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Offline Flex

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2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« on: July 16, 2017, 07:09:51 AM »
Six countries demand FIFA strip Qatar of 2022 World Cup, says Infantino
By ESPN Staff


Six countries that cut diplomatic ties with Qatar last month have demanded FIFA strip the Gulf state of the 2022 World Cup and threatened a boycott.

Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt wrote to FIFA to ask that world football's governing body remove Qatar as hosts, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Swiss website The Local, according to Reuters.

The countries all ties with Qatar last month, alleging that it supports Islamist militant groups, a charge Qatar has denied.

"The countries warned FIFA of the risks threatening fan and player security in a country that is 'the base and the castle of terrorism,'" the Local quoted Infantino as saying.

Infantino said the the countries cited Article 85 of the FIFA Code that allows changes to be made to World Cup hosts in case of emergency.

FIFA said in June amid the diplomatic crisis that it remains in "regular contact with Qatar."

Saudi Arabia qualified for four straight World Cups from 1994 to 2006 and could seal qualification for Russia 2018 in September. The UAE, qualifiers in 1990, maintain slim hopes of reaching Russia as well.

Egypt have not qualified for the World Cup since 1990 but are currently in position to reach Russia 2018 with four qualifiers remaining.

The other three nations have never qualified for the World Cup, though Bahrain reached the final intercontinental playoff before South Africa 2010.

« Last Edit: December 20, 2022, 12:55:24 PM by Tallman »
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Offline Deeks

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2017, 07:59:56 AM »
Bunch of hypocrites. Not that I am defending the manner in which they got the tournament.

Offline maxg

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2017, 12:50:25 PM »
Bunch of hypocrites. Not that I am defending the manner in which they got the tournament.
why hypocrites doh ?

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2017, 01:09:41 PM »
I say hypocrites because they want Qatar to bend to their demands. Close down Aljezera. And they accused Qatar of supporting terrorist activities. Don't the US have a base in Qatar. All the accusers making demands because Qatar on friendly terms with Iran. Sunni vs Shia.

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Offline Flex

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2017, 05:02:18 AM »
David, Rougier want serious planning for 2022 W/Cup.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).


FORMER NATIONAL footballers Steve David and Anthony Rougier have both called for serious planning to take place, at all levels, before Trinidad and Tobago embark on their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign.

Trinidad and Tobago, under the guidance of coach Dennis Lawrence, were beaten 3-0 by hosts Panama on Tuesday to effectively end their dreams of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Looking back at Tuesday’s game, David, the ex-T&T striker, said, “There is nothing to be really excited about. We changed our team, we had seven new players but no plan. They were just running around.” Rougier, the former national defender/midfielder, admitted that the Panama defeat was “a difficult one to swallow”.

He noted, “At the end of the day, football is in my blood, and I’ve always been a part of Trinidad and Tobago football programme.

We gave a valid effort in the early stages of the game and it went against us (thereafter).

The ex-national captain continued, “We have to now put the plan in motion now because I would like to think we had a plan before going into the Hex.

And now is the time we’ll need to see that plan come into fruition.

I don’t think we were solid favourites to go through (to Russia). I think we could have done better but now we have to concentrate on what’s next. And that’s the way we have to approach things now.” As far as the immediate future of TT football is concerned, from an administrative point of view, David stressed for a long-term plan to be put in place by the TT Football Association (TTFA).

“A long-term plan with the Under- 15 group to take us to, maybe eight years from now,” David said. “It seems as though we’re reinventing the wheel. We should plan better.” Rougier, when asked about the 2022 campaign, responded, “We (have) a new president (David John-Williams).

We had a new coach. So they had to come in with a plan (for the 2018 campaign). If we are now looking to find a plan, then we have missed the plot. I think we need to now continue the plan – I pray to God that we do have one – and that’s where we would see the opportunities of what we’ve been through and the experiences of what we’ve been through in the Hex.” He pointed out, “I believe that Dennis is a good guy. He would learn from that experience and I hope that we think that he can still be the man to take us forward.

And let’s hope that the Association gives him that chance.

It’s going to be a tough time for us now.” Stephen Hart was replaced as coach last November, with Belgian Tom Saintfiet having a short-lived stint, before Lawrence took over the mantle in January.

According to David, “(the changes) came at the wrong time, because we were already two games into this Hex.

I think they brought the new technical staff in and that was really a disaster, because they were jumping into a no-win situation.

“I think they should have let us finish with the old technical staff and, at the end of this, bring a new technical staff,” he added.

And Rougier stated, “The reality is the decision was made and we have to accept it. We have to look forward.

We can’t do anything with what has happened in the past. We can look back and see where we’ve made mistakes and make sure it doesn’t happen again. But we can learn from this.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2017, 06:19:43 AM »
2022 WC?  We should be preparing for the CFU first. We have our priorities wrong at this moment. It should be CFU, GC, PanAM, Olympic, WC in that very order. We have to go back to crawling before walking. So ask DJW and DL what are their plans for the next CFU.

Offline Flex

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2019, 09:19:39 AM »
What to expect from Friday's FIFA Council: 48-team 2022 World Cup, Global Nations League and more
By Gabriele Marcotti (ESPN)


The FIFA Council is the 37-member assembly that replaced the Executive Committee following the election of Gianni Infantino as the president of the game's governing body back in 2016. It includes representatives from each of the six confederations and is generally charged with making administrative and organizational decisions, some of which then need to be ratified by the FIFA Congress, meaning all 211 member nations.

