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World Soccer XXX: We Have Men Too!

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It's rumored FIFA could reverse the 16 three team groups and go with 12 four team groups.

With the new FIFA rankings, if everyone made it based on rank: [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Pot 1[/TD]
[TD]Pot 2[/TD]
[TD]Pot 3[/TD]
[TD]Pot 4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]USA - host[/TD]
[TD]Spain[/TD]
[TD]Korea[/TD]
[TD]Egypt[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mexico - host[/TD]
[TD]Morocco[/TD]
[TD]Ukraine[/TD]
[TD]Mali[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Canada - host[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD]Ivory Coast[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brazil[/TD]
[TD]Germany[/TD]
[TD]Wales[/TD]
[TD]Saudi Arabia[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Argentina[/TD]
[TD]Uruguay[/TD]
[TD]Tunisia[/TD]
[TD]Qatar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]France[/TD]
[TD]Colombia[/TD]
[TD]Serbia[/TD]
[TD]Panama[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Belgium[/TD]
[TD]Denmark[/TD]
[TD]Chile[/TD]
[TD]Jamaica[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]England[/TD]
[TD]Senegal[/TD]
[TD]Costa Rica[/TD]
[TD]Iraq[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Netherlands[/TD]
[TD]Japan[/TD]
[TD]Cameroon[/TD]
[TD]UAE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Croatia[/TD]
[TD]Peru[/TD]
[TD]Austria[/TD]
[TD]New Zealand[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Italy[/TD]
[TD]Sweden[/TD]
[TD]Nigeria[/TD]
[TD]P1 - Ecuador[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Portugal[/TD]
[TD]Iran[/TD]
[TD]Algeria[/TD]
[TD]P2 - Burkina Faso[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Then we have the two playoffs. UEFA gets no playoff spots. CONCACAF gets two. Everyone else gets one. The top two teams are seeded and then the others are randomly assigned. Not sure if they would put the CONCACAF teams in the same bracket, but I'm separating them.

Playoff 1 -
Ecuador vs El Salvador/Solomon Islands

Playoff 2 -
Burkina Faso vs Honduras/Oman

There isn't much of a drop off in the African teams until you get to Burkina Faso in the playoff. Otherwise you get the usual rotation, plus Mali finally gets in after dominating all the youth tournaments. CONCACAF gets the whole Hex in, so I there's some drop off at the end, but it's basically a copy of the fourth team that gets in most of the time anyway. The only major drop offs are the mass of Asian teams in Pot 4, plus New Zealand with Oceania finally getting an autobid.
 
Last edited:
Kepler said:
Right but I was thinking of the total produced/exported talent. It seems possible to me to have a team that is markedly better than its components. Or worse.
Click to expand...
If you’re trying to rank countries by total produced and exported talent then Brazil is #1 with a bullet then a huge gulf to maybe Argentina or Germany at #2.

I’d be willing to bet there’s a Brazilian playing professionally in 90% of the countries on Earth.

I’d also bet you could take a team of Brazilians with zero caps to the World Cup and have a better showing than Qatar.
 
Spartanforlife4 said:
It's rumored FIFA could reverse the 16 three team groups and go with 12 four team groups.

With the new FIFA rankings, if everyone made it based on rank: [TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Pot 1[/TD]
[TD]Pot 2[/TD]
[TD]Pot 3[/TD]
[TD]Pot 4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]USA - host[/TD]
[TD]Spain[/TD]
[TD]Korea[/TD]
[TD]Egypt[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mexico - host[/TD]
[TD]Morocco[/TD]
[TD]Ukraine[/TD]
[TD]Mali[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Canada - host[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD]Ivory Coast[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brazil[/TD]
[TD]Germany[/TD]
[TD]Wales[/TD]
[TD]Saudi Arabia[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Argentina[/TD]
[TD]Uruguay[/TD]
[TD]Tunisia[/TD]
[TD]Qatar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]France[/TD]
[TD]Colombia[/TD]
[TD]Serbia[/TD]
[TD]Panama[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Belgium[/TD]
[TD]Denmark[/TD]
[TD]Chile[/TD]
[TD]Jamaica[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]England[/TD]
[TD]Senegal[/TD]
[TD]Costa Rica[/TD]
[TD]Iraq[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Netherlands[/TD]
[TD]Japan[/TD]
[TD]Cameroon[/TD]
[TD]UAE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Croatia[/TD]
[TD]Peru[/TD]
[TD]Austria[/TD]
[TD]New Zealand[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Italy[/TD]
[TD]Sweden[/TD]
[TD]Nigeria[/TD]
[TD]P1 - Ecuador[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Portugal[/TD]
[TD]Iran[/TD]
[TD]Algeria[/TD]
[TD]P2 - Burkina Faso[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Then we have the two playoffs. UEFA gets no playoff spots. CONCACAF gets two. Everyone else gets one. The top two teams are seeded and then the others are randomly assigned. Not sure if they would put the CONCACAF teams in the same bracket, but I'm separating them.

