World Cup Finals Draw

[Grim Jim]

1 hour ago, Toepoke said:

Not always a perfect measure but the FIFA rankings give a reasonable indication of a team's strength. 

We are currently ranked 39, Ukraine are 27th and Wales 18th.

If we manage to qualify then Iran are 21st, USA 15th and England 5th.

Safe to say getting through all of those games and reaching the World Cup knockout stages would be an astonishing achievement!

 

I have derided FIFA rankings in the past as they would leap up and down all over the place, but they have changed their calculation system so it's now similar to the ELO system (though FIFA doesn't care about home/away).

Most of the qualified teams (ex. Mexico & Tunisia) have similar rankings on both now.   We're 35th on ELO though 🥰

[breeks_mctavish]

2 hours ago, Orraloon said:

You are forgetting the other new rule that there must be at least one draw in each group, otherwise all the teams in the group get knocked out and Ukraine (or whatever team has most recently been invaded) gets a place in the quarter finals instead. Makes sense really.

Hadn’t heard that but it’s a good idea. Draws kind of imply neutrality and nobody likes someone who doesn’t pick sides in a war

[McTeeko]

IF we qualify, we’re playing in the same stadium in all three games - Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. 

[thplinth]

Just had a look at the stadium there on google maps. Wow. How in the name of fuck could they award a world cup to country this small. There is nothing to Qatar. It is so ridiculous having a world cup there on so many different levels... The bribe must have been truly massive. Incredible.

[McTeeko]

6 minutes ago, thplinth said:

Just had a look at the stadium there on google maps. Wow. How in the name of fuck could they award a world cup to country this small. There is nothing to Qatar. It is so ridiculous having a world cup there on so many different levels... The bribe must have been truly massive. Incredible.

Only 40,000 capacity too. 

[Caledonian Craig]

Also note that seven of the eight stadia will be dismantled after the tournament. Clear evidence that football is an irrelevance to the country that they can discard virtually all of the stadia afterwards. I am pretty sure it was once an important factor in who got awarded the tournament had to prove they'd continue to use facilities built. Absolutely the opposite here.

For me the World Cup should be held in powerhouse countries on a rotating basis in countries like Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and have no joint bids either. If a country outside those prove they have the stadia to host the tournament and football is big in the country then let them host it. 

[thplinth]

4 hours ago, Orraloon said:

Of the next four games that we might (just might) have in the World Cup this year, I would say Ukraine are the toughest opponents, if they can get close to their full squad. But we might not need to play them? Next toughest is Wales then USA then Iran.

Yes. I can' think about Wales or World cups at this point. Getting passed them will not be easy. All these teams are in the playoffs for a reason.

Plus the whole world outside of Scotland will probably want them to beat us given what is happening. It will be a test of our mental fortitude.

Then Wales if we do win... another very tricky one. Bale has a habit of scoring in big games and can turn a game at any point. They will be so up for it fancying their chances against us as well given more recent history.

If we do beat them both... then I'd bet money on us having our best ever group stage performance at a world cup (not hard I know 😀).

[thplinth]

It seems to be a one city state. And the city is not that big! How the hell will they have hotels, bars, restaurants, etc etc and infrastructure to cope with all these fans. It must all be artificial and temporary like the stadiums. Shocking (and farcical) this is actually happening really. Pure greed. Still you can always party in neighbouring Saudi Arabia... 😀

When they awarded this world cup the nation members should have sacked fifa and created a new one. The corruption in football is mind bending, worse than the IOC and that is saying something.

[Toepoke]

To cut FIFA a tiny bit of slack here, they have been keen to take the World Cup to different regions of the planet with the Middle East being one. 

Should really have been a joint bid with two or three hosts. Would have been less logistically ridiculous and certainly would have reeked much less of corruption. 

 

[broraboy]

1 hour ago, McTeeko said:

IF we qualify, we’re playing in the same stadium in all three games - Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. 

With this Stadium capacity at 40,000 who many Tickets will be offered to each Country? 
More precise, how many Tickets for Scotland/Ukraine/Wales ?? 

[Tartan Chris]

Australia bid for 2022, should've gone there as that would've been amazing world cup but not friendly kick off times for europe. Plus all the alleged bribes of course....

I think there was talk of setting up camping sites in the Desert and hotels on cruise liners to fit in travelling fans but reality is Dubai is an hour away by plane so would imagine many will stay there instead.

Have to say I have general little interest in this WC with it being mid season so typical Scotland the team has serious chance of making this competition, would rather wait for 2026 in US and Canada which would be brilliant but beggars can't be choosers I guess.

[thesaint]

39 minutes ago, broraboy said:

With this Stadium capacity at 40,000 who many Tickets will be offered to each Country? 
More precise, how many Tickets for Scotland/Ukraine/Wales ?? 

Would think anybody that wants a ticket will get one. The whole cost of the world cup would be ridiculous. Cant image a lot of countries would have much more than 5000 supporters. 

[McTeeko]

1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Also note that seven of the eight stadia will be dismantled after the tournament. Clear evidence that football is an irrelevance to the country that they can discard virtually all of the stadia afterwards. I am pretty sure it was once an important factor in who got awarded the tournament had to prove they'd continue to use facilities built. Absolutely the opposite here.

