When we qualified in 1982 we had to win Oceania, then win a Middle Eastern playoff group (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and someone else I've forgotten) and finally play off with China for the final position.Originally Posted by marc71178
Had to beat the Saudi's 5-0 in Saudi Arabia too to get through to the final - we scored all 5 in the first half.
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I gather it's because they verse ****** countries like maybe Greenland and Mongolia that they are rated so highNo, laughably they're actually fifth!
For soem kind of perspective on that Argentina are 9th, we're 10th & Italy 13th....
Not beaten as such, but yes. Something of a freak result though, I'd expect Australia to be big favourites to qualify from the AFC on a regular basis, as they are obviously one of the better sides in the region.
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Yeah I agree with that, wasn't a whole lot between you and Japan but you deserved your win, and they are one of the better Asian sides. I expect Aussies to become regulars at the World Cup from now on
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Yeah, Australia also beat Bahrain 3-1 with a second-string side in the leadup to the WC, who are one of the better Asian sides as well I believe. Should be a decent shot in the Asian Nations Cup next year.
This is in no way a shot at Oz, but for mine 4 Asian teams (with the possibility of a fifth) is too many. Same with CONCACAF (sp?), the standard of the teams doesn't justify their representation either.
Africa & South America should have at least one more. I don't think (say) Iran or Costa Rica add as much to the occasion as (say) Cameroon or Chile would.
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I agree. CONCACAF and the AFC are clearly the weakest conferences (aside from Oceania, which doesn't get a place at all), and 4-5 is too many for both of them. I'd be happy to see both of them lose a spot and have them go to South America and Africa, with Oceania playing off with the 4th Asian side or the 6th South American one.
Mind you, with Saudi Arabia playing decently, the fare from Asia this time doesn't look too bad. Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran are all decent sides, but with the chance of a 5th side it's a bit too much I think, especially with Africa doing so well.
Wouldn't a better option be that perhaps they play off with the next best side from those mentioned?
Say Concacaf vs South America and Asia vs Africa?
Of course that might leave South America's 6th side going through and 5th side out!
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Haven't African teams lost every game so far bar one - where Tunisia got a late goal to draw against Saudi Arabia?
I fail to see how Africa would merit another place with that record.
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And that's got nowt to do with the group drawings, where the two decent sides to make it through qualifying have both been placed in groups with two of the top ten sides in the world? The fact that Senegal, quarter-finalists from four years ago, missed out, suggests that competition among the African teams is too tough and there needs to be expansion (a bit like Spain nearly missed out on this cup, then goes on to beat Ukraine 4-0). Anyway, if you look at the last 12 years or so, Africa's definitely the strongest of the four
Europe have enough places, it's shown by teams like Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Scotland, Serbia/Montenegro, Ukraine, Eire, Austria turning up at the World Cup at regular intervals.
Asia have enough places by far - the only reason they got more is because they hosted WC02 and somehow managed to scrap in a half-place in addition to the two hosts. Then they refused to give it away. Korea were awful against Togo and barely scraped a win, Iran = Angola, Saudis = Tunisia, and Japan < Australia. Luckily Australia gets in AFC now so there's a bit of competition for Japan and Korea, at least.
North America have been appalling all cup, with the exception of Trini & Tobago with their slight genius of a coach.
South America have the high-altitude teams who get through anyway on their home record (Bolivia 94, Ecuador 02 and 06), but Ecuador have actually done fairly well, and, importantly, football is religion down there. However, there's only so many places you can give to a continent with 10 teams without making the qualifiers pointless.
Oceania are crap without Australia.
No, the only continent to deserve more places is Africa - footballing talent, tough competition for places, and a massive amount of countries fighting for them - but, since there's no money in Africa, they'll be lucky to stay at five.
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One look at the African nations not here suggests the continent is far stronger than the number of places on offer.
Even though I am a US Fan, I would rather have teams like Columbia, Cameroon, Chile play in the world cup.
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In each world cup Eire have qualified for they've reached at least the second round, proving they don't just go to make up numbers. Being a touch harsh on them aren't you?
Your point about Norway stands, though
The ideal solution might be taking the half Asia-half North America slot and moving it to Africa. That'd give CONCACAF 3 solid places (USA, Mexico and someone else, presumably), and Asia 4 solid places (for which Japan, SK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and whoever else would compete). South America probably doesn't deserve a potential 6, since there's only 10 nations there, so that seems the fairest makeup.
That'd give Europe 13, Africa 6, South America 4.5, Asia 4, North/Central America 3 and Oceania 0.5, with one host. Oceania could also playoff against an African side, leaving 5 for South America.
The rest of Oceania might as well merge with Asia...
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