2022 FIFA كأس العالم (WORLD CUP 2022)

[RIPPA]

Finally found a summary of the groups in an easy to copy format

Quote

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine

Group C Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

 

[Infinit]

Cautiously optimistic about Canada. So pumped for this...sucks we have to wait until the end of the year!

[Death From Above]

All things considered it's not a bad draw for Canada, and that Morocco game has some sneaky track meet potential if someone scores early.

[RIPPA]

The match times (for at least the first two games in Group stages) will be (in EST)

• 5 AM
• 8 AM
• 11 AM
• 2 PM

The Knockouts will use 10 AM and 2 PM

[RIPPA]

 

[odessasteps]

They are putting matches in most appopriate time slots to the home countries, so the Senegal match will actually be the first match played, not Qatar.

[cubbymark]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

 

Bonus points if Pulisic is the beneficiary this time around…

[Dewar]

As soon as Germany went into the same pot as Spain, I spent the rest of the draw hoping Canada would avoid that group.

Need to check the betting sites and see what the odds are for Canada to get out of the group.

[odessasteps]

45 minutes ago, cubbymark said:

Bonus points if Pulisic is the beneficiary this time around…

Done in by his “hulk hands” gloves

[ReiseReise]

On 4/2/2022 at 2:01 AM, odessasteps said:

They are putting matches in most appopriate time slots to the home countries, so the Senegal match will actually be the first match played, not Qatar.

I love that they are still promoting the Qatar game as the opening game when it's actually the third match played. It's like in WWE with the main events... 

[RIPPA]

Per the NY Times - FIFA has quietly dropped its plan to have the World Cup be every other year

[Dolfan in NYC]

50 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

Per the NY Times - FIFA has quietly dropped its plan to have the World Cup be every other year

Guessing that's because there's no one out there wiiling to do their ridiculous beyond-Olympic-level demands of the host countries.  

Meanwhile the confirmed 2030 bidders: 

• Morocco (lost the '26 cup to North America)
• Southern South America (ARG/URU/CHI/PAR)
• Southeastern Europe (ROM/GRE/SER/BUL)
• Iberian Europe (POR/ESP)

Still kicking around the concept of bidding (which means they'll go for '34 when this one falls through):

• Saudi Arabia (with Egypt and Morocco OR Italy(?))
• Northern South America (COL/PER/ECU)
• China
• West Asia (ISR/UAE/BAH)
• Australia & Indonesia
• Cameroon 
• Both Koreas & Japan 

 

[odessasteps]

I heard a great theory that one reason Russia submitted a bid for the Euros, while in the middle of invading another nation, is that they want to get kicked out of UEFA and join the Asian Confederation. 
 

this ties into a wider discussion of Russia positioning themselves as part of Asia and not Europe. 

[RIPPA]

FIFA and UEFA have agreed that the Ukraine/Scotland match will take place on June 1 in Glasgow

The winner will then play Wales in Cardiff on June 5

It appears that (though unspoken) if Ukraine can't play that date, they will forfeit

[Happ Hazzard]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:49 PM, Dolfan in NYC said:

Guessing that's because there's no one out there wiiling to do their ridiculous beyond-Olympic-level demands of the host countries.  

Meanwhile the confirmed 2030 bidders: 

• Morocco (lost the '26 cup to North America)
• Southern South America (ARG/URU/CHI/PAR)
• Southeastern Europe (ROM/GRE/SER/BUL)
• Iberian Europe (POR/ESP)

Still kicking around the concept of bidding (which means they'll go for '34 when this one falls through):

• Saudi Arabia (with Egypt and Morocco OR Italy(?))
• Northern South America (COL/PER/ECU)
• China
• West Asia (ISR/UAE/BAH)
• Australia & Indonesia
• Cameroon 
• Both Koreas & Japan 

 

I can't see how Morocco or Cameroon could possibly hold a 48 team World Cup on their own. 

I also can't fathom any kind of working relationship between North and South Korea lasting for the decade or so between the announcement of the hosts and the tournament itself taking place. Unless things change drastically politically wise in the next few years.

I predict Iberian Europe for '30 and China for '34

[odessasteps]

I think South America likely gets the Centenary one.

[Wyld Samurai]

25 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I think South America likely gets the Centenary one.

Uruguay would be special- but they'd probably group it as Argentina/Uruguay, and maybe Chile?

[RIPPA]

I could have sworn I read somewhere that they pretty much said they would not do single country hosts anymore

(Though I freely admit I might be confusing that with the Olympics)

[odessasteps]

Cheaper for countries to split bill and make more people happy. 

[RIPPA]

BTW - the Moroccan bid is supposed to be with Tunisia and Algeria 

Also the European bid that Gianni Infantino supported was Portugal/Spain but that was also three years ago

[RIPPA]

Basically Chile is accusing Ecuador of using an illegible player via fake birth certificates

Quote

Two months after it failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, Chile is seeking an unprecedented route to the tournament via a legal dispute that hinges on an allegedly falsified birth certificate.

Chile's soccer federation on Wednesday filed an official complaint to FIFA, the sport's global governing body, alleging that Ecuador, one of six South American teams that finished ahead of the Chileans, fielded an ineligible player during qualifying.

Chile claims that Byron Castillo, an Ecuadorian defender, was actually born in Colombia; and although it did not reference the World Cup in its official statement, it filed the complaint one week after Chilean media calculated that if Ecuador were punished with forfeits, Chile could take Ecuador's place at this year's tournament in Qatar.

Castillo is one of hundreds of Ecuadorian players whose birth records have been questioned in a broader probe. Ecuadorian officials cleared Castillo to play for their national team last year, and he appeared in eight qualifiers beginning in September.

But just last week, according to Colombian journalist Sebastián Bejarano, new evidence presented in court reignited the case. A birth certificate purportedly belonging to Castillo seemed to show that he had been born not on Nov. 10, 1998 in General Villamil Playas, Ecuador, but rather on July 25, 1995 in Tumaco, Colombia.

Ecuador's soccer federation, in a Thursday statement, called these "unfounded rumors." It said that Castillo "is an Ecuadorian citizen for all legal purposes, both in the civil sphere and in sports," and has the documentation to prove it.

Chile, though, argued that there were "innumerable proofs" that Castillo was born in Colombia, and that he was 26 years old, not 23.

If so, the case could get murky. Under FIFA statutes, Castillo could still be eligible to represent Ecuador internationally, because he has never represented Colombia and has lived in Ecuador for more than five years. Reliance on false documentation rather than an official request for a change of nationality, however, could make Castillo ineligible.

 

[odessasteps]

Did we discuss this already? The interesting thing is something similar happened 4 years while Chile appealed against an illegal player and after the points were awarded to teams effected, Peru got the WC place instead of Chile. 

[RIPPA]

Reminder - the Scotland/Ukraine Semifinal finally takes place tomorrow (June 1)

Winner plays Wales on Sunday (June 5)

[Marcel]

Scotland/Ukraine playing in Glasgow right now on ESPN2 and ESPN+. 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Marcel
Updating

[odessasteps]

I'd want to watch Italy v Argentina if it weren't for the Scotland v Ukraine match. 

Ukraine probably the better side so far, but could have also gotten a red card too.