They meet on Friday in Miami and have plenty on their plate. Three of the biggest concerns involve expanding the 2022 Qatar World Cup to 48 teams, revamping the Club World Cup into a quadrennial 24-team summer tournament and creating a "Global Nations League," following on from the success of the European version.

Here's a Q&A to make sense of what will happen when they convene.

Q: Let's start with the World Cup in Qatar. It's already a tiny country, what are they thinking in terms of cramming more teams and games into it?

A: Infantino says that because they already voted to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, they should look at doing the same in Qatar. Of course, 2026 will take place in Canada, the United States and Mexico, which jointly have nearly 200 times the population and more than 2000 times the area. And, in fact, FIFA's own feasibility study says it's logistically impossible to stage a 48-team tournament in Qatar without making it longer, something that has already been ruled out.

Q: So why are they even considering it?

A: Because that same feasibility study suggests that you could pull it off if you had another "two to four" venues with "one or more neighbouring countries."

Basically, if Qatar is willing to share some of its World Cup, it can expand to 48 teams in 2022. The problem is that Qatar has rather poor relationships with a number of nearby countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. All three accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and have imposed a blockade on the country. Among other things, they have stopped all direct flights to Qatar.

Q: Looking at a map, I don't see too many other places where they can hold it...

A: The study cites 10 possible stadiums in the region, but seven of them are in countries currently blockading Qatar, which is obviously far from ideal. Then there are two in Kuwait and one in Oman; those are possibilities, except there isn't much time and, at the very least, they'd need to be refurbished. Either that or you persuade the Saudis and Emiratis to drop the blockade in the name of Gulf brotherhood.

Some of Infantino's enemies say that's his ultimate goal: to be able to sell the narrative that football leads to peace and win himself a Nobel Prize. In any case, that's what they'll be discussing and the expansion appears likely to be approved, either definitively or with a further green light at the FIFA Congress in Paris in early July.

Q: I'm guessing this is favoured by Infantino because it gives more countries a chance to play in the World Cup?

A: Exactly. Plus, according to the feasibility study, going to 48 teams in 2022 would generate an additional $400 million for FIFA -- Infantino is very big on increasing FIFA's revenues. He makes it a point of noting that disbursements to member nations for development purposes have increased four-fold since he's been in charge. It has been a mantra of his and he's sticking with it even though he's running unopposed for re-election.

Q: How many slots will be given to each confederation?

A: This will be contingent upon how many host nations we end up with, given they have traditionally been granted automatic qualification. Planning for the 2026 tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, at least gives us an idea in the event that Qatar does not go it alone. Like the question of which countries stage the tournament, the allocation is unlikely to be finalized until the FIFA Congress in July.

Q: Are there any other impediments to expansion?

It could be challenged by some countries and be used as a bargaining chip if Infantino doesn't get his way with the Club World Cup...

Q: OK, tell me about that...

A: Basically, he wants to replace the Confederations Cup with an expanded 24-team Club World Cup, to be held every four years, possibly as early as 2021. He thinks this would be a huge money-spinner. It would be held in June, with a single host nation and while the make-up of the invited teams is to be determined, you'd imagine at least six or eight will come from Europe and include the usual global heavyweights: Real Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United and so on.

Q: Sounds great. What's the problem?

A: For a start, there's the fact that he rubbed UEFA and other confederations the wrong way when he first raised the proposal a year ago. Back then, he said he had a $25 billion offer over 12 years from unspecified investors -- which we later found out included the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, i.e. the Saudi government -- to stage a quadriennial Club World Cup and biennial eight-team tournament for national teams, who would qualify via their confederations' respective Nations Leagues. And he said he needed approval within 60 days.

UEFA and others rejected this, feeling they were being strong-armed, particularly because he was offering so little information. Infantino's adversaries even went so far as to accuse him of "selling football," while his backers accused UEFA of kowtowing to rich European clubs who wanted to keep the summer for themselves so they could play in lucrative friendly tournaments, as well as protect the primacy of the Champions League.

Things got so bad that at the last council meeting, UEFA representatives threatened to walk out. Not only that, but there was talk of them staging their own version of a summer Club World Cup, possibly with South American clubs and possibly with the help of Relevent Sports, who organise the ICC.

Q: What has changed since then?

A: They've been working behind the scenes to hammer out some sort of deal. Infantino has the votes on the Council to force through a Club World Cup, but he knows it's better to get UEFA on board because without their support the leading clubs might even boycott his tournament. And that would make it close to worthless.

It should also be said that the original $25 billion offer is no longer on the table, at least not in its original form.

Q: Why is that?

A: Despite the success of the Nations League format in Europe, it hasn't really taken off elsewhere. CONCACAF have launched their version but other confederations have not yet done so and it's hard to see how they can make it work in the short-term.

Most likely, this part of the idea gets kicked down the road, but they'll still want to talk about the Club World Cup and in a recent interview, Reinhard Grindel -- head of the German FA and an influential FIFA Council member from UEFA -- said he thinks it will go ahead "if not for 2021, then certainly for 2025." He added that if FIFA don't do it, "somebody else will."