For me the World Cup should be held in powerhouse countries on a rotating basis in countries like Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and have no joint bids either. If a country outside those prove they have the stadia to host the tournament and football is big in the country then let them host it. 

The stadiums are being dismantled and shipped to Africa to be rebuilt there. That was a massive point in their bid and the main reason they were awarded the tournament (Well, that’s the official reason. We all know the real reason was the passing of big brown envelopes).

[morrie21]

1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Also note that seven of the eight stadia will be dismantled after the tournament. Clear evidence that football is an irrelevance to the country that they can discard virtually all of the stadia afterwards. I am pretty sure it was once an important factor in who got awarded the tournament had to prove they'd continue to use facilities built. Absolutely the opposite here.

For me the World Cup should be held in powerhouse countries on a rotating basis in countries like Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and have no joint bids either. If a country outside those prove they have the stadia to host the tournament and football is big in the country then let them host it. 

With the World Cup changing to 48 teams after this one I'm afraid pretty much all you are going to see is joint bids to host it.

[Tartan blood]

21 minutes ago, morrie21 said:

With the World Cup changing to 48 teams after this one I'm afraid pretty much all you are going to see is joint bids to host it.

Has that been confirmed? From 32 to 48!! That's a massive jump. Surely that would see Scotland appearing in regular world cups. I'm guessing Europe would get at least 6 more countries. Maybe more. 

They'll be wanting to avoid countries like Italy missing out again. 

[Orraloon]

6 hours ago, Toepoke said:

Not always a perfect measure but the FIFA rankings give a reasonable indication of a team's strength. 

We are currently ranked 39, Ukraine are 27th and Wales 18th.

If we manage to qualify then Iran are 21st, USA 15th and England 5th.

Safe to say getting through all of those games and reaching the World Cup knockout stages would be an astonishing achievement!

 

Should propell us up the rankings quite a bit as well if we manage to beat them all. 😂

Top 20, here we come. 🤥

[Caledonian Craig]

1 hour ago, morrie21 said:

With the World Cup changing to 48 teams after this one I'm afraid pretty much all you are going to see is joint bids to host it.

Yes I have to agree with you. Not the way to go as far as I am concerned but when do FIFA ever listen to what the fans want.

[Orraloon]

6 hours ago, Saint4805 said:

Not sure what the humidity will be like but the temperature in Qatar in late November is usually 23-25C and so it's actually not too bad. 

That's still about 20 degrees higher than what our players are used to playing in. 😂

[Orraloon]

47 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Has that been confirmed? From 32 to 48!! That's a massive jump. Surely that would see Scotland appearing in regular world cups. I'm guessing Europe would get at least 6 more countries. Maybe more. 

They'll be wanting to avoid countries like Italy missing out again. 

Only 3 more European places.

[macwomble]

3 hours ago, thplinth said:

It seems to be a one city state. And the city is not that big! How the hell will they have hotels, bars, restaurants, etc etc and infrastructure to cope with all these fans. It must all be artificial and temporary like the stadiums. Shocking (and farcical) this is actually happening really. Pure greed. Still you can always party in neighbouring Saudi Arabia... 😀

When they awarded this world cup the nation members should have sacked fifa and created a new one. The corruption in football is mind bending, worse than the IOC and that is saying something.

Bars, the only ones there will be will be the ones in the local jail!!!!

[morrie21]

2 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

Has that been confirmed? From 32 to 48!! That's a massive jump. Surely that would see Scotland appearing in regular world cups. I'm guessing Europe would get at least 6 more countries. Maybe more. 

They'll be wanting to avoid countries like Italy missing out again. 

Yip. 2026 being hosted by USA/Canada/Mexico. 3 more slots for Europe I believe. The days of single country hosting are over I'm afraid.

[Caledonian Craig]

10 minutes ago, morrie21 said:

Yip. 2026 being hosted by USA/Canada/Mexico. 3 more slots for Europe I believe. The days of single country hosting are over I'm afraid.

So all other confederations getting a far bigger increase than UEFA.

Asia's qualifiers going up by 100% from 4 to 8.

Africa's qualifiers going up by 80% from 5 to 9.

North American/Caribbean qualifiers going up by 100% from 3 to 6 (but that will be down to it being hosted by USA/Canada/Mexico.

South American qualifiers going up by 60% from 4 to 6 (bear in mind only ten countries in the South American groups so will be harder not to qualify than qualify).

European qualifiers going up by 23% from 13 to 16. 

[Caledonian Craig]

I would say that the 16 UEFA qualifiers will come about this way:-

10 group winners qualify.

10 runners-up and two Nations League qualifiers go into a draw to make up six play-offs with the winners qualifying for the World Cup Finals so no semi-finals pish next time it would seem.

[er yir macaroon]

5 hours ago, macwomble said:

Bars, the only ones there will be will be the ones in the local jail!!!!

That has to be a concern. 

[McTeeko]

Just now, er yir macaroon said:

That has to be a concern. 

Fan Zones on the beach guaranteed. £15 for a watered doon Bud in a plastic tumbler mind you 😩

 

Shite venue.