The football/soccer event nobody who loves the sport will want to miss, the FIFA World Cup, is roughly 9 months away! 32 national sides will make it to the 5th World Cup under this format, which has been used in France 1998, South Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006, and South Africa 2010. The World Cup will return to South America for the first time since 1978 (Argentina), and the Americas since 1994 (United States), and with Brazil set to host for the second time (first time was 1950), the atmosphere will truly be one of a kind. 5 teams have already qualified. As hosts, Brazil automatically qualify, but I'm sure most fans would think that Brazil wouldn't have much trouble qualifying even if they weren't hosts. Brazil is the only nation to participate in every single World Cup since the tournament was created in 1930, over 80 years ago. Also, qualifying from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is down to its last 3 games (2 of them being intercontinental playoffs between the 5th place finisher in the CONMEBOL qualification campaign). Iran, South Korea, Japan, and Australia have already qualified for the World Cup next summer having finished in the top 2 of their respective groups in the Fourth Round of AFC qualifying. As for the other 27 spots, they are very much up for grabs and their possession is being fought for between 67 nations. 2 from Asia, 1 from Oceania, 10 from Africa, 6 from North America, 8 from South America, and 39 from Europe. And with each confederation in action on this day aside from Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), we will likely end the day with a much clearer picture of who else we might be seeing at Brazil and who else will not make the trip and will have to try again in a few more years.
OFC
New Zealand has already won the qualification tournament from Oceania, so they're sitting back right now but they'll be fighting for their spot in the World Cup in a few months in a home-and-away series against the 4th place finisher from CONCACAF qualifying. Right now the race is intense between most of the remaining CONCACAF nations in the hexagonal (the commonly used name for the final round of CONCACAF qualifying), so whoever New Zealand faces will be a challenge indeed. However, New Zealand proved in 2010 South Africa, as the only team not to lose a game in that tournament, that they cannot be underestimated. This stays true to the New Zealand team that still seems familiar to the one we saw in South Africa a few summers ago.
CAF
The second round of CAF (Confederation of African Football) is just about to wrap up. Two games are to be played from this zone: Egypt hosting Guinea, and Algeria hosting Mali. However both these matches, in terms of determining who will continue their run to qualify for the World Cup, are meaningless. Both Egypt and Algeria have already confirmed they would move on to the third and final round of qualification, along with Senegal, Cameroon, 2013 African Cup of Nations winner Nigeria, the team Nigeria beat in the final of that tournament, Burkina Faso, 2010 World Cup Quarter-finalist Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, and Ethiopia. Mali, 2012 African Cup of Nations winner Zambia, and 2010 hosts South Africa are the most notable among the eliminated nations. South Africa is one of only three nations that participated in the last World Cup to already be out of the running to qualify for this upcoming one, the others being North Korea and Serbia.
A win for Egypt means they would be the only nation to complete the second round of qualification with a perfect 18 points from six matches. The draw to determine which of the 10 remaining African nations play each other in the third round will take place on September 16th. The seeding will be determined by the September 2013 FIFA Rankings. The 5 higher ranking nations will form one group, the other 5 will form another group, and the 5 home-and-away ties will consist of one nation from each group. Right now the rankings are as follows and the seeding would look like this (FIFA rankings in parenthesis)
Top seeds: Ivory Coast(18), Ghana(24), Algeria(34), Nigeria(35), Cape Verde(36)
Lower seeds: Burkina Faso(48), Cameroon(51), Egypt(61), Senegal(78), Ethiopia(102)
Considering the rankings gap between Cape Verde and Burkina Faso, I wouldn't be shocked if it stayed like this even with the updated rankings. Just goes to show how unpredictable African World Cup Qualifying can be, with the teams entering the final stage of qualification ranging from Ivory Coast, a team that made it the last two World Cups and has several familiar players like Didier Drogba and Gervinho, to Ethiopia, a team 45 places lower than South Africa in the FIFA Rankings and looking to qualify for what would be their first World Cup. Each of these teams stand a chance of qualifying for Brazil as of now and much of it depends on the draw. We could see Nigeria vs. Burkina Faso (2013 African Cup of Nations rematch) or Algeria vs. Egypt (Algeria beat Egypt in a sudden death tiebreaker match that allowed Algeria to qualify for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of their North African rivals).