That's a pretty clear suggestion that UEFA are ready to back the proposal... but only if their terms are favorable. And that means you can expect some horse-trading and, potentially, a delay on the final decision -- not just for this, but for the 48-team World Cup, until the FIFA Congress in June.

Q: But that's when all this gets resolved, yes?

A: One way or another, yes, at least with regard to 48 teams in 2022. Infantino himself said that qualifying starts shortly thereafter, so they have to have a decision in place. There are other things bound to come up that could have a major impact on the game, but I'm not sure they will get resolved in Miami.

Q: Such as?

A: The single biggest is the International Match Calendar. It stipulates when the international dates are and when club football is played. The current calendar expires in 2024 and, as ever, there will be a feisty negotiation between clubs and federations.

There has been talk of having fewer international breaks but having them last longer, so the number of matches would be the same, but there would be less interruptions. And some want to see domestic football played midweek, with weekends left open for competitions like the Champions League.

There is also a raft of changes to how transfers are conducted, particularly the regulation of agents and limits on squad sizes, loans and the window. All of this will come into play, though most of it is unlikely to be resolved in Miami.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2019, 04:18:57 AM »
Michel Platini detained over award of 2022 World Cup to Qatar
By David Conn, The Guardian


The banned former Uefa president and France football legend Michel Platini has been detained in connection with a criminal investigation into alleged corruption relating to Fifa’s decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, French justice sources have confirmed. Platini’s detention was first reported by the news website Mediapart on Tuesday morning, with Claude Gueant, the former secretary general of the Élysée Palace under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, also being interviewed as a “free suspect”.

The arrest of Platini represents the first substantial public move in an investigation into the Qatar decision opened two years ago by France’s Parquet National Financier, which is responsible for law enforcement against serious financial crime.

Platini has acknowledged publicly that in November 2010, just a month before the Fifa vote on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, he had lunch at the Élysée Palace with Sarkozy and Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, now the emir of Qatar. It was made clear, he has said, that Sarkozy, who was seeking huge trade contracts with Qatar, wanted Platini to wield his Fifa vote and influence at Uefa in favour of Qatar for the 2022 tournament.

Questioned by the Guardian about his decision a fortnight ago in Paris before the Fifa congress, Platini insisted that he had already made his mind up to vote for Qatar. His son, Laurent, subsequently joined the Qatar sportswear company Burrda, owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which Platini has always denied had anything to do with his decision.

Platini did vote for Qatar, a vote, with others at Uefa, which the then Fifa president Sepp Blatter has always said were crucial to sending the tournament to Qatar rather than his preference, the USA. After the award, Qatar Airways ordered 50 French-made A320 neo-family planes made by Airbus, and QSI bought and mega-funded Paris Saint-Germain, the club Sarkozy supports.

Platini and Blatter were both banned by Fifa after Platini was paid 2m CHF by Fifa in 2011; both men argued it was in payment for Platini’s work as a Fifa football adviser, which he had finished nine years earlier in 2002.

Platini’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the arrest.


Offline Deeks

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2019, 07:09:02 AM »
It is really sad that this guy get caught up with Blatter and Jack. But it is what it is. He was an absolutely damned great player.

Offline Tallman

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2019, 10:36:26 AM »
Concacaf Announces Format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Confederation Qualifiers
Concacaf.com


The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) today announced the format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Confederation Qualifiers. The restructured competition will be composed of two parts, which will take place simultaneously during the FIFA-match windows in 2020 and 2021.
 
The first part of the Concacaf qualifiers, which will be played in a Hexagonal format, will be contested between the top six ranked Concacaf Member Associations based on the FIFA Ranking published after the FIFA window of June 2020. After home-and-away round robin play during the FIFA Match windows of September, October and November of 2020 and March and September of 2021, the top three teams will qualify directly to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

The second part of the qualifiers, played across a Group Stage and knockout phase, will involve the Concacaf Member Associations ranked 7-35 according to the FIFA Ranking published after the FIFA window of June 2020. For the group stage, these 29 participating Concacaf Member Associations will be divided into eight groups (five groups of four teams and three groups of three teams). After home-and-away round robin play during the FIFA Match windows of September, October and November of 2020, the first-place finishers in each of the eight group will qualify for the knock out stage.
 
The quarter finals, semifinals and final matches of the knock out phase will all be played in a home-and-away direct elimination format, during the FIFA Match windows of March, June and September 2021.
 
The winner of the knockout phase will face the fourth-place finisher of the Hexagonal group to determine the Concacaf representative in the FIFA intercontinental playoff. The home-and-away playoff matches between the two Concacaf representatives will take place during the FIFA Match Window of October 2021.

“The love for the game in this region is growing rapidly and our diverse and dynamic communities want a clear pathway to world-class football.  Through our freshly designed formats — across FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cup — we are staging more competitive international matches than ever-before to help these communities fulfill their potential,” said Concacaf President Victor Montagliani.
 
“This new FIFA World Cup Qualifying format, based on the FIFA rankings, makes every competitive match count.  Alongside the Concacaf Nations League, and our expanded Gold Cup, it will raise standards of play to unprecedented levels and develop the sport across the region.  Making the leading Concacaf nations stronger on the global stage, while giving our emerging footballing nations the chance to pursue their dreams of playing at a World Cup.”
 