Playoff 1 -
Ecuador vs El Salvador/Solomon Islands

Playoff 2 -
Burkina Faso vs Honduras/Oman

There isn't much of a drop off in the African teams until you get to Burkina Faso in the playoff. Otherwise you get the usual rotation, plus Mali finally gets in after dominating all the youth tournaments. CONCACAF gets the whole Hex in, so I there's some drop off at the end, but it's basically a copy of the fourth team that gets in most of the time anyway. The only major drop offs are the mass of Asian teams in Pot 4, plus New Zealand with Oceania finally getting an autobid.
Click to expand...
I go more with what happened in qualifying this time around and extrapolate from there. So you’d get the following teams added:

UEFA: Take the six from the first playoff round winners so add Ukraine, Sweden, and North Macedonia.

CONMEBOL: Add Peru and Colombia. Chile in the playoff.

CONCACAF: Add Panama and Jamaica (Yikes). Honduras and El Salvador to the playoff (Double yikes).

AFC: Add UAE and either Iraq or Oman with the loser to the playoff (JFC is Asia terrible once you get past their top 4 or 5).

CAF (Africa): Add four of Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Mali, and DR Congo with the fifth to the playoff (Like I said, more spots to Africa is a good thing).

Oceania: Add New Zealand, Solomon Islands to the playoff.

Going by rankings Chile and DR Congo would the playoff winners.

Going by that you’d have the following pots:

Pot 1
USA
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Belgium
Argentina
France
England
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Denmark

Pot 2
Germany
Croatia
Switzerland
Uruguay
Colombia
Senegal
Wales
Iran
Serbia
Morocco
Peru
Japan

Pot 3
Sweden
Poland
Ukraine
S. Korea
Chile
Tunisia
Nigeria
Costa Rica
Algeria
Australia
Egypt
Cameroon

Pot 4
Ecuador
Mali
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Panama
Ghana
Jamaica
North Macedonia
Iraq
UAE
DR Congo
New Zealand

Outside of Ecuador, Saudi Arabia and Ghana Pot 4 is some serious stank. I doubt we’d get some Women’s World Cup type blowouts but yikes.
 
New FIFA Ranking top 20:
1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Belgium
5. England
6. Netherlands
7. Croatia
8. Italy
9. Portugal
10. Spain
11. Morocco
12. Switzerland
13. USA
14. Germany
15. Mexico
16. Uruguay
17. Colombia
18. Denmark
19. Senegal
20. Japan
 
So former USMNT player and U20 Coach Tab Ramos did an interview where he called out the USSF and said the Berhalter shouldn't be the coach going forward. So, naturally, the #USMNT idiots picked up on it and are now tubthumping for Ramos to be the new coach.

Because nothing screams qualified like the guy who led the Houston Dynamo to back to back last place finishes in the Western Conference and a 10W-21D-26L record.
 
I am attending the Star Wars Celebration in London April 7-10 and plan to stick around for some soccer. Getting tickets is a longshot, but if one of the London teams has a European match drawn April 11-13 that would be fun. I am planning to go to The Hive to see Barnet vs Wrexham on the 15th. After watching the documentary and a few matches on ESPN+ I'm looking forward to seeing them in person. Traveling to Wrexham would be so cool, but they have a match in London so that's much easier. The 18th is Millwall hosting Birmingham. The 19th is a tough decision. I'd like to see QPR host Norwich at Loftus Road but I'm also leaning towards Reading vs Luton at the Madejski. Watford also hosts Cardiff at Vicarage Road, but all three matches are simultaneous so I can only choose one. There's also the 2nd leg of the European matches that week. Assuming there are no conflicts, the 22nd Fulham hosts Leeds at Craven Cottage. The FA Cup semifinals are that weekend, but it is doubtful either of these teams will be involved and there is almost no chance I'll get tickets to a Cup semi. The 25th will be my last night in the UK and I'm hoping to spend it at the London Stadium as West Ham hosts Liverpool. Nosebleeds are $200+ but if I go through the club I can get a hospitality ticket for $400. Pricey, but worth it. The catch is they explicitly state no LFC fans are welcome, so I will just be an American tourist who loves football. Bring on the bubbles!
 