AFC
As 3rd place finishers of the two groups from the fourth round of qualifying, Jordan and Uzbekistan moved on to the fifth round: a two-game series to determine who moves on to the intercontinental playoff series against a South American team. Jordan were 3 points adrift from 2nd place finishers of Group B, Australia, while the difference between 2nd place South Korea and 3rd place Uzbekistan was 1 goal in goal differential. On September 6th, Jordan hosted Uzbekistan in the first match of the series. Jordan's Mossab Al-Laham opened the scoring in Amman after a half hour of play but five minutes later, the Uzbek captain Server Djeparov scored to make it 1-1 and the scoreline remained the same at the final whistle. The favorites to win this tie now hold the advantage as the scene shifts to Tashkent, meaning a win or a 0-0 draw for Uzbekistan would put them through and eliminate Jordan. Jordan will need a win or a draw of 2-2 or higher for them to advance. Jordan's most recent away victory comes 23 months ago (October 11th, 2011) against Singapore. So taking that into consideration, Jordan will have a tough game ahead of them. But whoever makes it through this match will have to face a team such as Uruguay or Ecuador which will be an even tougher test for either of these sides. But one match at a time.
CONMEBOL
3 match days and 2-3 matches are all that remains for the nine nations involved in World Cup qualification in this zone. Since Brazil automatically qualified, each day one team that would've played Brazil that day receives a bye. Chile is the team that will not be in action today, and with 24 pts, they are one of the three teams that will at least finish in a playoff position. The other two teams are Argentina and Colombia, both of whom have impressed throughout this qualification process. If Colombia earns one point against Uruguay in Montevideo, they will have confirmed their automatic qualification. After an impressive display in the Confederations Cup this past summer, Uruguay will hope to be able to put up a fight against this Colombian team that continues to improve each year, maybe even each month.
If either Ecuador or Uruguay fail to win, Argentina will be for sure participants at the next World Cup as well. With Lionel Messi growing healthier and closer to his top form and several other strong players such as Angel Di Maria, Fernando Gago, Ricardo Alvarez, and Sergio Aguero, they seem likely to pick off their Paraguayan opposition at Asuncion. Paraguay need every single point they can get and many other results go to their way just to barely snag the 5th place spot. They did win convincingly against Bolivia in their last match, but considering Bolivia was the first and so far only team confirmed to be unable to qualify, that result probably won't help their confidence all too much considering Argentina will be a much tougher opponent.
From this point Bolivia are hoping to make the most of the remaining matches experience wise heading into their home match against Ecuador. Ecuador would definitely like to get 3 points as they want to distance themselves away from the likes of Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay. Ecuador currently claim the last automatic qualification position but would slip to 5th place if they lost to Bolivia and Uruguay beat Colombia. With Venezuela and Peru in 6th and 7th place respectively right now, both sides know that they'll need to beat the other in order to boost their own chances of qualifying. Neither side can really afford to drop more points.
So with teams hoping to erase any lingering doubt of qualifying to teams with their backs against the wall, this will be an important day for these teams, no doubt.
CONCACAF
The Hexagonal, or the 6-way round robin phase of qualification, has been another interesting one. The participants: Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and the United States. The results after 7 games: Costa Rica 14 pts, United States 13 pts, Honduras 10 pts, Mexico 8 pts, Panama 7 pts, and Jamaica 3 pts. The top 3 teams directly qualify for the World Cup but the 4th place team will have to get past New Zealand first. Most fans I've talked to have written off New Zealand after watching these teams go at it, and while I can understand why'd they do that, nothing is a given.
However it doesn't look good for Jamaica. Despite having some promising players like Darren Mattocks and Garath McCleary, they were the only team to lose at home before Honduras surprised Mexico on September 6th, and in the hexagonal, you make life much harder and your chances of qualifying much slimmer by losing at home. Jamaica need to win their remaining matches and they might have a chance. They host a dangerous looking Costa Rica team that just ended the United States' winning streak in impressive fashion. Jamaica are under new head coach Winfried Schafer and he may seem like a good coach but he's had so much to do in so little time. The Honduras-Panama game will prove vital not just for the participating teams but for others as well. If Honduras beat their visitors, they keep Mexico at 4th place and significantly strengthen their chances of qualification. Panama need to pick up points on the road to keep their dreams of making it to their first World Cup alive. Panama reached the Gold Cup final, beating Mexico in the process, but can they produce a similar result against a strong Honduran squad? If Honduras get a point and USA beat Mexico, USA will qualify for the World Cup.