The date, location and procedures for the draw which will determine the groups and match schedule for the Hexagonal will be announced later this year.
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Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2019, 11:19:19 AM »

Offline soccerman

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2019, 11:53:00 AM »
Yup. Looks like we'll have to go the long route because I don't see us being ranked in the top 6 by next June.

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2019, 01:49:27 PM »
Big friggin deal.  We have to earn it. If they can't well too bad.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2019, 04:09:25 PM by Deeks »

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2019, 04:54:56 PM »
Big friggin deal.  We have to earn it. If they can't well too bad.

Point taken, but the big friggin deal is that "we" (the TTFA) squandered our gains. Not marginal gains, but tangible gains. That's like walking up Hololo with a bucket of water on yuh head and then tossing de bucket when yuh reach de top ... only because yuh prefer carrying water in another bucket (also known as de calculus and economics of f**kery!)

Where Contro? :P

Without root and branch change we are not going to progress.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2019, 04:59:05 PM by asylumseeker »

Offline 100% Barataria

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2019, 05:30:30 PM »
Big friggin deal.  We have to earn it. If they can't well too bad.

Point taken, but the big friggin deal is that "we" (the TTFA) squandered our gains. Not marginal gains, but tangible gains. That's like walking up Hololo with a bucket of water on yuh head and then tossing de bucket when yuh reach de top ... only because yuh prefer carrying water in another bucket (also known as de calculus and economics of f**kery!)

Where Contro? :P

Without root and branch change we are not going to progress.

we are a stubborn lot...
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Offline Flex

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2019, 12:28:25 AM »
CONCACAF changes W/Cup qualifying format.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


Lawrence: We have to treat every game as a fi­nal

T&T's chances of qual­i­fy­ing for the FI­FA World Cup in 2022 and be­yond have be­come in­creas­ing­ly hard­er.

The Con­fed­er­a­tion of North, Cen­tral Amer­i­ca and the Caribbean Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tions (CON­CA­CAF) on Wednes­day an­nounced a new for­mat which could be a ma­jor both­er for T&T and the wider re­gion­al na­tions.

The re­struc­tured com­pe­ti­tion will com­prise of two parts, to take place si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly dur­ing the FI­FA-match win­dows in 2020 and 2021.

The first part of the CON­CA­CAF qual­i­fiers, to be played in a Hexag­o­nal for­mat, will be con­test­ed among the top six ranked CON­CA­CAF Mem­ber As­so­ci­a­tions based on the FI­FA Rank­ing pub­lished af­ter the FI­FA win­dow of June 2020. Af­ter home-and-away round-robin play dur­ing the FI­FA Match win­dows of Sep­tem­ber, Oc­to­ber and No­vem­ber of 2020, and March and Sep­tem­ber of 2021, the top three teams will qual­i­fy di­rect­ly to the FI­FA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The sec­ond part of the qual­i­fiers, to be played across a Group Stage and knock­out phase, will in­volve the CON­CA­CAF Mem­ber As­so­ci­a­tions ranked 7-35 ac­cord­ing to the FI­FA Rank­ing pub­lished af­ter the FI­FA win­dow of June 2020. For the group stage, these 29 par­tic­i­pat­ing CON­CA­CAF Mem­ber As­so­ci­a­tions will be di­vid­ed in­to eight groups (five groups of four teams and three groups of three teams).

Af­ter a home-and-away round-robin plays dur­ing the FI­FA Match win­dows of Sep­tem­ber, Oc­to­ber and No­vem­ber of 2020, the first-place fin­ish­ers in each of the eight groups will qual­i­fy for the knock out stage.

Na­tion­al coach Den­nis Lawrence, in an im­me­di­ate re­ac­tion to the new for­mat yes­ter­day, said the change means they will have to play every game as a fi­nal. Lawrence, whose So­ca War­riors are ranked 10th in the CON­CA­CAF and 92nd in the world, said, "Based on the facts and the in­for­ma­tion pre­sent­ed, if you are ac­tu­al­ly in the top six ranked CON­CA­CAF teams on the Fi­fa rank­ings at this mo­ment, you’ll prob­a­bly be think­ing you’re in a favourable po­si­tion, and all you’ve got to do is pro­tect your sta­tus un­til June 2020."

He not­ed, "If you aren’t, then it means it will be a lot more dif­fi­cult in terms of the Road to Qatar 2022, and you’ve got a lot of work to do to try and get in­to the top six. If not, then you will have to bat­tle it out for a chance to have a go at the fourth spot."

Gi­ant Mex­i­co ex­pect­ed­ly leads the CON­CA­CAF re­gion, with the Unit­ed States in sec­ond and Cos­ta Ri­ca and Ja­maica se­cur­ing the third and fourth spots.

The oth­er teams Hon­duras (5th), El Sal­vador (6th), Pana­ma (7th), Cana­da (8th) and Cu­ra­cao com­pletes the six oth­er po­si­tions, but these are set to change when the new rank­ings that fol­low the just con­clud­ed CON­CA­CAF Gold Cup are re­leased.

