Euro WC qual groups

Euro WC qual groups

sorry pasted in badly  - http://soccernet.espn.go.com/draw/worldcupqual?cc=9999

I'm not sure what is neeed to qual, first obviously, but how any second teams progress i haven't got time to find out now

tough group for Scotland imo,

England - new manager, even the pampered poodles will be motivated v croatia (i know, they should be motivated always!), therefore England to qualify !!!

First placed teams qualify, the best eight runners-up square off in home and away legs to decide the last 4 European spots.

Croatia and Engand in the same group again (although this time around Croatia are the top seeds ).

In Asia, the draw was made for the penultimate round of qualifying, and Australia is in the group with Iraq, China and Qatar. Top two progress to the last stage of qualifying in Asia. I'd venture to say that this group spell the end of the WC dream for Iraq.el grapadura2007-11-26 09:11:44

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino

Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland

I'm pretty happy with Scotland's group. On our recent showings we should have a decent chance of qualifying from there.

So am i. Scottishbhoy2007-11-26 12:29:18

Just twice I think. You just have less games. And don't have a team from the lowest seeding group, so it's assumed to be the same "chance" of qualifying.

AHAHA when they called out Croatia after England all the people started laughing. Rather ironic

I want to see AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND for a place in WC2010 that would be two epic encounters.

Nice group for Scotland. Play - off with England?

Anyone else think Group 2 looks rather........easy?

The group of arse ?

Someone has to ask. Which is the group of DEATH?

Group 1, possibly. Portugal should be ok but not much between Sweden & Denmark

Group 7 looks pretty tough too, and Croatia's group is unfortunately far from easy.

Greece was very lucky though.

Scotland SHOULD finish in the top 2. Scottishbhoy2007-11-26 18:34:42

Don't underestimate Macedonia and Iceland. Bigger names than Scotland have dropped points to them in the past.

Greece through for sure. Sometimes you need the breaks. World of Football were saying Switzerland have been developing a strong youth programme over the last few years that should come to fruition for this World Cup. They may mean Latvia don't have it all their own way in Group 2...!!!

Yes group 7 appears to have depth. They can all take points from each other. With France looking like clear winners.

Hang on...

For those of you enquiring about Scotland's group. There are only five teams in it, I haven't gone mad. When the groups are finished, the results against the bottom teams in the other eight groups are discounted and the best eight runners-up will face two legged play-offs to qualify. Is that at all clear?!

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I cant believe Turkey will play Armenia!!!

Roy Keane said it right this week when talking about England losing to Croatia, when he said that to win major tournaments you need both a high level of commitment, and you need to be good at dealing with the ball.  Fair play to Keano, and I asked myself whether Greece had those qualities in winning Euro 2004. My answer was a resounding 'yes' on both fronts. In fact, they were better than all the other teams in that tournament in dealing with the ball. That explains their 'fluke' tournament win. 

seriously though how can fifa allow turkey and armenia in the same group...surely they can rig some groups

If Greece don't qualify from that group, they should stop playing football. Seriously, how can you fail to qualify with Israel and Switzerland as your main rivals?

Greece will qualify.

everyone thought england would qualify...just saying football is a funny game, anything can happen

hahahah football is  funny seeing a fat bald pie eating lager drinking englishmen cry priceless.

The last World Cup was a very 'European' tournament. It will be interesting to see whether the African sides have a stronger influence in South Africa.

Yeah i think they will. European sides are historically sh*t outside of Europe so that will be interesting to see if any of them can break the mould.

my opinions which nobody will care about. most groups are pretty straightforward. how on earth does greece keep getting such easy groups?
group 1:
first: portugal
second: sweden
group 2:
first: switzerland
second: greece
group 3:
first: czech republic
second: poland
group 4:
first: germany
second: finland (i don't rate russia at all and if finlands veterans can continue playing as well as they did in their euro qualifiers then they can make it)
group 5:
first: spain
second: turkey
group 6:
first: england
second: croatia
group 7:
first: france
second: romania
group 8:
first: italy
second: bulgaria
group 9:
first: netherlands
second: scotland

I'll hold off from making any predictions until after EURO 2008.

Even then EG, a lot will happen in the 2 years from Euro till WC. I expect the Anglaise for instance, will be furiously re-building, and will be a different proposition in 2 years. If they get through Croatia next time of course!!!

That's absolutely right. I suppose what I meant was that we'll have a better idea of team's chances once EURO 2008 is over, as there'll undoubtedly be player retirements, new managers and players, arriving once the tourament is done and dusted. But even then, the European qualifying will be done in the latter half of 2008 and in 2009, and that's really a long way off at the moment.

That's true, although many players use a World Cup year as their finale, and work toward a last hurrah in that year, so I wouldn't expect too many pre-World Cup retirements.

Yep, but it also depends on the age of the player. In Croatia's case, Niko Kovac will almost certainly retire after EURO 2008, and Dario Simic and Robert Kovac will also probably be considering it.

How's their youth structure? I hear Switzerland have created an awesome youth development programme that should see them peak by WC time.....for what it's worth. 

Most of the Croatia's squad is pretty young. Modric and Corluka have become international class players over the last 18 months, and Kranjcar's only 23 as well and getting better. We've also got some young strikers coming through who're looking the goods at the moment - Nikola Kalinic and Ante Rukavina from Hajduk, and Mario Mandzukic from Dinamo, although they're yet to prove themselves at the international level. Another guy who's emerging is Ognjen Vukojevic from Dinamo, he actually might make the EURO 2008 squad, and I sense that Bilic is looking at him as the long-term replacement for Niko Kovac. All we need really is some young defenders to come through (apart from Corluka), and we'll be very strong for the next 8-10 years.

I have to laugh at Switzerland though - they do have a very good youth programme, but the best player that it's produced is Ivan Rakitic, who's playing for Croatia now. He's 19, one of the best young players in Europe at the moment, and captained Swiss age-group teams. His parents emigrated from Bosnia (although they're ethnic Croats) when he was little and he decided earlier this year that he didn't want to play for Switzerland and opted for Croatia instead. The best scorer for Switzerland at age group level was another Croat, Mladen Petric, who also decided to represent Croatia at the senior level. So much of the investment the Swiss made into their youth teams has left them before their very eyes.el grapadura2007-12-18 22:38:21

Obviously it gave a few players the chance to use the Swiss structure to develop themselves before going back to where they came from. I don't really think the Swiss have ever had the depth to do that well, and I can't see that changing now.