Sweet!!! Gotta love that World Cup!

bigpeeler: Sweet!!! Gotta love that World Cup!

Can't wait!

Oranje!!!

Les Bleus! Alles alles Les Bleus!
piqué de l'Italie de piqué !
alles alles alles, alles Les Bleus!!!

32 teams, one cup.


/Obligatory on fark.

Goal.com had a go at guessing the pots, and from their guesses, I did a mock draw...

Group A: South Africa, Switzerland, Japan, Paraguay
Group B: England, Slovenia, Australia, Chile
Group C: Germany, Serbia, North Korea, Ghana
Group D: Spain, Portugal, United States, Nigeria
Group E: Italy, Greece, New Zealand, Cameroon
Group F: Argentina, Slovakia, Honduras, Cote d'Ivoire
Group G: France, Denmark, Mexico, Uruguay
Group H: Brazil, Netherlands, South Korea, Algeria

It's always Denmark and Uruguay together, isn't it?

Anyone know when New Zealand will play against Bahrain for the final spot?

Does France get to play handballs in the finals, too?

JerseyTim: Does France get to play handballs in the finals, too?

Was that pathetic or what? What an absolute horrible way to begin the World Cup proceedings. Let's pray that that's the last bad call we see...

...yeah, right.

To add a little spice, they should place North and South Korea in the same group.

vossiewulf: To add a little spice, they should place North and South Korea in the same group.

Won't happen. FIFA won't allow countries within confederations into the same group if at all possible. Same reason the NCAA doesn't like to have teams from the same conference near each other in the March Madness bracket.

mamoru: Anyone know when New Zealand will play against Bahrain for the final spot?

...That already happened. Leg 1 was in October (in Bahrain, 0-0). Leg 2 was early Saturday morning/late Friday night US time (in NZ, 1-0). Hence if you RTFA, you'll see New Zealand as one of the qualifiers and Bahrain not.

Gosling: Goal.com had a go at guessing the pots, and from their guesses, I did a mock draw...

Yeah, Football-Rankings has been making those assumptions as well. It is slightly possible, however (you know since FIFA is corrupt and all) that Africa would be combined with CONCACAF or OFC. As it is, South Africa will be getting a fairly strong South American team as well as a European team, and could wind up bounced out in the first round.

It's always Denmark and Uruguay together, isn't it?

The random draw done at football-rankings has USA in Group E. With Italy. I could stand to NOT see that.

Well... fifteen days until we find out.

Well, a second-tier European team. They'll dodge the seeds. They might get the Netherlands, they might get Serbia.

Pot C, as presented, is where it gets make-or-break for a lot of teams outside Pot C. It's projected as Asia/Oceania/North America, and that pot goes all over the map, When the range goes Mexico/US/Japan/Australia/South Korea/Honduras/New Zealand/North Korea, there's bound to be some heartache when you plunge your hand into the hopper.

RminusQ: ...That already happened. Leg 1 was in October (in Bahrain, 0-0). Leg 2 was early Saturday morning/late Friday night US time (in NZ, 1-0). Hence if you RTFA, you'll see New Zealand as one of the qualifiers and Bahrain not.

Ah... I guess I misunderstood what I read in the link. The text didn't say either way, and I didn't realize to just interpret the pictured flags as all of the final qualifiers. They could have updated the text to indicate that NZ had beaten Bahrain.

:-/

/not that I really follow footie that much... I was just curious

Africa: 53 teams, 5 spots (plus ZA gets an automatic as host country) (10.6 teams per spot)
Asia: 43 teams 4.5 spots (9.6 teams per spot)
North America, Central America, Caribbean: 35 teams 3.5 spots (10 teams per spot)
Oceania: 10 teams, .5 spots (20 teams per spot)

South America: 10 teams, 4.5 spots (2.2 teams per spot)
Europe: 53 teams, 13 spots (4.1 teams per spot)

Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

Because it's ludicrous to think that Guam and Germany should be considered equal in dividing up berths?

I mean, look at NA vs SA. South America has many fewer teams, but most NA teams are god-awful. Bahamas? USVI? They barely count as teams. You could make a case that the Hex, plus Panama and Jamaica are non-terrible. That still leaves you with 8 decent teams, which is about as many as all of SA, all of whom are decent. If you're going to take away a spot from SA to give to NA, then that means you're taking away a spot from Uruguay to give to Costa Rica. But wait, they just played for the last spot and Uruguay beat Costa Rica.

/you can't seriously expect Oceania to get as many spots as South America

The mascot is a rip-off of Sprout from the Green Giant commercials.

RminusQ: Because it's ludicrous to think that Guam and Germany should be considered equal in dividing up berths?