Lawrence said, "It is dif­fi­cult, more than be­fore now for the teams ranked 7-35, and favourable for the top six ranked teams. We just have to see how it plays out. What it means now, and not that it wasn’t im­por­tant be­fore, it shows how huge­ly im­por­tant it is for us to do well in every game that we play be­tween now and June, in the FI­FA win­dows. Every game is like a fi­nal now to get in­to the Hex. If we want to im­prove on our rank­ings we have to get re­sults."

The quar­ter­fi­nals, semi­fi­nals and fi­nal match­es of the knock out phase will be played in a home-and-away di­rect elim­i­na­tion for­mat, dur­ing the FI­FA Match win­dows of March, June and Sep­tem­ber 2021.

The win­ner of the knock­out phase will face the fourth-place fin­ish­er of the Hexag­o­nal group to de­ter­mine the CON­CA­CAF rep­re­sen­ta­tive in the FI­FA in­ter­con­ti­nen­tal play­off. The home-and-away play­off match­es be­tween the two CON­CA­CAF rep­re­sen­ta­tives will take place dur­ing the FI­FA Match Win­dow of Oc­to­ber 2021.

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Offline royal

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2019, 07:48:37 AM »
CONCACAF just made it easier for the USMNT to qualify for the World Cup

While the United States women’s national team celebrated another victory at the World Cup, the men suddenly found it easier to reach theirs.

CONCACAF announced a revamp in its World Cup qualifying format, which should benefit the USMNT.

What are the changes? Primarily, the qualifying process will be split into two separate competitions, a hexagonal and a knockout phase. In cycles past, the hexagonal, or “Hex”, represented the final stage of qualifying with six teams playing a double round-robin to determine World Cup berths.

Only now, those six teams won’t have to play their way in. Instead, the Hex will be determined through the FIFA rankings published after the June 2020 window. In other words, the top six ranked teams from CONCACAF will just qualify automatically. From there, the top three finishers earn World Cup berths, and the fourth is still alive for another. We’ll get to that in a second.

So what do the rest of the teams in CONCACAF do? The teams ranked Nos. 7 through 35 will take part in the knockout phase, which will divide them into eight groups and pit the winners of each group against each other in a tournament, which will feature a two-leg elimination format.

The winner of this knockout competition will face the fourth-place finisher from the Hex, and then that winner will go to an inter-continental playoff to determine the 2022 World Cup berth, which has been a feature of cycles past as well.

Got all that?

Here’s the brass tacks for the USMNT. The FIFA rankings are determined through a complicated and frequently criticized point system, but the USMNT is basically always among the top six CONCACAF teams. In the most recent rankings, it’s 30th in the world and second only to Mexico in the region, and would need to fall 46 spots to miss out on the Hex. So even given the hideous failure of the 2018 qualifying cycle, the USMNT isn’t missing this upcoming Hex.

As pointed out by the good folks over at Total Soccer Show, instead of playing regional minnows in an effort to qualify for the Hex, the USMNT can now schedule better opposition in friendlies during international windows. They also won’t risk elimination at earlier stages of qualifying, although they’ve never failed to make the Hex anyway.

Even after a solid Gold Cup, the USMNT can’t strut around like World Cup qualification is a sure thing. But this news from CONCACAF sure doesn’t hurt.


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« Last Edit: July 11, 2019, 07:51:05 AM by royal »

Offline Trini _2026

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2019, 01:42:23 PM »
look how this got harder for us now  ..... we out of the top 6 and this is now a knock out series
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Offline Trini _2026

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2019, 01:45:42 PM »
CONCACAF changes W/Cup qualifying format.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


Lawrence: We have to treat every game as a fi­nal



Na­tion­al coach Den­nis Lawrence, in an im­me­di­ate re­ac­tion to the new for­mat yes­ter­day, said the change means they will have to play every game as a fi­nal. Lawrence, whose So­ca War­riors are ranked 10th in the CON­CA­CAF and 92nd in the world, said, "Based on the facts and the in­for­ma­tion pre­sent­ed, if you are ac­tu­al­ly in the top six ranked CON­CA­CAF teams on the Fi­fa rank­ings at this mo­ment, you’ll prob­a­bly be think­ing you’re in a favourable po­si­tion, and all you’ve got to do is pro­tect your sta­tus un­til June 2020."





HE SEEMS CONFIDENT THAT HE WILL BE COACH STILL BY NEXT YEAR
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Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2019, 04:16:36 PM »
look how this got harder for us now  ..... we out of the top 6 and this is now a knock out series

... which is why it is ENTIRELY farcical that Lawrence should remain the NT coach.

Parse his comments well and it is permeated with farce and crafted comments.

Not a thing against Dennis personally, there is a lot to respect about his accomplishments ... BUT on a point of order it is ridiculous that he could be maintained in the role of NT head coach to continue his on the job training, particularly in the face of the WC qualifying format. This particular road should not be his road to repair or to hoe.

 :shameonyou:

Offline Trini _2026

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #21 on: July 12, 2019, 07:44:54 AM »
Victor Montagliani is really somthing else  did members have to vote on this . ???crappy formatt ... mexico and usa have an easy bye .. he did some crap with the the under 20 last year then changed the under 17 format now this
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Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2019, 08:24:15 AM »
Victor Montagliani is really somthing else  did members have to vote on this . ???crappy formatt ... mexico and usa have an easy bye .. he did some crap with the the under 20 last year then changed the under 17 format now this

It reflects DJW's prestige within CONCACAF.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2019, 08:34:48 AM »
@Trini_2022, see a few nuggets below regarding your comment.

