geow6 - International football

[geow6]

REP OF IRELAND 2-3 ENGLAND

What a thrilling game in Dublin! Ireland raced in to a 2-0 lead but England score two in 30 secs to claw it back level before and injury time winner sealed victory to break Irish hearts! Best qualifier played so far in all sections!

[geow6]

Matchday 7 complete - there will be a break in play now as I have some fans arriving today to update my stadium ready for next year's showpiece event. Here's who is on course with three games to go...

GROUP A
WAL 14
SWE 12
BIH 11
TUR 9
KAZ 7
SMR 1

GROUP B
GER 21 (Q)
GEO 10
POR 9
MLT 6
FRO 5
LIE 3

GROUP C
BEL 14
ROM 13
ITA 13
DEN 10
MAC 7
LIT 1

GROUP D
SUI 19
POL 11
FIN 9
CZE 8
SVN 7
CYP 2

GROUP E
NED 15
UKR 14
ISL 14
ISR 8
SVK 7
MOL 0

GROUP F
ENG 17
NOR 15
ROI 13
LUX 7
ALB 7
ARM 0

GROUP G
ESP 19
BUL 13
CRO 11
HUN 9
EST 5
AND 1

GROUP H
GRE 11
FRA 10*
NI 8*
LAT 7
AZE 2

GROUP I
MNE 12
SER 11
AUT 8
SCO 4*
BLR 4*

*indicates game in hand

England and Ireland report in previous post. Wales thrash San Marino 4-0 and Sweden throw away two goal lead at home to Kazakhstan as Wales go top. Germany first European team to qualify. Northern Ireland didn't play but France drew and Greece won which means they're 3pts behind with a game in hand of the leaders. Scotland conceded late to lose 1-0 in Montenegro and all but end their hopes of a top two finish.

[geow6]

The qualifiers continue, now just two rounds of matches left to play and more teams have qualified, others are still on track, whilst some have had their World Cup dreams dashed! The tables...

GROUP A
WAL 15
SWE 13
TUR 12
BIH 12
KAZ 8
SMR 1

GROUP B
GER 24 (Q)
POR 12
GEO 11
MLT 7
FRO 5
LIE 3

GROUP C
BEL 15
ITA 14
ROM 13
DEN 11
MAC 10
LIT 2

GROUP D
SUI 22 (Q)
POL 14
CZE 9
FIN 9
SVN 7
CYP 3

GROUP E
NED 18
ISL 17
UKR 14
SVK 10
ISR 8
MOL 0

GROUP F
ENG 20
ROI 16
NOR 16
ALB 7
LUX 7
ARM 1

GROUP G
ESP 22 (Q)
CRO 14
BUL 13
HUN 12
EST 5
AND 1

GROUP H
GRE 14
FRA 13*
NI 8*
LAT 7
AZE 2*

GROUP I
SER 14
MNE 12*
AUT 11
SCO 4*
BLR 4*

Switzerland and Spain joint Germany and hosts Russia as qualifiers from Europe. England took a big step to qualification with another thrilling 3-2 win and the chasers Norway dropping points helped. Republic of Ireland are up to second thanks to Norway's draw. Wales remain top but it's very close in Group A, they need to win their last two games to guarantee top spot. Northern Ireland's hopes are all but extinguished after a heavy defeat in Athens to Greece, coupled with France winning. Scotland are out.

[BlackpoolRock]

Some interesting groups still to be sorted out.

C, in particular, could be great fun.

[geow6]

Definitely going to be some close groups. Some interesting and key fixtures still to play in the last two rounds. Teams also finishing second need a good record, as the team with the worst record of the runners up miss out on a play off place.

[geow6]

Quick update as England qualify after a narrow but deserved 1-0 win against Norway in Oslo. The English players celebrate with a small section of travelling supporters who cannot wait to see their nation in action in Russia next year.

IMG_0572.JPG (231.75 KiB) Viewed 2213 times

[geow6]

Just one round of matches left to go. Here are the group tables, as well as fixtures for remaining round of matches.

