Board 8 > June 01-14: World Cup Qualifying and CONCACAF Nations League

(+) Yeah! (+)

2022 World Cup Qualifying
June 01, 2022: Scotland 1 - 3 Ukraine
June 05, 2022: Wales 1 - 0 Ukraine
June 07, 2022: United Arab Emirates 1 - 2 Australia
June 13, 2022: Peru 0(4) - 0(5) Australia
June 14, 2022: Costa Rica vs. New Zealand

Current World Cup Qualification List [31]:
AFC [6]
Host Nation: Qatar
Round 3 Group A 1st Place: Iran
Round 3 Group A 2nd Place: South Korea
Round 3 Group B 1st Place: Saudi Arabia
Round 3 Group B 2nd Place: Japan
AFC vs. CONMEBOL Playoff: Australia
CAF [5]
Round 3 Fixture A: Senegal
Round 3 Fixture B: Cameroon
Round 3 Fixture C: Ghana
Round 3 Fixture D: Morocco
Round 3 Fixture E: Tunisia
CONCACAF [3.50.5*]
Round 3 Octagonal 1st Place: Canada
Round 3 Octagonal 2nd Place: Mexico
Round 3 Octagonal 3rd Place: United States
CONCACAF vs. OFC Playoff: Costa Rica*
CONMEBOL [4]
Group Stage 1st Place: Brazil
Group Stage 2nd Place: Argentina
Group Stage 3rd Place: Uruguay
Group Stage 4th Place: Ecuador
OFC [0.50.5*]
CONCACAF vs. OFC Playoff: New Zealand*
UEFA [13]
Round 1 Group A: Serbia
Round 1 Group B: Spain
Round 1 Group C: Switzerland
Round 1 Group D: France
Round 1 Group E: Belgium
Round 1 Group F: Denmark
Round 1 Group G: Netherlands
Round 1 Group H: Croatia
Round 1 Group I: England
Round 1 Group J: Germany
Round 2 Path A: Wales
Round 2 Path B: Poland
Round 2 Path C: Portugal

Ok, another fun coincidence: the group 4 years ago was France/Denmark/Australia/Peru, and now it's the same but with Tunisia subbed in for Peru. Though it was also Group C last time and now it's Group D, still funny, the more things randomize the more they stay (mostly) the same...

I know the next World Cup has a stupid group stage but i'm glad all the Eu teams will be separated for once.

Honduras 2 - 1 Canada
Canada loses their second game, and Honduras picks up a second win, allowing Honduras to move to first place in Group C.

CONCACAF Nations League

A = Advance to Knock Stage
Q = Qualified for 2023 Gold Cup
R = Regulated to League B+Preliminary 2023 Gold Cup Round

Group A
4P 1W 1D 0L 04GF 02GA +2GD Jamaica
3P 1W 0D 0L 03GF 00GA +3GD Mexico
1P 0W 1D 2L 02GF 07GA -5GD Suriname

Group B
7P 2W 1D 0L 07GF 00GA +7GD Panama [Q]
3P 1W 0D 1L 02GF 02GA +0GD Costa Rica
1P 0W 1D 2L 00GF 07GA -7GD Martinique

Group C
6P 2W 0D 1L 04GF 03GA +1GD Honduras
3P 1W 0D 1L 05GF 02GA +3GD Canada
3P 1W 0D 2L 02GF 06GA -4GD Curacao

Group D
4P 1W 1D 0L 05GF 03GA +2GD El Salvador
3P 1W 0D 0L 05GF 00GA +5GD United States
1P 0W 1D 2L 03GF 10GA -7GD Grenada

In overall rankings, Honduras jumps up the list considerably.

R01 7P 2W 1D 0L 07GF 00GA +7GD Panama
R02 6P 2W 0D 1L 04GF 03GA +1GD Honduras
R03 4P 1W 1D 0L 05GF 03GA +2GD El Salvador
R04 4P 1W 1D 0L 04GF 02GA +2GD Jamaica
R05 3P 1W 0D 0L 05GF 00GA +5GD United States
R06 3P 1W 0D 1L 05GF 02GA +3GD Canada
R07 3P 1W 0D 0L 03GF 00GA +3GD Mexico
R08 3P 1W 0D 1L 02GF 02GA +0GD Costa Rica
R09 3P 1W 0D 2L 02GF 06GA -4GD Curacao
R10 1P 0W 1D 2L 02GF 07GA -5GD Suriname
R11 1P 0W 1D 2L 03GF 10GA -7GD Grenada
R12 1P 0W 1D 2L 00GF 07GA -7GD Martinique

Tuesday is the World Cup Qualifier for the 32nd spot, and two CONCACAF Nations League matches.

World Cup Qualifying
Costa Rica vs. New Zealand

CONCACAF Nations League
Jamaica vs. Mexico
El Salvador vs. United States

Honduras still the bane for us, i guess

gogogo New Zealand!!