Quote
...

It is true that both the USMNT and Mexico always qualified for the Hex under the old system, but at least they had to earn their way in by winning actual matches against direct competitors—something the U.S. came close to failing at ahead of the 2018 World Cup. And even more to the point, at least the old system gave CONCACAF’s mid-tier nations a real shot to challenge for entrance to the Hex and the World Cup beyond.

It’s that mid-tier group of CONCACAF nations just below the U.S. and Mexico that get the shortest shrift in the new format. Before, CONCACAF’s middle class knew they would be given a direct shot against their betters to win their way into the Hex, and upon doing so, pushing in the Hex for an automatic World Cup qualification spot. Now, a team could be kept away from all the Hex’s automatic qualification spots by a handful of aggregate rankings points, and then forced to try and climb through the muck of the 7-35 tournament in hopes of maybe possibly getting the chance to enter two different playoffs.

This is no idle worry, either. As of right now, the CONCACAF teams ranked six through nine (El Salvador, Panama, Canada, and Curaçao) are split by only 10 slots on the world rankings, from 69 to 79. If the confederation used the current rankings to decide the Hex participants, Panama—you know, the team that killed it in the last Hex and won one of the automatic qualification spots to make it to the 2018 World Cup—would miss out by a mere six spots. When the margins are so small, and the FIFA rankings of such dubious value and accuracy, it seems crazy to decide not to pit those teams against each other on the field of play and to instead leave it all up to whatever FIFA’s algorithm barfs up.
...

In another way, though, the form of the new qualifying rules might imply something about the future direction of CONCACAF. While they might not make total sense in sporting terms, as a political move, the new tweaks are savvy. Confederation president Montagliani has done the two mega-powers of CONCACAF a solid by making it a little easier for them to make it to Qatar. At the same time, he’s made good on his promise to bring home some bacon to his large number of constituents at the bottom rung of the confederation. In doing so, Montagliani shores up his position amongst the nations of little power but with a vote that counts as much as anyone else’s, while also strengthening his ties with the true power players at the top so that he stays in their favor.

Looking at it that way, Montagliani’s political strategy as president is the same one that’s proven so successful in the infamously sleazy and venal world of international soccer since the dawn of FIFA: the top and the bottom working together against the middle.

www.deadspin.com/concacafs-new-world-cup-qualifying-format-makes-it-hard-1836250950

« Last Edit: July 12, 2019, 08:38:07 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline Trini Madness

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #24 on: July 12, 2019, 10:56:24 PM »
On one hand, the US and Mexico have it nice and easy while the rest are crabs in a barrel. On the other hand, us crabs are getting competitive games, real cut throat games where we have no choice but to perform. As for the US and Mexico, yea they'll get good friendlies but the teams they play wont go at them full velocity. That's how I see things...
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Offline Brownsugar

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #25 on: July 14, 2019, 07:01:28 AM »
@ Trini_2022....change yuh handle one time..... ::) :banginghead: :frustrated: :yellowcard:
"...If yuh clothes tear up
Or yuh shoes burst off,
You could still jump up when music play.
Old lady, young baby, everybody could dingolay...
Dingolay, ay, ay, ay ay,
Dingolay ay, ay, ay..."

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Offline maxg

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #26 on: July 14, 2019, 09:34:44 AM »
@ Trini_2022....change yuh handle one time..... ::) :banginghead: :frustrated: :yellowcard:
:D :rotfl:

Offline lefty

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #27 on: July 14, 2019, 12:00:44 PM »
I pity the fool....

Offline Flex

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #28 on: August 08, 2019, 12:26:30 AM »
CONCACAF could destroy World Cup spirit
By Gary Griffith (Guardian).


Caribbean foot­ball fans con­tin­ue to de­bate CON­CA­CAF's re­cent de­ci­sion to seed the top six FI­FA-ranked coun­tries in­to a six-team pool which will play next year for the top three au­to­mat­ic 2022 World Cup spots avail­able to the re­gion. This will see the top three teams go­ing to Qatar while the re­gion’s oth­er teams, among them the 29 Caribbean coun­tries, for the right to play for a re­main­ing half spot, with the win­ner still fac­ing a coun­try from an­oth­er re­gion in a fi­nal play­off to earn a berth on the world’s biggest foot­ball stage.

Many have ar­gued this is elit­ist and will be the death of Caribbean foot­balling na­tions.

Guardian Me­dia Sports Desk in­ves­ti­ga­tions have al­ready re­vealed that CFU mem­bers seemed un­aware that this for­mat, put for­ward some two years ago as a pro­pos­al, had ac­tu­al­ly been agreed to and fi­nalised be­fore it was an­nounced by CON­CA­CAF last month. CFU mem­bers may al­so pos­si­bly soon lob­by for a re­view of the de­ci­sion if TTFA pres­i­dent David John-Williams, who re­port­ed­ly was against the move, can con­vincd them to do so.

Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice gary Grif­fith, an avid foot­ball fan whose son al­so plays at the na­ton­al lev­el, has added his voice to the dis­cus­sion. To­day, Guardian Me­dia presents his ar­gu­ment.
 