Usually when USA and Mexico meet, leading up to the game they leave a trail of good results against other regional opposition. That hasn't been the case for Mexico, not at all. Only one win from their qualifiers so far. The rest of them draws and a 2-1 defeat to Honduras at the Azteca. Mexico sacked Jose "Chepo" de la Torre very soon after that loss so they'll be doing what they can to turn things around. As for the USA, their 3-1 loss to Costa Rica was the first loss after 12 wins. USA foolishly and sloppily conceded 2 goals before the game hit 10 minutes and a poorly defended counter attacked gifted Costa Rica with their 3rd goal. I guess now is a better time than ever to give USA a wakeup call, and since their next match is at home to Mexico in Columbus, a place where USA have been successful against El Tri in the past, USA will look to get back to their winning ways. However with Michael Bradley injured and Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, and Jozy Altidore suspended, USA will need to rely on some other players to get the job done.
It seems pretty likely that the three teams currently in front will win their respective matches, but each of their opponents won't let them take their points so easily. Expect three more tough and hard-fought matches.
UEFA
Belgium and Croatia have dominated Group A to the extent that they already locked up the top two positions. Serbia, Macedonia, Wales, and Scotland are all out of the running. Croatia's recent loss to Scotland however gives Belgium a 5 point advantage. If Croatia don't beat Belgium at home, it'll be hard to chase them. If Belgium beat Croatia, Belgium qualify for the World Cup and Croatia will have to settle for a playoff series.
Italy is just a point or a few more for calling it a day in Group B. They're that close to direct qualification and they face Czech Republic at home. In their previous encounter, the Czechs managed to get a 0-0 draw but the same side just lost at home to Armenia, so that's not good. With Bulgaria at 10 pts and Czech Republic, Denmark, and Armenia each at 9 pts, the race for what is almost certainly 2nd place is a close one to call. Bulgaria will need to claim all 3 points against Malta to keep things in their favor, and the Armenia-Denmark match could be a close one. Denmark seem like the favorites but Armenia have been playing beyond expectations.
Group C is a group full of fighting spirit, although the 1st place finisher is looking pretty obvious. Germany have 19 points from 4 games, their only slip up being a come-from behind 4-4 draw against Sweden where Germany had a 4-0 lead before blowing that lead. Their next match away to the Faroe Islands is one they're expected to win. The same can be said for Sweden's encounter with Kazakhstan. Meanwhile Austria host Ireland. Both sides have 11 points and are 3 behind Sweden and anything less than a loss might seal their fates in this group. A lot is on the line for two teams with a few quality players they boast.'
In Group D Netherlands are comfortably ahead with Turkey, Romania, and Hungary jostling for 2nd place. Estonia can still finish there as well but it seems unlikely, even though they managed a 2-2 draw to the Netherlands in Tallinn. Right now Romania, with 13 pts, see themselves 2 pts ahead of Hungary and 3 ahead of Turkey. While Netherlands take on already eliminated Andorra, Romania have a key clash ahead of them vs. Turkey while Hungary will hope to stop Estonia in their tracks and quell a potential rival for the spot they want.
Not sure what to expect from Group E since it's been among the more unpredictable groups. Group leader Switzerland will hope to separate themselves from the rest against current 2nd place team Norway. The other matches Cyprus vs. Slovenia and Iceland vs. Albania will see these four teams fight to get whichever points they can manage.
In Group F it's a 3 way race between Portugal, Russia, and Israel. Northern Ireland are hanging on by a thread but there's no chance for Azerbaijan or Luxembourg to qualify. Russia will need to beat Israel to stay in a good position. A win would put the inactive Portugal team in 2nd place. Anything less than 3 pts for Northern Ireland against Luxembourg will most likely mean they're done like dinner.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece are at the top of Group G with 16 pts each but B-H's goal difference is far superior. Both teams would prefer to avoid playoffs so their matches against Slovakia and Latvia respectively will likely be vital.
Group H is a very open battle between England, Montenegro, Poland, and Ukraine, with 15, 15, 10, and 14 points respectively. England have exhausted their "easy" games against Moldova and San Marino and have to travel to Ukraine despite being short handed in the forward position due to injuries of Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, and Danny Welbeck's suspension. Poland should be able to beat San Marino. Montenegro and Moldova will not be playing.
