bulgaria, Italy (you know, the Wolrd Champions) and Ireland were the top three. Cyprus have been quite good for the past 4-5 years with a domestic team actually in the league stage of the Champion’s League. Then Georgia and Montenegro the “whipping dogs” of the group. Both would beat Trinidad and Tobago.
So we came second and now we have a two legged play off against one of France, Portugal, Russia or Greece. Umm ok that’s realy easy.
And no, we would not struggle to get out of the US’s group. The US does not play in the same WC qualifying group as Brazile or Argentina. Instead they play in a group where TWO teams qaulify and other than Mexico their only opposition is Costa Rica. It’s a joke.
Buy hey, it’s clear you know SFA about football so I can’t be too harsh.
Italy won the WC 3 years ago. They’re nowhere near the best team in the world now. In fact the US advanced out of the same group as them in the confed cup. Would have won that game too except for a complete shit redcard.
Who cares about the bottom teams in the group (every team in the hex is ranked about Georgia and Cyprus in the ELO btw)? It’s the top teams that qualify. Group 4 is the only UEFA group that the US would have trouble qualifying out of. Both the US and Mexico are better than every team in group 3 and group 4.
CONCACAF is inifinitely harder to qualify out of than Asia and Oceania and on par with Africa. UEFA is harder, but don’t give me this cake walk bullshit. Ireland would lose home and away to the US and Mexico and would lose away to Honduras and Costa Rica. They’re not really scrub teams. They have players that start for Inter Milan and Tottenham you know? But I guess you know more than me because you’re dismissive and live in a country with a soccer culture.
Ahh yes because the Confederations Cups is considered a peer tournament to the World Cup…or not. At all. On any level. So let’s move on.
Because the bottom teams often have signicant influence on the final placings. Cyprus have been good for some time. Witness their performance against Italy in the most recent campaign and the success of their domestic league. Again, a better knowledge of football would help.
Noone is comparing CONCACAF to Asia but to Europe. Stay on point.
I don’t see Ireland losing at home to either the US or to Mexico but let’s move on. Honduras and Costa Rica are not world class. Not even close. More importantly two teams qualify from the US group whereas there is only one guaranteed qualifier from the European groups.
Georgia has a key player who plays for Inter Milan. Cyprus have numerous European players. Montenegro currently have a phenom in Seirie A.
And yes, I do believe I know more than you as I’ve been a football fan for 30+ yeas and routinely travel from Chicago (I need to reup but I live in Chicago now) to matches.
And speaking of Groups 3 and 4, you honestly think that the US and Mexico are better than Russia and Germany? You really think they are superior to Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic? Mexico who can’t travel for shit? Sorry but I really do stand behind my point above. The US will always qualify from a relatively very easy group. I think it’s bull shit and can’t see why anyone would even bother watching the US qualifiers. Look at it this way, despite losing away every time they have played against their greatest rivals they still manage to qualify.
Sorry, groups 2 and 3. You think Poland is better than the US? The US has played Poland multiple times recent and always wins. Including in Poland. Yes I think the US and Mexico are better than all those teams you mentioned. Care to offer anything other than your snark as an argument?
You claimed certain UEFA teams are better than certain CONCACAF teams. The results (ELO rankings are purely results bases) don’t bear that out.
Yes, the US has an easier time qualifying than Ireland. So does Brazil. You know why? Those teams are better than Ireland.
Mostly they have played them in friendlies which are meaningless. But let’s focus on the facts here. Only one team qualifies, let’s keep that in mind.
Group 2 is a weak group but Mexico are dreadful away and have a very uninspiring WC record. Again though, they are in a group that 2 qualify. Please try to remember that. THey would struggle to qualify in group 2. The US would mostly fare better but not sure they would automaticall qualify (please try and wrap your mind around this concept). Greece have actually won the European Championship and the Swiss are a tricky, ugly team to play. So no, can’t see the US automaticall qualifying.
Group 3 would be even harder. Mexico are a no showand the US would be lucky to get second. Again, a massive difference from a group with only one good team and where both good teams qualify.
