Full bunch of matches this Sunday.
Asia:
08.00, Sydney, grp 1: Australia 0-1 China (Olympic XI not getting the best of matches)
10.20, Saitama, grp 2: Japan 1-0 Bahrain (early goal sees Japan take the group)
11.00, Seoul, grp 3: South Korea 0-0 North Korea (yet again a rearguard nil-nil draw)
14.00, Muscat, grp 2: Oman 2-1 Thailand (nice run through, Amad Ali turned a halftime 0-1 deficit into a win)
15.00, Amman, grp 3: Jordan 2-0 Turkmenistan (Jordan emphatically third best in the group)
16.00, Beirut, grp 4: Lebanon 1-2 Singapore (Lebanon, India's vanquishers, depart without a point)
16.00, Dubai, grp 1:
Iraq 0-1 Qatar (Iraq would have gone through with the draw, but wasted three gilt-edged chances, and instead Sayd Ali Bechir's goal sees Qatar through to the final round)
16.00, Al Ain, grp 5:
United Arab Emirates 1-3 Syria (trailing by two goals and with ten minutes to go, the Emirates were conveniently awarded a penalty kick. Ismail Matar converted and saved Emirati blushes.)
16.00, Teheran, grp 5: Iran 2-0 Kuwait (Iran have now gone 360 minutes without conceding a goal, a feat which enabled them to win their group with four poitns to spare.)
18.00, Riyadh, grp 4: Saudi Arabia 4-0 Uzbekistan (Uzbeks suffering their first loss, though it was a side without their star striker Shatskikh. Saudis through in first place.)
Code:
Asia:
Group 1 Pt GD Group 2 Pt GD Group 3 Pt GD Group 4 Pt GD
Australia 10 +4 Q Japan 13 +9 Q South Korea 12 +7 Q Saudi Arabia 15 +9 Q
Qatar 10 -1 Q Bahrain 11 +2 Q North Korea 12 +4 Q Uzbekistan 15 +8 Q
------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Iraq 7 -2 E Oman 8 -2 E Jordan 7 -0 E Singapore 6 -6 E
China 6 -1 E Thailand 1 -9 E Turkm'stan 1 -11E Lebanon 0 -11E
Group 5 Pt GD
Iran 12 +5 Q
UAE 8 0 Q
------------------
Syria 8 -1 E
Kuwait 4 -4 E
Seeds for fourth round:
Pot 1: Australia, South Korea
Pot 2: Iran, Saudi Arabia OR Japan
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia OR Japan, Bahrain
Pot 4: Uzbekistan, Qatar, UAE, North Korea
One team from each pot to each group, except for pot 4, from which two teams will be drawn. Not sure when the group draw is to be made, but the first match due to be played on 6 September.
Africa:
22 June:
13.00, Harare, grp 2: Zimbabwe 0-0 Kenya (Kenyans lucky to get out alive. Earns a nice shiny point to boot, though it may not be enough to reach the next round)
13.00, Maputo, grp 7: Mozambique 3-0 Madagascar (Mozambique go third after being the first team to beat Madagascar in this qualifying)
13.00, Addis Abeba, grp 8: Ethiopia 6-1 Mauritania (Mauritania had pegged back Ethiopia in injury time of the first half. Evidently angered the hosts, who keep within three points of plucky Rwanda)
14.30, Luanda, grp 3: Angola p/p Uganda (will be played tomorrow at 13.30)
14.30, Brazzaville, grp 10: Congo 2-0 Chad (one goal in each half)
14.30, Kinshasa, grp 12: DR Congo 5-1 Djibouti (hat-trick for Shabani Nonda. Djibouti's goal difference continues south)
15.00, Cotonou, grp 3: Benin 2-0 Niger (Niger out after their fourth defeat, Benin regain first place unless Angola can rout Uganda tomorrow)
16.00, Abidjan, grp 7: Ivory Coast 4-0 Botswana (finally, Ivory Coast establish themselves. Sanogo & Zokora scored first half goals, a brace from Sekou Cissé in second. The race for second still on in this group, though it does appear like Ivory Coast will be the only team to qualify)
17.00, Praia, grp 1: Cape Verde 3-1 Mauritius (Cape Verde always in control, keeping within a point of Cameroon and eliminating Tanzania and Mauritius in the process)
17.00, Conakry, grp 2: Guinea 4-0 Namibia (after Feindouno's opener, Ismael Bangoura banged in three. This enables Guinea to go top of the group on goals scored)