Currently spectating a weird discussion on Facebook where a friend (who has some really bad takes on soccer, like “I swallowed all the Qatari propaganda” bad takes) has asserted that Premier League is overhyped, mainly due to English language and marketing reasons, and not the most entertaining league in the world.

It’s weird because he’s both very right and very wrong at the same time.

He’s right because yeah the PL is overhyped, largely due to heavy marketing by the TV networks who spend way too much money on TV rights, the marketing by the PL and clubs themselves, and the English language factor.

He’s wrong because, well, it is the most entertaining league top to bottom. And I say that as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy the PL.

He’s continuing the bad take train by asserting that La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are more entertaining. Which, La Liga and Ligue 1 are not anywhere close. The bottom of those two leagues are dreadful, particularly La Liga. The Bundesliga would be a better argument if Bayern didn’t fucking win every time. Watching the Bundesliga is like watching WCW in the mid 90’s, the undercard stuff is fantastic and entertaining but the main event scene is boring AF because you know nobody is beating Hogan and takes up way too much time.
 
Without looking it up I'd imagine average scoring in the Bundesliga is higher than in the PM, but yes there is a lot of drama removed given that one team dominates nearly year in and year out.
 
Slap Shot said:
Without looking it up I'd imagine average scoring in the Bundesliga is higher than in the PM, but yes there is a lot of drama removed given that one team dominates nearly year in and year out.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if you look at 2-16 or 17 the Bundesliga is fairly close and there’s a decent points difference and no outrageous goal differences and then you look at the top:

1. Bayern Munich P15 10W 4D 1L 34pts +36GD

Like it’s almost January and yeah they only have a four point lead with 19 games left but, it’s still pretty likely Bayern is winning again.
 
I would argue that the Championship (English 2nd Division) is the best league. Not in terms of quality of each player because obviously the top tier has the absolute cream of the crop, but in terms of competition and quality of each game. The difference between third place and 21st place is 12 points half way through the season. Even last place Huddersfield are only 13 points off a playoff spot with 23 games left to play.
 
Kepler said:
Goals per game averages in Europe’s Big 5
  1. Serie A – 3.06 goals per game
  2. Bundesliga – 3.02 goals per game
  3. Ligue 1 – 2.87 goals per game
  4. Premier League – 2.75 goals per game
  5. La Liga – 2.43 goals per game
Click to expand...
I wonder where La Liga, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga would be without Real/Barca/PSG/Bayern absolutely running up the score on some teams?

TBF, the same could be said about the PL and Man City.
 
When I moved to the Philippines my local provider for about 2 years aired a lot of games from PL, Bundesliga, La Liga and Eredeivisie. This was roughly 2014-16. In my experience then the far more entertaining games overall came from Germany and Holland. fwiw of course.
 
Jimjamesak said:
Currently spectating a weird discussion on Facebook where a friend (who has some really bad takes on soccer, like “I swallowed all the Qatari propaganda” bad takes) has asserted that Premier League is overhyped, mainly due to English language and marketing reasons, and not the most entertaining league in the world.

It’s weird because he’s both very right and very wrong at the same time.

He’s right because yeah the PL is overhyped, largely due to heavy marketing by the TV networks who spend way too much money on TV rights, the marketing by the PL and clubs themselves, and the English language factor.

He’s wrong because, well, it is the most entertaining league top to bottom. And I say that as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy the PL.

He’s continuing the bad take train by asserting that La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are more entertaining. Which, La Liga and Ligue 1 are not anywhere close. The bottom of those two leagues are dreadful, particularly La Liga. The Bundesliga would be a better argument if Bayern didn’t ****ing win every time. Watching the Bundesliga is like watching WCW in the mid 90’s, the undercard stuff is fantastic and entertaining but the main event scene is boring AF because you know nobody is beating Hogan and takes up way too much time.
Click to expand...

This is on point.

To continue the analogy though, you have guys like Haaland who, although on the "undercard" of the PL, are delivering A+++ promos in the middle, semi-prime parts of the show and are worth watching on their own just for that. Their stock is rising quickly and MAY be able to force their way into the Main Event discussion if this keeps up.
 
RaceBoarder said:
This is on point.

To continue the analogy though, you have guys like Haaland who, although on the "undercard" of the PL, are delivering A+++ promos in the middle, semi-prime parts of the show and are worth watching on their own just for that. Their stock is rising quickly and MAY be able to force their way into the Main Event discussion if this keeps up.
Click to expand...
Nah, the Premier League is like WCW in 97-98. It’s nowhere near as good as it’s hyped up to be (PL marketing is essentially like Tony Schiavone saying “it’s the biggest night in the history of our sport!” every week) but it is still entertaining and somehow everyone is making a ton of money, even guys who haven’t been on TV in months.
 
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