GROUP A
WAL 16
SWE 14
TUR 13
BIH 13
KAZ 11
SMR 1

SMR v SWE, TUR v WAL, BIH v KAZ

GROUP B
GER 27 (Q)
POR 15
GEO 12
MLT 7
FRO 5
LIE 4

LIE v FRO, POR v MLT, GER v GEO

GROUP C
BEL 18
ITA 15
ROM 14
DEN 11
MAC 10
LIT 5

LIT v BEL, DEN v ROM, ITA v MAC

GROUP D
SUI 25 (Q)
POL 17
SVN 10
CZE 9
FIN 9
CYP 3

CYP v SVN, CZE v FIN, POL v SUI

GROUP E
ISL 20
NED 18
UKR 17
SVK 11
ISR 9
MOL 0

MOL v ISR, SVK v UKR, NED v ISL

GROUP F
ENG 23 (Q)
ROI 19
NOR 16
LUX 7
ALB 7
ARM 4

LUX v ALB, ROI v NOR, ENG v ARM

GROUP G
ESP 25 (Q)
CRO 15
BUL 14
HUN 12
EST 8
AND 1

AND v BUL, CRO v HUN, ESP v EST

GROUP H
GRE 14
FRA 13
NI 11
LAT 7*
AZE 5

AZE v NI, FRA v GRE

GROUP I
SER 17* (Q)
MNE 12
AUT 11
SCO 7
BLR 4

MNE v BLR, SCO v AUT

* = played all 8 matches in group

Some key matches left to play in the race for automatic qualification and a play off spot. Worst second place team doesn't make the play offs, so points needed for all in second in the last matches.

[BlackpoolRock]

Some exciting, and tense, defining moments in the next week or so, I suspect.

[geow6]

DUBLIN DRAMA STRIKES AGAIN!

Absolute scenes of joy in Dublin after the home fans witnessed another thriller as the Republic of Ireland scraped in to the play offs with a 2-2 draw against chasing Norway.

Needing just a point to finish runners up to England and guarantee a play off place, Ireland didn't start well and were let off the hook when a deflected effort skimmed the post for the visitors. The same post would favour the Scandinavian side moments later before an own goal from a saved shot sent Norway 2-0 up.

Any win for Norway would see them finish level on points with their hosts, but they would finish above ROI with a better head-to-head record.

With this in mind, Ireland pushed and gave themselves hope when a shot deflected in to the bottom corner off a nearby team mate with enough time left to get an all important equaliser.

And, in the most dramatic circumstances, Ireland found the net again with a fine strike across the goal and in to the far corner with the last kick of the game to send the home fans, and players, into raptures!

[BlackpoolRock]

The luck of the Irish!

I hope the celebrating locals, outside the ground, invited you to join them for a complimentary glass of the black stuff.

[geow6]

So, we have our 32-team line up for next year's World Cup:

EUROPE: Russia (hosts), Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, England, Spain, France, Serbia, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Poland. (14)

SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Chile. (5)

AFRICA: Senegal, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon. (5)

NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA: Costa Rica, USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico. (4)

ASIA: Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia. (4)

OCEANIA: None. (0)

Teams will be divided in to pots once the other International tournaments I need to catch up on are completed.

[geow6]

Haiti have just caused the biggest shock ever by coming from behind to beat Argentina 2-1 to reach the semi finals of the Copa America Centenario. Let that sink in.

That wrecks the possible Brazil-Argentina final.

[BlackpoolRock]

Well done to Haiti; just the type of result which makes cup football what it is.

Couldn't they find a Tunisian referee?

[geow6]

Haiti's run ended on penalties against Chile, who set up a final clash against Brazil. The red and blues would be out for revenge after a home defeat in the 2015 final thanks to a dubious handball decision at the end of extra time sealed a 1-0 Brazil win.

No such drama this time as Brazil outclassed Chile 3-0 to win successive Copa America titles. The Brazilians are surely one of the favourites for next year's World Cup.

[BlackpoolRock]

What a shame for Haiti. A horrible way to go out of any tournament.