17.00, Accra, grp 5: Ghana 2-0 Gabon (exact reversal of fortunes from last week, so Ghana is back on top of the group)
18.00, Bamako, grp 10: Mali 3-0 Sudan (another comfortable home win for a West African side)
18.00, Cairo, grp 12: Egypt 2-0 Malawi (Egypt getting things back on track after a horrid month. Dominated early on, then settled for the points)
Code:
Africa (4 games unless stated in brackets):
Group 1 Pt GD Group 2 Pt GD Group 3 Pt GD Group 4 Pt GD
Cameroon 10 +6 Guinea 7 +3 Benin 9 +4 Nigeria 12 +6 Q
------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Cape Verde 9 +2 Kenya 7 +3 Angola (3) 6 +2 South Africa 4 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tanzania 2 -2 E Zimbabwe 5 0 Uganda (3) 6 0 Sierra Leone 4 -2
Mauritius 1 -6 E Namibia 3 -6 Niger 0 -6 E Eq Guinea 3 -4
Group 5 Pt GD Group 6 Pt GD Group 7 Pt GD Group 8 Pt GD
Ghana 9 +4 Senegal 8 +3 Ivory Coast 8 +5 Morocco 9 +6
------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Libya 9 +3 Algeria 6 +2 Botswana 5 -3 Rwanda 9 +4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gabon (2) 3 +1 Gambia 5 0 Mozambique 4 +1 Ethiopia 6 +2
Lesotho (3) 0 -6 Liberia 2 -5 Madagascar 3 -3 Mauritania 0 -12 E
Group 9 Pt GD Group 10 Pt GD Group 11 Pt GD Group 12 Pt GD
Burkina Faso 12 +7 Mali 9 +5 Swaziland (3) 4 0 DR Congo Kins 9 +11
------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Tunisia 9 +3 Congo Braz 6 0 Zambia (3) 4 0 Egypt 9 +6
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Burundi 3 -3 Chad (3) 3 -2 Togo (2) 3 +0 Malawi 6 +4
Seychelles 0 -7 E Sudan (3) 3 -3 Eritrea w/d Djibouti 0 -21 E
Two best teams + 8 best runners-up qualify
Teams with 9+ points can probably be counted as qualified at this stage.
Turns out the qualification wasn't quite as I expected. Instead the runner-up table is made like in Europe, the results against bottom placed teams in group will be discounted. Doesn't effect any q's and e's (I think) yet though. As an added bonus, Chad's results are discounted for Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, and it is conceivable that this will give total chaos (imagine if Chad finish second in their group...now by World Cup tables they'll finish second and give one set of qualified runners-up, by ACN tables they'll not be counted and a different team will finish second...
)
CONCACAF:
22 June (local time)
19.00, Bridgetown, grp 1: Barbados 0-1 United States (0-9 aggregate, USA through on half throttle)
20.30, Georgetown, grp 3: Guyana 1-2 Suriname (1-3 aggregate, two goals in the first half sealed Guyana's fate. Suriname, of course, being prime supplier of Dutch national team players since independence.)
21.00, Havana, grp 1: Cuba 4-0 Antigua and Barbuda (8-3 aggregate. Hat trick for Roberto Linares sees Cuba score as many as in the first leg, no such luck for the Antiguans.)
22.00, Willemstad, grp 3: Netherlands Antilles 0-1 Haiti (0-1 aggregate. Correction: a 77th-minute own goal sends the Antilles out.)
23.30, Prospect, grp 1: Bermuda 0-2] Trinidad and Tobago (2-3 aggregate; Trinis got out of gaol)
00.00, San Salvador, grp 3: El Salvador 3-1 Panama (3-2 aggregate; El Salvador needed three goals in the second half to advance in front of a mad home crowd. With 20 minutes to go, things looked grim as they hadn't scored yet. Then Quintanilla equalised, notched home a penalty, and Anaya saved their hopes in the 87th minute.)
Code:
Group 1 Pt GD Group 2 Pt GD Group 3 Pt GD
United States Mexico Costa Rica
Guatemala Jamaica Suriname
------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Trini&Tobago Honduras El Salvador
Cuba Canada Haiti
Top two to final round