Life is good for defending World Champions Spain. They will at least make it to the playoff round. They will be on the sidelines today while France try to pick up a vital 3 pts away at Belarus while Georgia host Finland. Both Georgia and Finland face slim odds of advancing but they might have some hope if Belarus manages to beat France.
So many important games to look forward to today. Best of luck to all of them. Let me know what your predictions are and which teams you support! Thank you for reading! Also, check back after all these matches have taken place for my reactions and thoughts!
Updated 11:57 AM Pacific Standard Time
Uzbekistan and Jordan ended regulation time 1-1 and that's how it ended in 120 minutes in Tashkent. About 10 minutes into extra time, the lights suddenly went off but almost 20 minutes before play resumed. Penalty Kicks followed and it kept going and going until an Uzbek player failed to convert. Jordan won 9-8 on penalties and as soon as I can figure out who was responsible for the failed PK on Uzbekistan's part, I'll post it here. Jordan moves on to the Intercontinental playoffs were a South American team awaits them. They did the impossible and Jordan equalized in the dying minutes of half time thanks to Saeed Al Murjan after failing behind after just 5 minutes to Anzur Ismailov's goal which put Uzbekistan in front initially. If Jordan had a small shot of getting this far though, honesty it seems like an even smaller one against whoever they face from South America.
In Africa, Egypt wrapped up their final "consolation" qualifying match confirming their perfect record of 6 wins in as many matches as they saw off Guinea 4-2. Despite falling behind to an own goal in the 4th minute, Egypt tied in up 1-1 by halftime and a goal heavy 2nd half gave Egypt another 3 pts that they didn't need but good for them. They will be in good form come the final round of African qualifying.
In UEFA so far, Russia took care of business at home beating Israel 3-1 thanks to 2nd half goals from Vasili Berezutskiy, Alexander Kokorin, and Denis Glushhakov. Eran Zehavi's second half stoppage time goal to, at the very least, help out their goal differential. Israel need to beat Northern Ireland at home and Portugal away in their last two games and either Portugal to lose or draw to Luxembourg to have a chance at getting 1st or 2nd place in the group. I don't see Russia or Portugal dropping points against the likes of Luxembourg or Azerbaijan so realistically, Israel might be out of luck and out of time. If both Russia and Portugal get an expect 6 pts from their remaining 2 games, Russia wins the group so Portugal will have to make sure they don't slip up while hoping Russia do.
Lithuania beat Lichtenstein 2-0 in Marijampole but both sides are already eliminated so it doesn't help Lithuania much aside from pride (as much pride as beating Lichtenstein can provide). Away against an Armenian team that have caused some upsets, Denmark held on to beat Armenia (who were reduced to 10 men) thanks to Daniel Agger's penalty kick. Can you believe 3 months ago Denmark lost to Armenia 4-0 in Copenhagen? Denmark's win temporarily puts them in 2nd place of Group B but Bulgaria still has to play Malta. A 1st minute goal from the great Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Sweden a valuable 3 pts in a 1-0 victory at Kazakhstan, making the Austria-Ireland clash even more vitals for those teams. Finland keep their feint hopes alive with a 0-1 win over the home side, Georgia. Georgia is now out of the running to qualify for the World Cup.
Switzerland's 2-0 win over Norway will likely be a big one. Switzerland have a 7 point lead over Norway in the standings, meaning they are almost certain of qualification to the World Cup, depending on the results of the other games in the group. The only chance of Switzerland being knocked off of 1st place is either Albania or Iceland winning all 3 of their remaining games, but I don't see that happening.
Updated 3:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
CAF and UEFA action are all wrapped up now.
Algeria had nothing to gain from this match except good form heading into the next round of qualification, and I'm sure beating Mali 1-0 will satisfy them given their circumstances. In Group A of UEFA Qualification, neither of these matches really mattered but Scotland and Serbia will likely be satisfied with 2-1 and 3-0 victories against Macedonia and Wales respectively.
In Group B, Bulgaria struggled past Malta 2-1 to mathematically eliminate Malta from qualification and to hang on in 2nd place with 13 pts, 1 more than 3rd place Denmark. Czech Republic got an early lead in Italy thanks to a 19th minute goal from Libor Kozak, but two 2nd half goals in the space of three minutes, one from Giorgio Chiellini and the other a penalty kick from Mario Balotelli (this guy is virtually unstoppable from the penalty spot, making it look easy), gave Italy the goals they needed to win the match and ensure their qualification in the world cup.
