World Cup Qualifiers

[MrFlyingV]

If not for that Higuain character, Argentina are likely WC champs and Copa America Champs also. I have no idea how he sleeps at night.

LOL. That is true. I was wondering if someone was going to mention that guy. I see he is not on the team now. The old joke: if you are about to be executed by firing squad make sure Higuain is the shooter because you know he'll miss. Yes, Germany was helped by Higuain. Sometimes you need a big gaff by the opponent to win a title. Ask the New England Patriots about that. They won their last two titles on huge gaffs. You could say Atlanta and Seattle got "Higuained".

 

[rsw626]

If not for that Higuain character, Argentina are likely WC champs and Copa America Champs also. I have no idea how he sleeps at night.

It's not just Higuain, it's the entire team. on paper with players like Higuain, DiMaria, Aguero, etc, they look unstoppable. The problem they have now is the same as it's been for the last decade, they rely on Messi too much, and no one steps up. He's phenomenal, but he can't do it all by himself. Look back when Maradona played, the difference betwen now and then is that he had teammates who stepped up when they needed to, remember, Maradona didn't score in the WC final in 1986, two of his teammates did.

The other issue Argentina has is they don't have a top play maker like Riquelme, or a dominant central midfielder like Cambiasso.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

Argentina just seems to underachieve in big international moments the past few years at the wrong time. Venezuela...they are barely a country right now. Chile absolute disgrace losing these games with the likes of Sanchez and Vidal there. I really want to see Argentina and Chile make it. I want to see the best in Russia....I mean I want to see Germany beat the best in Russia

If not for that Higuain character, Argentina are likely WC champs and Copa America Champs also. I have no idea how he sleeps at night.

And they have refused to ever use Icardi until very recently.

 

[MrFlyingV]

Bad news for Argentina with key qualifiers this week with Aguero out 4 to 6 weeks now with the auto accident.

 

[rsw626]

Bad news for Argentina with key qualifiers this week with Aguero out 4 to 6 weeks now with the auto accident.

One thing Argentina doesn't lack is firepower. Aguero is a loss, but attacking they still have Messi, Dybala, Icardi, Higuain (if he ever shows up for a big game) and DiMaria. Their main issue is still no solid holding/defensive midfielder or consistent back four.

 

[jarntt]

Unless Argentina finds a goal here in the final minute, Peru will enter the final set of WCQ in 4th place. Argentina would be 5th and Chile would be in 6th.

Wow does this highlight how much better they are than CONCACAF or what...

 

[bksballer89]

 

[bksballer89]

This is a mess. This is how 3rd through 7th looks entering final match

3) Chile 26 pts
4) Columbia 26 pts
5) Peru 25 pts
6) Argentina 25 pts
7) Paraguay 24 pts

 

[Sgt Brutus]

WOW

 

[MrFlyingV]

This is a mess. This is how 3rd through 7th looks entering final match

3) Chile 26 pts
4) Columbia 26 pts
5) Peru 25 pts
6) Argentina 25 pts
7) Paraguay 24 pts

Argentina needs to win in Quito or they miss the World Cup. That is a WOW!! If they finish 5th they have a playoff with New Zealand.

 

[bksballer89]

Argentina needs to win in Quito or they miss the World Cup. That is a WOW!! If they finish 5th they have a playoff with New Zealand.

Maybe Messi should have retired after the 2016 Copa America as he said he would.

 

[rsw626]

Maybe Messi should have retired after the 2016 Copa America as he said he would.

They should have played Dybala or Icardi (or both). I seriously wonder what Sampaoli and the AFA have against those two.

I still can't believe the Colombia game. I was watching the way it had been going, after Falcao scored I figured it was all over and switched to the Argentina/Peru game and then Paraguay scores two. Colombia went from being a lock for the WC (a win would've put then 2nd with one match to go) to potentially out in a span of a couple of minutes.

 

[tducey]

Egypt qualified for their first World Cup in 28 yrs. today.

 

[rsw626]

Here's a breakdown of what can happen during the last qualifying games in CONMEBOL (South America) taken from an article: (and this is the simplest breakdown..lol)

So what does Argentina need on the final day to save us all from suffering through a World Cup without Messi?

It can qualify directly with a win in Quito and at least one of the following:

• A Chile loss or draw in Brazil
• A Colombia-Peru draw
• A Peru win over Colombia with a margin of victory inferior to that of Argentina

Even if none of those occur, but an Argentina victory does, the playoff against New Zealand awaits.

