Time for a thread on this since the draw was just completed ... Had a feeling that the draw would place the winners of Scotland/Wales/Ukraine into the same group as England ... let the fun commence 🙂

• Group A : Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Holland
• Group B : England, Iran, United States, Wales/Ukraine/Scotland
• Group C : Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
• Group D : France, Peru/Australia/UAE, Denmark, Tunisia
• Group E : Spain, New Zealand/Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
• Group F : Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
• Group G : Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
• Group H : Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

 

 

And the potential Scotland/England game is the last of the group so could be a decider. What's the bets that if we get in, that we go into that game, able to get through as long as we don't lose by 3 or more goals, and lose 4-1 with a last minute goal. Of course we have Iran in the group, and we all know how games against them go 

 

Edited April 1, 20223 yr by Rasczak
correction

England -V- Scotland/Wales or Ukraine would be on Tuesday November 29th

OK so got 5 months to get this wrong ... but here are my predictions for top 2 for each group

• A : Netherlands, Senegal
• B : England, Euro-Playoff (unless Scotland, then Rasczak scenario above comes into force and USA scrape in instead)
• C : Argentina, Poland
• D : France, Denmark
• E : Spain, Germany
• F : Belgium, Canada
• G : Brazil, Serbia
• H : Portugal, Uruguay

 

Quite an additional incentive to win our play off matches.

Not only the chance to beat the Auld enemy in a World Cup finals but a real possibility of getting out of the group stages for the first time ever.

England will almost certainly top the group but second place is up for grabs.

That said, it is still a scandal that the finals are taking place in Qatar both for moral human rights reasons and for logistical footballing reasons.

On 4/1/2022 at 8:07 PM, Scotty said:

Gotta love the media down south !!! Already picking who they might play in the final !

 

England will face the United States, Iran, and either Scotland, Wales or Ukraine in the group stages of the 2022 Qatar World Cup later this year as they were handed a dream draw on Friday.

After being drawn in Group B they would face either hosts Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal or Netherlands (Group A) in the last 16. 

England are on the same side of the draw as France and so could face the world champions in the quarter-finals should they win their respective groups.

They could then come up against Belgium or Portugal in the semi-finals followed by Spain, Germany or Brazil in the final.

 

2 obvious errors in that quote but hey, nothing unusual...

The higher they build themselves up before a ball is kicked the greater the height from which they will fall.

 

Only a week now until the postponed qualifer againt Ukraine.

Usually when football fans complain that the whole World is against them it's sheer paranoia. However, next Wednesday it will be literally true and I suspect that, even subconsciously, the officials will be inclined to give 50/50 decisions in favour of Ukraine.

It will be a hard fought encounter with Ukraine understandably motivated like never before but, whilst every single one of us has huge sympathy for that benighted country, we need to put that aside and be just as motivated.

Great compassion and support for them in the stands but, for 90 minutes at least, letting none of it flow onto the pitch.

Anyone heading to The National Stadium this evening?

1 hour ago, Kingsmills said:

Anyone heading to The National Stadium this evening?

I am. Looking forward to it 

1 hour ago, old caley girl said:

I am. Looking forward to it 

Have a great time. I understand that there will be a sheet on each seat with the words to the Ukrainian national anthem.

I hope that our team and our fans belt it out with the same gusto as Flower of Scotland but then, when the whistle blows, put all sentiment and sympathy aside until the match is over.

Good luck to Ukraine against Wales. By far the better team for large spells of this match. Thought Scotland were poor in the first half and - not because he is former ICT - I thought it was only when Christie came on and the midfield got more of a grip of the ball that our performance got better. Almost a grandstand finish, which would have been just like Scotland to do things the hard way, but unfortunately (like ICT in the STJ game) when you commit so many forward, you run the risk of conceding that late killer goal. 

Hope they do the business against the Welsh (no offence to Wales) and then light up the tournament at the end of the year. If they get there I think they will be a lot of people's sentimental choice and seem solid enough to do well. Oh well, at least Canada qualified so I have that to look forward to, and hopefully for Scotland to get to the 2026 world cup and maybe be based in Toronto!  

 

    

We were poor and got what we deserved.

Good luck to Ukraine on Sunday.

 

Very poor from Scotland. Ukraine knew how we’d line up and capitalised on it and deservedly won.

McGinn should have scored and that may have given us more time to get back in it, but after MacGregor’s goal we didn’t really trouble them and we can’t complain that they picked us off with a third.

I don’t like losing but if there was ever a team to lose to it is Ukraine.

No offence to Wales, but I will be supporting Ukraine on Sunday and hope they qualify and stick two fingers up to Putin and perhaps help get a message through to ordinary Russians that Putin and his cohorts are misguided, that the war is wrong and the world is supporting Ukraine.

Good luck to Wales in their first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1958.

Is that when Scotland were last there too, or does it just feel like it?

Canada thought they would be the team who had the longest wait to get back in ... 1986 was their one and only appearance. 

 

2022 is shaping up to be controversial though ... First the CSA (Canadian FA) scheduled a game against Iran for last weekend, without realising there are still some pretty raw and emotional diplomatic issues around the downing of Ukrainian Flight 752 in 2020, given that 55 of the 176 killed were Canadian citizens and a further 30 were Canadian residents. Then after they hastily rescheduled the opponent to be Panama, the team promptly went on strike due to issues over how the association plan to distribute the qualification monies from the world cup. The association - who could rival the SFA for parochialism -  have offered a mere 10% of the millions in unexpected windfall payments to the squad and there is also disparity in how they treat the men's and women's teams as well as views on development monies. The teams are asking to be treated equally and for the prize fund to players to be set to 40% (in line with other top 50 nations apparently), and for the CSA to ensure that for Qatar the team's families do not have to pay their own way to the tournament (also standard for other nations). What should be a triumph for Canada in getting to the world cup, and then in potentially hosting about a quarter of the games for the next world cup in 2026 is rapidly descending into a farce that Ernie Walker would be proud of. 

  

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/canada-mens-national-soccer-team-game-vs-panama-cancelled-amid-wage-dispute/

 

It's a shame it's being held in Qatar for a variety of reasons, and I'm not sure why it was decided to go ahead.
All in all, this World Cup is going to be incredible (sitting on the couch at home!)... can't wait, just 100+ days left!

Hope the Netherlands will push themselves to the top!