I mean, look at NA vs SA. South America has many fewer teams, but most NA teams are god-awful. Bahamas? USVI? They barely count as teams. You could make a case that the Hex, plus Panama and Jamaica are non-terrible. That still leaves you with 8 decent teams, which is about as many as all of SA, all of whom are decent. If you're going to take away a spot from SA to give to NA, then that means you're taking away a spot from Uruguay to give to Costa Rica. But wait, they just played for the last spot and Uruguay beat Costa Rica.

/you can't seriously expect Oceania to get as many spots as South America

So who decides? It should be decided on the field.

Ireland got jobbed.

That is all.

haemaker: Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

Because most teams in the other continents are rubbish? The fifth best team in Asia couldn't beat New Zealand over two legs.

haemaker: So who decides? It should be decided on the field.

Who would want to see Brazil beat Fiji 15-0? The rankings are like that for a reason.

torpid_beaver: Ireland got jobbed.

That is all.

What the referees from that match might look like...

this thread:

*beep* *beep*

Not that I give a flying fark (really I don't) but how come ~10% of the teams from every other "continental" division qualify except for the Europe division which qualifies ~25%?

I'm guessing it has something to do with it being "their" game...

WTF? Last time I checked, Australia wasn't in Asia.

torpid_beaver: Ireland got jobbed.

That is all.

Yep.

haemaker: Africa: 53 teams, 5 spots (plus ZA gets an automatic as host country) (10.6 teams per spot)
Asia: 43 teams 4.5 spots (9.6 teams per spot)
North America, Central America, Caribbean: 35 teams 3.5 spots (10 teams per spot)
Oceania: 10 teams, .5 spots (20 teams per spot)

South America: 10 teams, 4.5 spots (2.2 teams per spot)
Europe: 53 teams, 13 spots (4.1 teams per spot)

Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

That is a very simplistic way to look at it. Here is a better way that shows that the numbers are fair for everyone except Europe.

Association|Number of top 64 teams|% top 64 teams|% WC slots
Europe | 34 | 53% | 41%
CONCACAF| 5 | 8% | 11%
CAF | 11 | 17% | 19%
ASIA | 6 | 9% | 11%
S AM | 9 | 14% | 14%
OCEANIA | 0 | 0 | 1.5%

Africa and Europe don't play any playoff games so they are guaranteed their number of places. From this analysis it looks like FIFA gave every association except europe a proper chance to qualify based on their world ranking.

I will be at the World Cup in June.

can not fkn wait!

there was a mini-parade running down my street last night celebrating the Algeria team making it.

Fizpez: Not that I give a flying fark (really I don't) but how come ~10% of the teams from every other "continental" division qualify except for the Europe division which qualifies ~25%?

I'm guessing it has something to do with it being "their" game...

Or you know having the best teams, the best leagues and the best players.

haemaker: Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

18 World Cups have been played so far. Half of them have been won by European teams; the other half have been won by South American teams. You want more berths for your confederation? Win the tournament.

Ireland got SEC'd real bad with that handball.

/FIFA is the BCS

endlessmonkeys: Les Bleus! Alles alles Les Bleus!
piqué de l'Italie de piqué !
alles alles alles, alles Les Bleus!!!

You cheating bastards.

Ed_Severson: haemaker: Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

18 World Cups have been played so far. Half of them have been won by European teams; the other half have been won by South American teams. You want more berths for your confederation? Win the tournament.

To add to that only once since 1930 has a team outside Europe or South America made the semi finals. That would be South Korea who were hosts in 2002 and received some outrageous refereeing decisions to get them there.

I was just a main page lurker 4 yers ago. Will we have a Fark pool for the world cup?

I have a feeling that Spain is going to join Germany and France as the only countries to simultaneously hold the European Championship and World Cup.

TommyBahama: there was a mini-parade running down my street last night celebrating the Algeria team making it.

I hope you saw some Ireland flags in that parade, since they should be going and aren't.

The match is over, you can't fix it, c'est la vie, but I have one question: Will the ref, or linesman, face any sanctions for blowing the game?

Looks like the call from on high was, "Make sure France qualifies."

Man, I'm still pissed off.

Ed_Severson: haemaker: Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

18 World Cups have been played so far. Half of them have been won by European teams; the other half have been won by South American teams. You want more berths for your confederation? Win the tournament.

I completely realize that the best players in the world are lured to Europe to play professionally - best teams, no question. But these are national teams.

I'm really not trying to argue that most European teams are NOT superior to teams from other locations, they have the most money, training opportunities, medical care etc.

But at some point its like arguing that BCS schools are always superior at handegg* than non-BCS schools because all of the champions have always come from BCS schools. Well no shiat, if you really only pick the teams to make the championship from BCS schools it should come as no surprise that they win. If twice as many European teams always make the World Cup, it should be no surprise that they win it more often. Would be true if they played the games or just pulled team name out of a hat.