CON­CA­CAF dream killers would de­stroy the spir­it of what World Cup Foot­ball stands for, if not stopped.

The de­ci­sion by a hand­ful of in­di­vid­u­als in CON­CA­CAF to vir­tu­al­ly ma­nip­u­late the sys­tem by us­ing their po­si­tion to al­ter the qual­i­fy­ing for­mat for the 2022 World Cup CON­CA­CAF qual­i­fi­er must be ex­posed and stopped, with the im­me­di­ate in­volve­ment of FI­FA, if good sense does not pre­vail at CON­CA­CAF lev­el.

The clan­des­tine de­ci­sion, main­ly by those who hold posts in CON­CA­CAF to jet­ti­son their own coun­tries in­to a safe zone and by­pass the rig­ors of qual­i­fy­ing through ini­tial pre­lim­i­nary rounds, is noth­ing short of abuse of pow­er, and is in to­tal con­trast to all that World Cup Foot­ball stands for, which is for small na­tions to dream big.

This ridicu­lous for­mat be­ing de­cid­ed up­on, by a hand­ful of CON­CA­CAF mem­bers is vir­tu­al­ly killing the as­pi­ra­tion of small na­tions to dream big, hence de­stroy­ing all that World Cup Foot­ball is about, as it is more than just foot­ball, but al­so al­low­ing mil­lions of cit­i­zens from 29 oth­er coun­tries to sim­ply try, hope and to be­lieve.

This base­less and bi­ased for­mat in­tends to de­stroy just that.

To put it in­to a sim­ple per­spec­tive, the for­mat high­light­ed be­low has been used for decades by the oth­er Re­gions in World Cup Foot­ball qual­i­fi­ca­tion, with these Re­gions all hav­ing ex­pe­ri­enced far greater suc­cess than our CON­CA­CAF Re­gion, via re­sults, and some hav­ing even few­er teams than CON­CA­CAF. How­ev­er, they are ma­ture enough to un­der­stand the val­ue of a lev­el play­ing field, some­thing which seems be­yond the un­der­stand­ing of those who make de­ci­sions on be­half of CON­CA­CAF.

The for­mat used for decades is still to be used in 2022 by the fol­low­ing Re­gions for qual­i­fy­ing in Eu­rope, Asia, South Amer­i­ca, and Africa, which in­volves every­one be­ing on a vir­tu­al lev­el play­ing field from the start of qual­i­fy­ing, as this is what World Cup Foot­ball stands for; every­one hav­ing an equal op­por­tu­ni­ty and not as CON­CA­CAF of­fi­cials ap­par­ent­ly see it, with some be­ing more equal than oth­ers.
 
The for­mat of a lev­el play­ing field al­so en­gi­neers a struc­ture to en­sure de­vel­op­ment and growth by so-called weak­er coun­tries, hence, the gap is clos­ing on a reg­u­lar ba­sis be­tween great teams and weak­er teams in all oth­er re­gions, thus mak­ing the de­vel­op­ment of foot­ball in those re­gions more ef­fec­tive.

It may ap­pear that cer­tain CON­CA­CAF of­fi­cials, seem wor­ried about this and are in­tent on us­ing this new bi­ased for­mat to de­stroy such a pos­si­bil­i­ty.

The con­trast is glar­ing:

Eu­rope - [UE­FA] - 54 teams, with the great­est suc­cess in World Cup, and al­so the largest mar­gin of rank­ings, but a lev­el play­ing field is pro­vid­ed from Day One in qual­i­fy­ing, as all 54 teams are placed in 9 groups of 6 teams each, with Bel­gium ranked Num­ber One in the world, be­ing placed in qual­i­fy­ing along the same lev­el as San Mari­no, ranked 211th, the low­est in the world. UE­FA un­der­stands the val­ue of this, not just for the weak­er teams, but for the over­all de­vel­op­ment of foot­ball in their re­gion.

South Amer­i­ca [CON­MEBOL] - Like­wise, with enor­mous World Cup suc­cess, but with on­ly cer­tain na­tions. How­ev­er, like Eu­rope, there is no easy pas­sage to slip in­to the World Cup Fi­nals, based on past track record. All 10 coun­tries start on a lev­el play­ing field, from Brazil, ranked 2nd in the world, vy­ing for a spot from Day One in qual­i­fy­ing, with the low­est-ranked team in this re­gion, be­ing Bo­livia ranked 73rd.

Asia [AFC] - No lu­di­crous for­mat like CON­CA­CAF, of teams, get­ting a safe pas­sage to the fi­nal round, but every coun­try fight­ing from day one in Qual­i­fiers, with 40 teams be­ing di­vid­ed in­to 8 groups of 5 teams, in­clu­sive of the high­est-ranked Japan,[ 28th], be­ing on par with Sri Lan­ka, ranked 201st.

Africa- [ CAF] - A Re­gion com­pris­ing 54 teams, with the low­est-ranked 28 teams play­ing a home and away, and the 14 win­ners im­me­di­ate­ly be­ing placed in a lev­el play­ing field with the oth­er 26 teams, hence Sene­gal, ranked 20th, could be along­side Chad, ranked 175th, from the sec­ond round.