The Argentinians could also stay alive with a draw. They could even finish fourth with a draw and …

• A multi-goal Chile loss to Brazil; AND
• A Paraguay loss or draw against Venezuela; AND
• A Colombia win over Peru OR a multi-goal Peru win over Columbia.

If the Argentines get the necessary help in two of those games but not all three, a point would still be enough for fifth. But if one or fewer of those wishes comes true, a point would not be enough; they’d be eliminated.

With a loss, they could guiltily sneak into fifth place with a Paraguay loss or draw and a Peru loss to Colombia by a greater margin than that of Argentina’s to Ecuador.

OK, got all that? Good. Because there’s more. A lot more.After an insane Thursday night, Tuesday is set to be just as wild. Let’s lay out the bigger picture.

First of all, the table is tight, with staccato emphasis on both Ts

(Team — PTS | GD (GF))
2. Uruguay — 28 | +10 (28)
3. Chile — 26 | +2 (26)
4. Colombia — 26 | +2 (20)
————————————
5. Peru — 25 | +1 (26)
————————————
6. Argentina — 25 | +1 (16)
7. Paraguay — 24 | -5 (19)

Second of all, only two of the six contending teams play each other. The rest are spread across the other four games, meaning all five matches are, technically, meaningful (though, as we’ll see soon, one isn’t):

Brazil v Chile
Ecuador v Argentina
Peru v Colombia
Uruguay v Bolivia
Paraguay v Venezuela

To make this as simple as possible, we’ll break it down by country. But “as simple as possible” doesn’t mean simple. Just a warning. Try to follow along …

Brazil has already qualified.

Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela have been eliminated.

Uruguay has all but qualified. Only one set of results could send it to the intercontinental playoff: A loss at home against Bolivia, a Colombia win in Peru, a Chile win in Brazil, and an Argentina win in Ecuador that couples with Uruguay’s loss to make up a 10-goal gap. Unlikely, to say the least.

Chile can qualify with a win in Brazil, regardless of results elsewhere. With a point in Brazil, it would qualify with

• A Colombia-Peru draw; OR
• An Argentina loss or draw in Ecuador

… assuming Paraguay doesn’t beat Venezuela by seven or more goals. And if neither of those results happen, a draw would be enough for fifth.

The other key note is that if Chile loses by only one goal, it will be leapfrogged by either Colombia or Peru, but CANNOT be leapfrogged by both. If it loses by multiple goals, it could be jumped by both.

Colombia is in a very similar spot. It can qualify with a win at Peru. It can also qualify with a draw and …

• A Chile loss in Brazil; OR
• An Argentina loss or draw in Ecuador

… again, assuming Paraguay doesn’t beat Venezuela by seven or more goals. And, like Chile, if neither of those results occur, a draw would still take Colombia to the intercontinental playoff.

With a loss, the Colombians would likely be out of the top four, and would need both Argentina and Paraguay to fail to win just to finish fifth.

Peru can qualify with a win over Colombia at home unless Chile beats Brazil and Argentina beats Ecuador by a margin greater than Peru’s over Colombia. Three points would guarantee the Peruvians at least fifth.

With a draw, Peru could finish anywhere between fourth and seventh. Its only route to direct qualification via one point against Colombia is …

• A multi-goal Chile loss OR a one-goal Chile loss in which it scores fewer goals than Peru; AND
• An Argentina loss or draw in Ecuador; AND
• A Paraguay loss or draw against Venezuela.

It would finish fifth if two of those results occur rather than three.

With a loss, Peru would be eliminated by either an Argentina win/draw or a Paraguay win.

Argentina‘s scenarios are above.

Paraguay is the one team that needs help. A win would take it to 27 points, but anything less than a seven-goal win would see it lose out in any tiebreaker scenario. So, to qualify directly, it needs a win and …

• A Chile loss to Brazil; AND
• An Argentina loss or draw in Ecuador.

It would finish fifth if one of those results occurs rather than two. It cannot realistically finish anywhere above seventh with a draw or loss.

 

[bksballer89]

Chile is out

 

[ckhokie]

Chile is out

Lol. We'd have zero points in that table.

 

[DefCONNOne]

Lol. We'd have zero points in that table.

That damn MLS!!

 

[bksballer89]

 

[bksballer89]

Italy to play Sweden, Rep of Ireland to meet Denmark in World Cup playoff

 

[rsw626]

Italy to play Sweden, Rep of Ireland to meet Denmark in World Cup playoff

I hope Italy wins, but I could see it going either way.

The good thing about the draw is Ni and Ireland both have great shots at getting to the WC.