*since its a "football" thread I thought I'd go with that instead.

Cant wait to see who ends up in Johannesburg for the games I'm going to!!!!

also in case you missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIqwTNm8ZA

Fizpez: But at some point its like arguing that BCS schools are always superior at handegg* than non-BCS schools because all of the champions have always come from BCS schools. Well no shiat, if you really only pick the teams to make the championship from BCS schools it should come as no surprise that they win. If twice as many European teams always make the World Cup, it should be no surprise that they win it more often. Would be true if they played the games or just pulled team name out of a hat.

Here's the top 32 from the FIFA world rankings:

1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Netherlands
4 Italy
5 Germany
6 Argentina
7 England
8 Croatia
9 France
10 Portugal
11 USA
12 Russia
13 Switzerland
14 Cameroon
15 Czech Republic
16 Greece
17 Chile
18 Mexico
19 Côte d'Ivoire
20 Serbia
21 Paraguay
22 Ukraine
23 Bulgaria
24 Australia
25 Uruguay
26 Israel
27 Denmark
28 Egypt
29 Algeria
30(t) Colombia
30(t) Northern Ireland
32 Nigeria

That's 18 from UEFA, 6 from CONMEBOL, 5 from CAF, 2 from CONCACAF, 1 from AFC, and 0 from OFC. Would you rather they just took the top 32 teams in the world?

Qualifying is about as fair as it can possibly be. Every nation on earth has the opportunity to qualify, provided they hold FIFA membership.

Ireland got hosed.

Slovenia got in! That means tons of gratuitous pics of hot Slovenian girls cheering at the games. I can't wait.

Fizpez: But at some point its like arguing that BCS schools are always superior at handegg* than non-BCS schools because all of the champions have always come from BCS schools. Well no shiat, if you really only pick the teams to make the championship from BCS schools it should come as no surprise that they win. If twice as many European teams always make the World Cup, it should be no surprise that they win it more often. Would be true if they played the games or just pulled team name out of a hat.

Well they are going to have do better at world cups then. The Asian teams only managed one win in the last tournament. CONCACAF and Africa teams both managed three wins total. Not an impressive return.

Fizpez: Ed_Severson: haemaker: Why does South America and Europe get so many extra chances?

18 World Cups have been played so far. Half of them have been won by European teams; the other half have been won by South American teams. You want more berths for your confederation? Win the tournament.

I completely realize that the best players in the world are lured to Europe to play professionally - best teams, no question. But these are national teams.

I'm really not trying to argue that most European teams are NOT superior to teams from other locations, they have the most money, training opportunities, medical care etc.

But at some point its like arguing that BCS schools are always superior at handegg* than non-BCS schools because all of the champions have always come from BCS schools. Well no shiat, if you really only pick the teams to make the championship from BCS schools it should come as no surprise that they win. If twice as many European teams always make the World Cup, it should be no surprise that they win it more often. Would be true if they played the games or just pulled team name out of a hat.

*since its a "football" thread I thought I'd go with that instead.

Would you really prefer to see New Caledonia (2nd place Oceania) and Bahrain (5th place Asia) instead of Portugal and France? Teams like Russia and Ireland that didn't even qualify out of Europe would wipe the floor with pretty much every team from Oceania, Asia, and CONCACAF (with Mexico and the US being the exception).

Fark yeah.
Cameroo~~~n!

SigmaAlgebra: Would you really prefer to see New Caledonia (2nd place Oceania) and Bahrain (5th place Asia) instead of Portugal and France? Teams like Russia and Ireland that didn't even qualify out of Europe would wipe the floor with pretty much every team from Oceania, Asia, and CONCACAF (with Mexico and the US being the exception).

Let's not forget teams like Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. Does anyone think teams like Costa Rica or Bahrain are better than those teams?

Would you really prefer to see New Caledonia (2nd place Oceania) and Bahrain (5th place Asia) instead of Portugal and France? ).

I would ¬¬ I'd much rather see an honest team like New Caladonia than cheaters like the French and Portuguese.

JerseyTim: Does France get to play handballs in the finals, too?

Hah, yeah. Headbutts too :) So sad that Ireland had to go down like that, they looked like they wanted it more than France in that game. I don't know what it's going to take to get FIFA to see instant TV replay as a viable option for in-match corrections but it needs to be done somehow.

Halli: Let's not forget teams like Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. Does anyone think teams like Costa Rica or Bahrain are better than those teams?

I understand your point, but this is Fark so I have to nitpick.....Costa Rica can play with those teams. Especially at home. CONCACAF has earned its 3.5 spots. With the Finals in Africa this time around I think the CONCACAF teams will do well next summer.

It's like a circle. Henry learned to handball from Messi, who learned to handball from Maradona, who learned how to take a quality team and turn them to shiat through sheer managerial ineptitude from Domenech.