World Cup Qualification

[An Tarbh]

Big weekend of European qualifiers for Germany 2006.

Rundown of all groups

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Group 1

Czech Republic 4 - 3 Finland
Armenia 2 - 1 Andorra
Romania 0 - 2 Netherlands
Andorra 0 - 4 Czech Republic
Macedonia 1 - 2 Romania
Netherlands 2 - 0 Armenia

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Netherlands 6 5 1 0 14 3 16
Czech Republic 6 5 0 1 14 5 15
Romania 7 4 1 2 12 8 13
Finland 6 3 0 3 13 10 9
F.Y.R. Macedonia 7 1 2 4 7 9 5
Armenia 7 1 1 5 4 15 4
Andorra 7 1 1 5 3 17 4

Group 2

Denmark 3 - 0 Kazakhstan
Turkey 2 - 0 Albania
Georgia 1 - 3 Greece
Ukraine 1 - 0 Denmark
Georgia 2 - 5 Turkey
Greece 2 - 0 Albania

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Ukraine 7 5 2 0 12 3 17
Greece 7 4 2 1 12 6 14
Turkey 7 3 3 1 13 7 12
Denmark 7 2 3 2 10 7 9
Albania 7 2 0 5 3 11 6
Georgia 6 1 2 3 8 13 5
Kazakhstan 5 0 0 5 2 13 0

Group 3

Liechtenstein 1 - 2 Russia
Estonia 1 - 2 Slovakia
Estonia 1 - 1 Russia
Latvia 4 - 0 Luxembourg
Slovakia 1 - 1 Portugal

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Portugal 6 4 2 0 21 4 14
Slovakia 6 4 2 0 18 5 14
Russia 6 3 2 1 13 10 11
Latvia 6 3 1 2 14 12 10
Estonia 7 2 2 3 10 14 8
Liechtenstein 6 1 1 4 9 16 4
Luxembourg 7 0 0 7 4 28 0

Group 4

Israel 1 - 1 Republic of Ireland
France 0 - 0 Switzerland
Switzerland 1 - 0 Cyprus
Israel 1 - 1 France

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
France 6 2 4 0 5 1 10
Israel 6 2 4 0 8 6 10
Switzerland 5 2 3 0 10 3 9
Republic of Ireland 5 2 3 0 7 2 9
Cyprus 6 0 1 5 4 12 1
Faroe Islands 4 0 1 3 2 12 1

Group 5

Italy 2 - 0 Scotland
Slovenia 1 - 1 Belarus
Moldova 0 - 0 Norway

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Italy 5 4 0 1 9 5 12
Norway 5 2 2 1 6 3 8
Slovenia 5 2 2 1 5 4 8
Belarus 4 1 2 1 9 6 5
Scotland 4 0 2 2 1 4 2
Moldova 5 0 2 3 1 9 2

Group 6

England 4 - 0 Northern Ireland
Wales 0 - 2 Austria
Poland 8 - 0 Azerbaijan
England 2 - 0 Azerbaijan
Poland 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
Austria 1 - 0 Wales

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
England 6 5 1 0 13 3 16
Poland 6 5 0 1 19 5 15
Austria 6 3 2 1 11 8 11
Northern Ireland 6 0 3 3 5 13 3
Wales 6 0 2 4 5 11 2
Azerbaijan 6 0 2 4 1 14 2

Group 7

Belgium 4 - 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 - 1 Lithuania
San Marino 1 - 2 Belgium
Serbia and Montenegro 0 - 0 Spain

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Serbia and Montenegro 5 3 2 0 10 0 11
Spain 5 2 3 0 8 1 9
Lithuania 5 2 3 0 7 2 9
Belgium 5 2 1 2 7 7 7
Bosnia-Herzegovina 4 0 3 1 3 6 3
San Marino 6 0 0 6 1 20 0

Group 8

Bulgaria 0 - 3 Sweden
Croatia 4 - 0 Iceland
Croatia 3 - 0 Malta
Hungary 0 - 1 Bulgaria

Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Croatia 5 4 1 0 13 2 13
Sweden 5 4 0 1 17 2 12
Bulgaria 5 3 1 1 10 7 10
Hungary 5 2 0 3 5 9 6
Iceland 5 0 1 4 4 14 1
Malta 5 0 1 4 1 16 1[/b]

Could have been worse for us this weekend, pretty ****** to concede such a late goal in Tel Aviv, at least the French slipped up twice. It's looking like ourselves and the Swiss to battle it out for top spot.