Uh oh I think Costa Rica have already won...

Tbh Costa Rica would probably spice the group up more.

Worth pointing out as well that a team worse than New Zealand from Ocenia is guaranteed a play off spot at the next World Cup.

2022 World Cup Qualifying
June 01, 2022: Scotland 1 - 3 Ukraine
June 05, 2022: Wales 1 - 0 Ukraine
June 07, 2022: United Arab Emirates 1 - 2 Australia
June 13, 2022: Peru 0(4) - 0(5) Australia
June 14, 2022: Costa Rica 1 - 0 New Zealand

That is it, Costa Rica gets the win, after the goal in 3 minutes, along with the disallowed goal for New Zealand during the 40 minute mark. The Red Card against New Zealand was a big boost to Costa Rica in the second half as well.

Final World Cup Qualification List [32]:
AFC [6]
Host Nation: Qatar
Round 3 Group A 1st Place: Iran
Round 3 Group A 2nd Place: South Korea
Round 3 Group B 1st Place: Saudi Arabia
Round 3 Group B 2nd Place: Japan
AFC vs. CONMEBOL Playoff: Australia
CAF [5]
Round 3 Fixture A: Senegal
Round 3 Fixture B: Cameroon
Round 3 Fixture C: Ghana
Round 3 Fixture D: Morocco
Round 3 Fixture E: Tunisia
CONCACAF [4]
Round 3 Octagonal 1st Place: Canada
Round 3 Octagonal 2nd Place: Mexico
Round 3 Octagonal 3rd Place: United States
CONCACAF vs. OFC Playoff: Costa Rica
CONMEBOL [4]
Group Stage 1st Place: Brazil
Group Stage 2nd Place: Argentina
Group Stage 3rd Place: Uruguay
Group Stage 4th Place: Ecuador
UEFA [13]
Round 1 Group A: Serbia
Round 1 Group B: Spain
Round 1 Group C: Switzerland
Round 1 Group D: France
Round 1 Group E: Belgium
Round 1 Group F: Denmark
Round 1 Group G: Netherlands
Round 1 Group H: Croatia
Round 1 Group I: England
Round 1 Group J: Germany
Round 2 Path A: Wales
Round 2 Path B: Poland
Round 2 Path C: Portugal

In a year, England have gone from beating Hungary, to drawing against Hungary, to losing to Hungary by a Penalty, to straight up getting destroyed by them.

Verdict on Southgate?

paulg235 posted...

In a year, England have gone from beating Hungary, to drawing against Hungary, to losing to Hungary by a Penalty, to straight up getting destroyed by them.

Verdict on Southgate?

I know it's only the Nations League but honestly i think the guy has been very, very lucky with the draw in the last 2 tournaments. We only beat Germany because they basically had a manager that was pretty much down and out. The fact he brought on a defender when we were already down and out says it all really.

If we get relegated we may as send the C team out in League B as we'll learn nothing from it. One thing to note though is France are doing just as crap as we are.

shane15 posted...

Worth pointing out as well that a team worse than New Zealand from Ocenia is guaranteed a play off spot at the next World Cup.

Going to be like that time Tahiti (somehow?) beat New Zealand in the OFC Nations Cup so were the representative in the Confederations Cup tournament. (edit: NZ somehow actually lost to New Caledonia in the semis, who then lost to Tahiti in the finals)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_FIFA_Confederations_Cup_Group_B

"1 goal for, 23 goals against"

At least it'll be 1 blowout playoff loss rather than 3 blowouts...!

Another top team doing crap as we are is not an excuse for our own NT's poor performances. It's like people in 1993 going "At least the French didn't qualify either" in response to England failing to qualify. Trust me, I would've probably made a comment about France's run thus far in the Nations League yesterday, but held back knowing we are doing just as bad.

I recall Luka Modric the other day saying something along the lines of "playing for the NT is important regardless whether or not it's a friendly", which is what the Nations League is: a glorified set of friendlies (with a mini tournament the following year for the League A Group winners). The fact that Modric is considered one of the best players of his generation, helped take Croatia to the final in 2018, just won the UCL with Real Madrid while still playing really good at his age, and given that Croatia are doing well thus far in their group, makes me believe that he didn't say that just for the sake of it.

Not to mention, friendlies are still important in terms of building and maintaining momentum heading into major tournaments. A month ago, many people actually believed we were one of the favorites alongside Brazil and France, and this came off being Runners up in the Euros, convincingly winning our qualifying group and additional victories in the March friendlies.

Now? Unless we win the two matches in September (and that Italy game is an absolute must win if we want any chance of not getting relegated) we'll be entering Qatar as a side that looks to be on the downswing (worse if Southgate is already gone by that point and/or someone like Harry Kane (who is far and away the biggest contribution to scoring goals) gets injured beforehand) with little momentum, probably having been relegated, and only being the favorites to win our group by default in the minds of the bookies/media.