In Group C, Germany had to be patient to get their goals but they came and they beat Faroe Islands 3-0. Austria kept their chances of finish in 2nd place very much alive with a 1-0 win at Vienna thanks to a late goal from rising Bayern Munich star David Alaba. Ireland are not out of the race but if Sweden gains one more point in the next two matches, Ireland will be eliminated. Austria must prevail away against Faroe Islands and Sweden in their final games if they want to qualify. And since Sweden still has to play Germany one more time, Austria might have a chance. Both sides have players I'd love to see at the world cup but I think Sweden would be missed more if they failed to qualify.
In Group D, Netherlands joined Italy in ensuring their qualification for the World Cup beating Andorra 2-0 thanks to two goals from Manchester United's Robin Van Persie. Hungary gained a valuable, convincing 5-1 victory over Estonia while Turkey shocked Romania 2-0 in Bucharest with a Burak Yilmaz goal in the first half and Mevlut Erdinc putting one away in the dying minutes. Hungary currently sit at 2nd place just one point ahead of Turkey and Romania. Turkey currently stands about Romania through goal difference.
Slovenia rises to 3rd place in Group E after beating Cyprus at Nicosia 2-0. They are one point behind Iceland, who have 13 points after coming from behind to defeat Albania 2-1. Switzerland could still miss the World Cup entirely if Slovenia and Iceland win their last two games convincingly. Norway and Albania are still in this but with only 11 and 10 points respectively, they can only end up as high as 2nd place. The drama of this group remains very much intact after today's matches.
Luxembourg's 3-2 victory over Northern Ireland finally puts the Green and White Army out of the race to qualify for the World Cup, and now the spotlight shifts to the trio of Israel, Portugal, and Russia. Israel still have a small chance but given the remaining schedule, Russia and Portugal will most likely occupy the top two spots of the group F, but it's a bigger question as to in way order will these two finish.
Despite an early scare, Bosnia-Herzegovina made up for their lost ground and got an important away win against Slovakia. Napoli star Marek Hamsik opened the scoring but Ermin Bicakcic and Izet Hajrovic earned B-H 3 vital points to stay in 1st place. Greece also won 1-0 against Latvia thanks to a goal from Dimitrios Salpingidis, the same man who brought Greece to their last world cup in South Africa with his winning goal against Ukraine. With 19 points a piece but 15 goals separating them in terms of goal difference, Bosnia sit in 1st place and Greece in 2nd. Due to today's results, those two teams are ensured to finish in the top 2, meaning the dream comes to an end for Slovakia and Latvia.
England are really being hard to watch. I know they're a bit short handed for this match, to the extent of having to start Rickie Lambert, but it's not been a fun qualification process for English fans. England expectedly gain 12 points against San Marino and Moldova but against their real opposition, there doesn't seem to be any spark. However, England finish their campaign with two home games so many that will be what they need to give their fans a victory they can be a bit more excited about. Meanwhile, Poland beat San Marino 5-1. THIS IS NOT A TYPO! San Marino actually scored a goal! At one point they were tied. If the match ended in the 22nd minute after Alessandro Della Valle's goal, San Marino would be the proud owners of ONE POINT. But it didn't take long for reality to catch up to them thanks to Jakub Blaszczykowski putting Poland back in front a minute later and the rest is history. I can only imagine what Poland are think about when it comes to that goal. Fans everywhere will not let them forget about that. England lead with 16 points followed by Ukraine(15), Montenegro(15), and Poland(13).
And lastly in Group I, despite Belarus taking the lead twice, France won 4-2 in Gomel to eliminate everyone in the group not named France or Spain. Spain and France are level in terms of points but Spain has a game in hand and it seems all but likely France will have to settle for a playoff for the second qualification campaign in a row.
That leaves the Americas. 6 games are left to be played after Bolivia managed a 1-1 draw against Ecuador, a result that could be costly for them since Uruguay, Venezuela, and Peru will be desperate to catch up to them.
Updated 12:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
Well the day of matches has finally concluded. Let's take a look at the remaining games and how they happened.