CON­CA­CAF- Now com­pare this to what can on­ly be de­scribed as a back­room de­ci­sion made by CON­CA­CAF, be­cause it is in­con­ceiv­able that 29 coun­tries out of the 35, would agree to such a bi­ased de­ci­sion, by de­cid­ing that the 6 high­est ranked teams, none ever hav­ing even reached a World Cup semi­fi­nal, would now be just jet­ti­soned in­to a fi­nal round with­out play­ing a sin­gle world cup qual­i­fy­ing game, and get­ting 3 au­to­mat­ic spots out of 6 teams, and leav­ing the 29 re­main­ing coun­tries to fight for one lone spot to play the 4th placed team in the self-ap­point­ed elite group of 6 for a play­off spot, to then par­tic­i­pate in an­oth­er play­off game, against an­oth­er coun­try from an­oth­er Re­gion for a spot in the World Cup Fi­nals.

So a team that is ranked 6th in CON­CA­CAF, present­ly be­ing El Sal­vador, that is ranked 68th in the world rank­ings, can get an easy pas­sage to a group of 6 teams with 3 au­to­mat­ic spots for a World Cup Fi­nal qual­i­fi­ca­tion; while a team ranked just be­low the 6th ranked team, in 7th or 8th ranked Pana­ma, [ranked 74th in the world], or Cana­da, [ranked 78th], now hav­ing to fight with 29 teams for half a spot.

What makes it even more lu­di­crous, is that such a de­ci­sion should have been told to Na­tion­al team coach­es and Ad­min­is­tra­tions in ad­vance. As some coach­es, not know­ing that there would be a rank­ing sys­tem to get a fast pass in­to the fi­nal hexa­gon round, have been us­ing friend­ly games and Tour­na­ments against much stronger op­po­nents, not as a com­pet­i­tive na­ture or even be­ing too con­cerned of the re­sult, but us­ing it as a tri­al and er­ror for­mat to find the right mix of play­ers in prepa­ra­tion for qual­i­fi­ca­tion. By not let­ting them know in ad­vance that even friend­ly games would now be an av­enue to World Cup qual­i­fi­ca­tion via rank­ing is bla­tant­ly un­fair and can be seen as foot­ball am­bush­ing.

Where­as some have been at­tempt­ing to vir­tu­al­ly bul­ly their way for decades in this foot­ball re­gion, this de­ci­sion, how­ev­er, is the last straw, where­by the 29 coun­tries, not just from the Caribbean but al­so oth­er CON­CA­CAF na­tions such as Cana­da, Guatemala, Be­lize and Nicaragua, need to stand up to put an end to this dra­con­ian rule by a few, that is af­fect­ing foot­ball de­vel­op­ment in the re­gion. One won­ders if this is a fear fac­tor by so-called big coun­tries, af­ter a small coun­try knocked one of them out of the World Cup in 2018, and they are do­ing what they can, out­side the field of play, to pre­vent a re­peat.

And to any Caribbean coun­try that de­cides to jump on this band­wag­on now be­cause of where they may be ranked at this time, I humbly ask them to re­mem­ber that this rank­ing is very flu­id, as "to­day might be for you and to­mor­row for me", which is not what World Cup foot­ball stands for, and how one should have an eas­i­er pas­sage to such a pres­ti­gious tour­na­ment.

Some may ask what is my con­cern and in­volve­ment in this, as a Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er from Trinidad and To­ba­go.

I would not ven­ture in­to stat­ing that sport, through prop­er de­vel­op­ment, can as­sist in crime re­duc­tion, or that I was part of the Tech­ni­cal Staff of the Na­tion­al Team in the 2018 World Cup Qual­i­fi­ca­tion cam­paign, or that I saw what qual­i­fy­ing for the World Cup Fi­nal did for my coun­try in 2006.

In­stead, I would say that I am a sim­ple sup­port­er, who is just as con­cerned as the tens of mil­lions of cit­i­zens/sup­port­ers from dozens of Caribbean coun­tries see­ing a grave in­jus­tice be­ing done, to de­stroy dreams of na­tions, due to the tun­nel-vi­sioned think­ing of a hand­ful of per­sons who present­ly hold the of­fice.

It is hoped that the vast ma­jor­i­ty of CON­CA­CAF, be it, foot­ball of­fi­cials and sup­port­ers, stand up to this foot­ball bul­ly­ing, and to ad­vise these so-called stronger na­tions to stop be­ing cow­ards and come up and fight for their spot in the World Cup Fi­nals like any­one else.

Do not let one elim­i­na­tion by a small coun­try, cause you to lose fo­cus on what is right for foot­ball.

To the few who may claim that this bi­ased for­mat is jus­ti­fied be­cause their team is bet­ter than us,  they may even be cor­rect, but show that su­pe­ri­or­i­ty not via hav­ing rep­re­sen­ta­tives in a board­room, who would use a world rank­ing to by­pass pos­si­ble em­bar­rass­ment.

If you want to make your coun­try great again, (in foot­ball), then do not do so, via a board­room de­ci­sion.

Do it on the foot­ball field, where the play­ing field is lev­el.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline soccerman

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Re: 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread
« Reply #29 on: August 08, 2019, 07:30:57 AM »
Get them Gary! I'm not in favor of this Concacaf's current format at all and do agree that every country should be given an equal chance of qualifying at the start. Surely they can come up with a better format, just don't like the idea of 29 countries fighting for a half a spot.

 

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