England are looking comfortable, they were never gonna beat Azerbaijan 8-0 just cause the Poles did, they're still challenging for top spot as well, could go down to the wire. It was painful to listen to the BBC NI commentary on Saturday, "the last time Northern Ireland conceded 3 goals was against Austria and we got a draw that night" Yeah but Jackie you weren't 3-0 down that night.

Looks like Ukraine will finally qualify for a major tournament, the Czechs and Dutch should have enough points to both get automatic spots, hope they do as well, wouldn't fancy either in a play-off. Spain, Sweden and Greece are also looking like they'll get a play-off place, hope to Christ we top the group.

 

[woodie]

Hope the Irish get the top spot - they deserve it. I'd love it if France and Spain gave to qualify, or even better, finish third which is still very possible.

 

[An Tarbh]

I'm a bit worried to be honest, our passing and crossing has been **** poor in the last few games, it'll certainly need to improve for the June qualifiers, and what was worse on Saturday was that we were full strength and still only drew.

 

[captainamerica]

Damn Americans shot it out against Mexico and lost -- still haven't recorded a victory on Mexican soil. We're 0 Wins, 22 Loses, and 1 Draw.

But . . .

I'll have you know that including this 2 - 1 loss we suffered on Sunday, in the last 9 matches we've won 6 times and drawn once. Suck it.

We'll qualify. We better. Oh Lord, help us.

Fun little note, as this most recent match was held in Mexico City (an immensely compassionate place) the 100k+ stadium were apparently chanting "Osama! Osama! Osama!" -- gotta admit, though it's not highly original, it's pretty damn funny.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

England were very dull

Beckham shouldn't be on the pitch, he does nothing for the team, and Owen showed the tricks he's learnt in Spain with his hand-ball which earned him his yellow card.

 

[cavan]

Nice to see Morrison scoring goals for Ireland. I thought we were very poor all round in Tel Aviv. Tactically in the 2nd half we were very negative, almost Gerard Houllier style. Still reckon we can get 3 home wins later on.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Originally posted by woodie@Mar 30 2005, 09:10 PM
Hope the Irish get the top spot - they deserve it.

Care to back that up with reasoning?

They've been no better than Israel.

 

[woodie]

Originally posted by St Helens RLFC+Mar 31 2005, 06:21 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (St Helens RLFC @ Mar 31 2005, 06:21 PM)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-woodie

@Mar 30 2005, 09:10 PM
Hope the Irish get the top spot - they deserve it.

Care to back that up with reasoning?

They've been no better than Israel. [/b]

They deserve it for:
-Making an effort in friendlies
-Having Damien Duff
-Doing well(ish) in the last WC
-Potentially preventing the French from going to Germany

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Originally posted by woodie@Mar 31 2005, 06:23 PM
They deserve it for:
-Making an effort in friendlies
-Having Damien Duff
-Doing well(ish) in the last WC
-Potentially preventing the French from going to Germany

1. I'd rather be unbeaten in qualification games for nearly 5 years than do well at friendlies.

2. Didi Hamann plays for Germany, should that mean I want them to do well?

3. So did South Korea, do you follow them?

4. Why are you so scared of the French?

 

[An Tarbh]

Originally posted by St Helens RLFC+Mar 31 2005, 07:21 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (St Helens RLFC @ Mar 31 2005, 07:21 PM)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-woodie

@Mar 30 2005, 09:10 PM
Hope the Irish get the top spot - they deserve it.

Care to back that up with reasoning?

They've been no better than Israel. [/b]

We've got our tougher matches out of the way and picked up points in all of them, we've played better football than Israel, I certainly don't see them or the French picking up anything in Switzerland.

I don't think Ireland would have blown the chance to beat the French at home with them down to 10 men for the last 35 minutes. Ireland or Switzerland would be deserved qualifiers imo.

 

[An Tarbh]

The French will be lucky to qualify at the moment, they don't look capable of getting results in Ireland or Switzerland.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Originally posted by An Tarbh@Mar 31 2005, 07:22 PM
The French will be lucky to qualify at the moment, they don't look capable of getting results in Ireland or Switzerland.

That's precisely my point.

They didn't deserve to beat England in Portugal this summer; I don't see what all the fuss is about.