The United States (whom we have never beaten in a competitive game), Iran (located close to Qatar and whom many consider to be an underrated side), and Wales (Gareth Bale) are not going to be walks in the park. Those teams are all very capable of getting a result against England even before this, and we've already lost previous groups to two of them in recent years when it SHOULD have been easy. Then we got destroyed by Germany and embarrassed by Iceland. Do not think for one second this England wouldn't lose against Senegal or even Qatar if we meet them.

And completely agreed with England's luck in 2018 and 2021. For our 2018 run, we had two easy group games for Kane to get his Golden Boot, a loss to Belgium, almost went out in the round of 16 when Colombia scored a last minute goal in the second half to bring it to extra time and were briefly losing in penalties, a win against Sweden in the Quarter Finals when it could have easily been against Germany had they not messed up in the groups, losing at ET to Croatia, then another loss against Belgium.

For 2021, we played all but one game at home and were effectively the defacto host nation that tournament, coasted through the group with two 1-0 wins, beat a Germany that were in the middle of rebuilding (and as you said, a manager who was on his way out), probably the most comfortable victory we've ever had in a knockout stage match against Ukraine, ET winner against Denmark via a rebounded penalty take, and the loss against Italy, a side that followed up their victory by failing to qualify for the World Cup.

We were definitely due for a reality check, but I was hoping it be against one of France, Denmark or Argentina in the Quater Finals (since I never felt we winning the whole thing anyway). It appears we couldn't wait that long. There were a few players that normally should've played this month but for one reason or another didn't (Jordan Henderson, Phil Foden outside of the last quarter of tonight's game) and Southgate is obviously trying out some different players against stronger teams, but losing 1-0 and 4-0 to Hungary in the same month (the latter being one of the worst home defeats in England history) when those were supposed to be an easy 4/6 points is inexcusable. Even if we rebound, the good faith England had built last year has definitely vanished.

As for Southgate, I would keep him on for now as manager and see if he can turn things around in September. But if we do poorly in Qatar I'm all for the manager role moving onto someone else.

Yeah the big test was meant to come at this World Cup. I was expecting us to reach that quarter final clash with one of the big boys to really see what Southgate was made of. If he puts together a run that actually includes beating one of the elite teams then let him carry on. Otherwise i think it's time to see what someone else can do with the players.

Jamaica 1 - 1 Mexico
El Salvador 1 - 1 United States

Through the final pair of games, both USA and Mexico came away with draws, and USA narrowly escaped with a late goal at 90+1 minutes, during a nasty rain and mud soaked pitch, where both USA and El Salvador unfortunately netted a direct Red Card each.

CONCACAF Nations League

A = Advance to Knock Stage
Q = Qualified for 2023 Gold Cup
R = Regulated to League B+Preliminary 2023 Gold Cup Round

Group A
5P 1W 2D 0L 05GF 03GA +2GD Jamaica [Q]
4P 1W 1D 0L 04GF 01GA +3GD Mexico
1P 0W 1D 2L 02GF 07GA -5GD Suriname

Group B
7P 2W 1D 0L 07GF 00GA +7GD Panama [Q]
3P 1W 0D 1L 02GF 02GA +0GD Costa Rica
1P 0W 1D 2L 00GF 07GA -7GD Martinique

Group C
6P 2W 0D 1L 04GF 03GA +1GD Honduras
3P 1W 0D 1L 05GF 02GA +3GD Canada
3P 1W 0D 2L 02GF 06GA -4GD Curacao

Group D
5P 1W 2D 0L 06GF 04GA +2GD El Salvador [Q]
4P 1W 1D 0L 06GF 01GA +5GD United States
1P 0W 1D 2L 03GF 10GA -7GD Grenada

The two draws keep things a bit closer between USA/Mexico and El Salvador/Jamaica.

R01 7P 2W 1D 0L 07GF 00GA +7GD Panama
R02 6P 2W 0D 1L 04GF 03GA +1GD Honduras
R03 5P 1W 2D 0L 06GF 04GA +2GD El Salvador
R04 5P 1W 2D 0L 05GF 03GA +2GD Jamaica
R05 4P 1W 1D 0L 06GF 01GA +5GD United States
R06 4P 1W 1D 0L 04GF 01GA +3GD Mexico
R07 3P 1W 0D 1L 05GF 02GA +3GD Canada
R08 3P 1W 0D 1L 02GF 02GA +0GD Costa Rica
R09 3P 1W 0D 2L 02GF 06GA -4GD Curacao
R10 1P 0W 1D 2L 02GF 07GA -5GD Suriname
R11 1P 0W 1D 2L 03GF 10GA -7GD Grenada
R12 1P 0W 1D 2L 00GF 07GA -7GD Martinique

On Thursday is the Venue Selection for the Host Nations of the 2026 World Cup.
What will be the final landing spots for Canada, Mexico and United States?

Man, England managed to score one goal and it was a penalty they should not have had.