The Official FIFA World Cup 2022 Megathread

[Alan]

Hasn’t played for PSG in months, getting old, etc.

Los Ticos look bad and stupid. How do you justify letting Busquets have so much time on the ball with no pressure?

 

[BillyDee]

Standard stuff, they're ESP in the Olympics etc as well, never SPA

Digging into it, they were SPA up to 68. NED for Netherlands is another one I realised.
There's quite a few anomalies it seems, very interesting but I'll not derail this thread.

 

[Alan]

Digging into it, they were SPA up to 68. NED for Netherlands is another one I realised.
There's quite a few anomalies it seems, very interesting but I'll not derail this thread.

No better place than here, I say.

Ivory Coast could be considered another “special” case.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

God I hate Jordi Alba. Twat.

 

[Alan]

This could be 8.

Really disappointing but not surprising given how poor Los Ticos looked during qualifying.

 

[Langers]

This is a complete mismatch. Spain could have as many as they like here.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Someone tell Clive that Stephen Ward was definitely going out with Mick McCarthy's daughter and that's why he played every game. Established fact.

 

[Banjo]

Clive is getting nothing out of Lee Dixon, so is just inanely wittering to himself now.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Might be time for my quadrennial rant about how shit CONCACAF qualifying is and how they have far too many spots.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Digging into it, they were SPA up to 68. NED for Netherlands is another one I realised.
There's quite a few anomalies it seems, very interesting but I'll not derail this thread.

Its Nederland. Hol would be geographically inaccurate.

 

[Alan]

CONCACAF qualifying is fucked. If not for COVID Canada wouldn’t have been in the final round at all. They won the damn thing.

 

[BillyDee]

Its Nederland. Hol would be geographically inaccurate.

My point was NED for Nederland rather than the English NET for Netherlands. I am aware Holland is just a part of the Netherlands.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

CONCACAF qualifying is fucked. If not for COVID Canada wouldn’t have been in the final round at all. They won the damn thing.

The structure is crazy. Promotes some truly shit football too.

There's always at least one CONCACAF team at every World Cup that looks ridiculously out of their depth but FIFA never do anything about it.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Who else was close? One time World Cup semi-finalists Cuba?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

My point was NED for Nederland rather than the English NET for Netherlands. I am aware Holland is just a part of the Netherlands.

Oh yeah. I don't think I have seen them referred to as Holland for many a year.

 

[BillyDee]

So will all of USA, Mexico and Canadia qualify as hosts next time? With then other CONCACAF teams qualifying normally?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Oh yeah. I don't think I have seen them referred to as Holland for many a year.

Not since the 90s really.

African qualifying is wild these days. So brutal. Loads of good teams end up missing out.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

So will all of USA, Mexico and Canadia qualify as hosts next time? With then others qualifying normally?

Yeah but there's 48 teams, because FIFA

 

[Alan]

The structure is crazy. Promotes some truly shit football too.

There's always at least one CONCACAF team at every World Cup that looks ridiculously out of their depth but FIFA never do anything about it.

I’d love to see England play a match away to Trinidad tbh. Get a taste of the shit that is true CONCACAF competition.

It’s a brutal slog. Panama would be giving more resistance than CRC are right now but they flamed out terribly toward the end of the Octagonal round. They’ll likely be the 4th team from the region in 2026.

 

[BillyDee]

Yeah but there's 48 teams, because FIFA

Had forgotten that masterstroke...