The FIFA ranking system is routinely questioned by football pundits and fans alike but let’s move on. Show me how good Costa Rica are?
Costa Rica: 39
Honduras: 42
El Salvado: 85
Trinidad: 86
So the US do not play a team in the top 30 other than Mexico and since they both qualify it doesn’t matter. I’d bite you hand off for Ireland to be in a group like that.
Er no, they haver easier qualification groups. Brazil are better than Ireland because they have won the thing 5 times. They also have a relatively easy qualification given the number of teams that qualify. The S. American qualifiers favor the bigger teams for sure.
And it’s not snark but just an observation that you’re most likely new to football and don’t really know what you are talking about.
Let me just correct a couple of things said:
First of all, three teams qualify directly out of the Hexagonal. The fourth place team gets the joy of a playoff home and home with the fifth place CONMEBOL team. That may very well be Argentina this year (likely to find the Ticos from Costa Rica as their opponents).
Second of all, the Confederations Cup means considerable now. The Italians were quite severely whipped at home for their early exit by the press and public. The result by the US is an indication that they can play with the big boys, as was their quarterfinal appearance in 2002 at the WC Finals. The days when that tournament can be dismissed as having no importance are gone: the top teams bring their top teams now.
Thirdly: The US lost to Poland in 2002 at the WC Finals 3 - 0. So it is not the case that the Poles are automatic doormats to the Red, White and Blue. It should also be noted that the Poles qualified top of their group for Euro 2008, though they went on to lose to Germany and Croatia, and tied the Austrians. And in the 2006 WC Finals, they beat Costa Rica 2 - 1, which certainly shows that the Ticos are not lightweights internationally, though they have only once managed to advance past the group stage of the WC Finals.
Fourthly, the ELO results are skewed, and pretty much ignored by those who know better. They are skewed by the fact that there isn’t sufficient cross-federation pollination to allow accurate rankings. Thus, teams like the US that regularly play weaker teams in an uncompetitive confederation rack up meaningless points, without having to face the more challenging difficulty that teams in, say CONMEBOL face, where even a Brazil have to worry about travelling to La Paz.
Fifthly, it is simply ludicrous to assert that the reason the US has an easier qualification route than Ireland is that we are so much better than Ireland. There are no results to bear this out, frankly, and it is also the case that, were results at the WC Finals the determiner of how many teams each confederation could send, then Europe’s UEFA would certainly be allotted at least three more teams from the mix, probably at the expense of CONCACAF (which really deserve only 2.5) and Asia (which truly deserve at most 3.5). In the 2006 World Cup Finals, 10 out of 16 teams that made it past the group phase were from Europe. Only one African team, only one Asian team (currently Asian, that is) and only one CONCACAF team got through. In the 2002 WC Finals, held in Asia, it was 9 from Europe. Europe’s results make it clear that they should be allotted a greater percentage of the slots; they are denied this not by quality but by politics.
The US can beat its chest the very minute that we come through at the WC Finals against a team of true value (Italy, Germany, England (yeah, but that was 1950, fer goshsakes!), Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, etc.). Until then, we are just the little annoying boy on the outskirts of the gang who is always trying to get the attention of the ones that matter.
Love your post DS but for a couple of points:
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Confederations Cup really isn’t that big of a deal. The Italian press will jump all of the national team even if they lose a friendly. Not indicia of a top flight tournament.
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Agree entirely with you about the US qualification process though I think they have improved exponentially and may well beat Ireland.
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Other than La Paz and BA the Brazilians don’t have a lot to worry about and will always qualify. And indeed they have!
That was seven years ago. In the four games since the US has gone 3-1 with a 6-1 goal differential.
It’s not the reason, it’s part of the reason. Yes UEFA is harder, I’ve said that several times. All I’m saying is that CONCACAF is harder than given credit for and that Ireland wouldn’t automatically qualify. They would more times than not, but as Argentina and half the UEFA standings show the best team doesn’t always win. Especially when the road venues are as bad as in CONCACAF. Yes CONCACAF has too many spots. 2.5 would be justified.
Well I’m suitably impressed.