Official 20/21 Various National Soccer Team News Thread

[Locke]

Who is gearing up for another round of intense matches?

I'm thinking about watching Estonia vs. Moldova...gotta cheer for my boy Vigo! The Sorrow of Moldova! Ole Eesti!! (I know its technically 'Moldavia' but we're letting that go for today!)



But Czechs vs. mighty Gibraltar is a heavyweight tilt that mustn't be missed!!

That being said though....Wales vs. North Macedonia? Two undefeated teams! That could be a good match!

[Locke]

Also...'Moldtelecom' is not only a bad name for a company but its a bad name for a sponsor.

Unless you have a hankering to call your mold.

[Locke]

Estonia taking no prisoners today!

[GirlySports]

Iran are the 3rd team to qualify.

Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran
Africa (9) -
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) -
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) -

A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th -
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia

[GirlySports]

Locke: don't forget the battle today between Sudan and South Sudan.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Wonder if FIFA has their backup plan in case of the US boycott/Trump policies scaring everyone away.

[Locke]

Scenes at the end of North Macedonia/Wales! The Welsh tie it up with the last kick of the match.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Locke: don't forget the battle today between Sudan and South Sudan.

The Great Sudanese Draw.

[GirlySports]

Argentina, the world champions, have qualified. They crushed Brazil 4-1.

That's it for this cycle, until June.

[GirlySports]

how bad are brazil

[Paulie Walnuts]

Ancelotti named HC for Brazil. Will take over Monday May 26th 2025.

[CroFlames]

Brazil just became a legitimate favorite with Don Carlo running the show.

[Locke]

Finland women's national team manager has apologised for mistakenly calling up a long-retired 51-year-old for this week's game against Serbia.

When submitting the lineup, manager Outi Saarinen mistakenly entered former player Stina Ruuskanen instead of 23-year-old Djurgarden defender Nanne Ruuskanen.

The error was not discovered until past deadline.

Ruuskanen, who received her call-up 29 years after playing two senior internationals for Finland, took the mix-up in good humour.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/...ayer-51-serbia

[CroFlames]

Ronaldo scores goal #137 away at Germany in the NL semifinal. Not an easy task.

He's an #######, but man is he ever timeless.

[GirlySports]

South Korea qualify for their 11th straight World Cup. And newbies Jordan and Uzbekistan!

Australia are also qualified unless they lose by 8 goals to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, so I'll include them

China, even in an expanded 48 team world cup, are eliminated.

Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia
Africa (9) -
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) -
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) -

A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th -
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia

[GirlySports]

Big game today in Oslo between Norway and Italy. Italy have failed to qualify for the last two world cup and it's usually early road games like this where they slip and can't recover later, forcing them into the playoffs.

[CroFlames]

With 16 spots, almost guaranteed Italy qualify.

But it would certainly be hilarious to miss out on three straight WCs; especially with a Euro win mixed in there.

[SuperMatt18]

It would not be hilarious, it would be devistating.

But yeah they need to win today. Weird scheduling too has all the other teams in the group having played 2 games already, and Italy on 0 GP.

They can't lose today as that would put them on 0 points and Norway on 9 points, even with the 2 games in hand that becomes tough to overcome.

[Senator Clay Davis]

One man's comedy is another man's tragedy.

[SuperMatt18]

Personally I want to see all the top teams qualify - the world cup is more fun when all of the top teams are there - love them or hate them.