Uruguay from the 2010 World Cup, 2011 Copa America, and 2013 Confederations Cup were all much different sides than the Uruguay we've seen in qualifying so far. However in front of their home crowd, Uruguay gave their fans something to cheer about: a 2-0 victory over the Colombians! This impressive result along with Ecuador's draw with Bolivia puts Uruguay at 22 points, level with Ecuador, although Ecuador has an advantage of 4 goals in goal difference. Paraguay and Peru's dreams of qualification were finally put to rest by Argentina and Venezuela respectively. Argentina dominated the match, winning 5-2. Lionel Messi(2), Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, and Maxi Rodriguez were the goalscorers for Argentina while Jose Nunez and Roque Santa Cruz gave Paraguay goals that made the result look a bit more appealing. Despite an early penalty from Cristopher Hurtado and a late goal from Carlos Zambrano, Venezuela did one better thanks to Jose Rondon, Cesar Gonzalez's Penalty Kick, and Romulo Otero, Venezuela secured 3 points their desperately needed. So now the standings look like this (points are in parenthesis):
1.Argentina(29) 2.Colombia(26) 3.Chile(24) 4.Ecuador(22) 5.Uruguay(22) 6.Venezuela(19) 7.Peru(14) 8.Bolivia(11) 9.Paraguay(11)
So Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay are out of the running and Argentina are the 2nd South American team to qualify for the World Cup alongside their fierce rivals Brazil. Colombia and Chile will at least finish in the playoff position (5th place), so one of them are guaranteed to make it to the World Cup but not sure who it'll be. The best Venezuela can do is finish in 5th place since they only have 1 game left and since Ecuador and Uruguay play each other in the next match day. Ecuador and Uruguay walking the tightrope between automatic qualification and intercontinental playoffs. However I don't think Jordan will pose much of a challenge, but Jordan surprised us by getting this far. Honestly, I don't see Venezuela finishing in the top 5. Ecuador and Uruguay will finish off as strong as possible and prevent them from getting ahead.
And now for CONCACAF. The main attraction was the biggest rivalry from the zone where USA hosted Mexico in seemingly the perfect place to face Mexico: Columbus, Ohio. That stadium has seen a lot of good results for the USA against their eternal rivals and tonight was no exception. USA were missing a lot of players and they had to shift some things around. Mexico played a lot more like they did pre-hexagonal in the first 20 minutes but then USA, backed by a great crowd, managed to develop a rhythm and Eddie Johnson and Landon Donovan scored the two goals to inspire the "Dos a Cero" chants all over the stadium and Twitter. USA had a solid performance and got the 3 points, while Mexico have yet another bitter pill to swallow. Luis Fernando Tena will have 2 more games as Mexico's head coach to turn things around hopefully. As for the USA, the reactions from Jurgen Klinsmann tell us all we need to know: USA appear to be back on track....for now.
The other matches ended up in a 2-2 draw for Honduras and Panama and a 1-1 draw for Jamaica and Costa Rica. So USA with 16 pts regains the lead but Costa Rica are not far ahead. And these results confirmed that USA and Costa Rica will appear in the next World Cup. And I think these two teams might help make CONCACAF's reputation a bit better. Honduras with 11 points currently have the final automatic qualification spot. Mexico and Panama with 8 points each are in the hunt and they can't afford to lose anymore points. If Jamaica somehow win their last two games, they might finish in 4th place if results go their way. If Mexico can play against Panama the way they played against USA the first 30 minutes of that match, Mexico can at least finish in the top 4. But Panama know they can beat Mexico from the Gold Cup. Even though that Mexican team was different, the chance of Panama beating Mexico is not low.
So there we go! That was a long day for sure! Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Iran, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, and United States are for sure going to Brazil next summer. 22 spots remain and 49 countries have some chance of getting those spots. October and November means the final chapters of this amazing tale titled 2014 World Cup Qualifying. Who will make the cut? And whose dreams will be shattered? I'll leave you guys with my predictions
CONCACAF Qualifiers
USA, Costa Rica, Honduras
CONMEBOL Qualifiers
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay
CAF Qualifiers
Egypt, Cote D'Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso
UEFA Qualifiers
Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, England, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Belgium
AFC Qualifiers
Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea
Intercontinental Playoff Qualifiers
Ecuador, Mexico
Ok, thank you for reading!
-Ivan Ornelas, California teenager/sports fan
YouTube: www.youtube.com/vaporterra
Twitter: @IvanOrnelas2 (personal) @vaporterra (YouTube affiliated)
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