Bumper crop of matches this weekend.
Oceania
The qualifying should originally have ended in late September, but New Zealand vs Fiji was postponed due to visas not being issued. The match has been rescheduled for November, so New Zealand have everything in their own hands; two points or more against New Caledonia would assure qualification. Fiji and Vanuatu are both eliminated.
03.00, Ba: Fiji 2-0 Vanuatu
06.00, Noumea: New Caledonia 1-3 New Zealand (a brief scare through a second-half equaliser, but Shane Smeltz scored two goals and sent New Zealand into the play-offs.)
Code:
New Zealand 12 +8 P
- - - - - - - - -
NCaledon 5 +2
Fiji 4 -4
Vanuatu 1 -6
New Zealand to playoff with Asia
Africa
The qualifying proper starts now, after spring's preliminaries. Ten teams fight for four direct spots to South Africa and a fifth play-off spot. The day's matches are played at ungodly hours in the Arab states; I think this is related to Ramadan, to make sure players can warm up, get some food, etc. before the games start some time after ten. Presumably crowds will be low.
18.15, Abu Dhabi, grp B: UAE vs North Korea (UAE are favourites at home, the North Koreans have a poor record at this stage of the competition, and haven't qualified since their legendary 1966 attempt. UAE last made it in 1990, but were eliminated from the last eight of qualifying in 2006 by North Korea.)
18.30, Manama, grp A: Bahrain vs Japan (Japan haven't missed a World Cup since 1994, but have rarely to impress at finals, barring their run to the second round at home in 2002. Bahrain, on the other hand, have never qualified, but did manage to take Japan's scalp in their earlier qualifying group this spring.)
19.00, Doha, grp A: Qatar vs Uzbekistan (The Uzbeks, as Tharmi pointed out, rarely do well away from home, with the 2004 Asian Cup a notable exception. Dynamo Kyiv striker Maxim Shatskikh is usually at the end of most of their success. Opponents Qatar have never qualified, despite many attempts, with 1990, 1998 and 2002 the most successful. The teams last met in regional qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup, with both teams making it through, but Qatar went out without a win while Uzbekistan lost in the quarters.)
19.15, Riyadh, grp B: Saudi Arabia vs Iran (Saudi Arabia have dominated in Asia, with three Asian Cup titles, no missed World Cups since 1990, and three additional runner-up spots, but rarely do well outside it, except during the World Cup in America when they reached the second round. A 0-8 loss to Germany and 0-4 loss to Ukraine during the 2002 and 2006 Cups will linger, however. Iran have been an exporter of talent to the Bundesliga, yet struggle to put together good results in Asia - their finest moment being a 2-1 win over USA during the 1998 World Cup)
Code:
Group 1 Group 2
Australia 0 0 Iran 0 0
Japan 0 0 South Korea 0 0
----------------- -----------------
Uzbekistan 0 0 Saudi Arabia 0 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Qatar 0 0 North Korea 0 0
Bahrain 0 0 Un Ar Emir 0 0
Africa
23 matches; the most important (imo) in bold. Many groups have a battle for first in this round, important as only the first placed team goes directly through - the others have to compare points with other runner-ups to be assured of qualification.
5 September
18.00, Djibouti, grp 12: Djibouti 0-3 Malawi (as expected, Djibouti are trounced)
20.00, Tripoli, grp 5:
Libya 1-0 Ghana (another away loss for Ghana, which sees them precariously placed at second in the group. They'll have six points for the runners-up table, just about average - their good goal difference might be enough though. Libya also need a point in Gabon in order to win the group)
20.00, Blida, grp 6:
Algeria 3-2 Senegal (how the mighty have fallen...or, conversely, how the mighty have recovered, as Algeria was once a grand power of football themselves. Algeria scored three goals from the 60th to the 73rd minute, demolishing Senegalese hopes - though Senegal have a home match against Gambia where they should manage to qualify on points)
6 September
11.00, Curepipe, grp 1: Mauritius 1-4 Tanzania (Mauritius rooted to bottom)
12.00, Chililabombwe, grp 11:
Zambia vs Togo (postponed till Wednesday due to the period of mourning for the Zambian president)
12.30, Victoria, grp 9: Seychelles 1-2 Burundi (Seychelles still rooted to foot of the table, Burundi still need a miracle)
13.00, Port Libby, grp 4:
South Africa 0-1 Nigeria (South Africa well and truly on the way out.)
13.00, Nairobi, grp 2:
Kenya 1-0 Namibia (another win for Kenya, who look fairly assured of qualifying from this group now. Seven points in the top-three matches ought to be enough.)
16.30, Freetown, grp 4: Sierra Leone vs Equatorial Guinea
17.00, Praia, grp 1:
Cape Verde vs Cameroon (a seven-point gap down to third means it's between these two sides)
17.00, Banjul, grp 6:
Gambia vs Liberia (if Algeria lose, Gambia are the next cab off the rank in this group, though they will need to take another good home result to stand a chance)
17.00, Nouakchott, grp 8: Mauritania vs Rwanda
18.00, Ouagadougou, grp 9:
Burkina Faso vs Tunisia (both sides reasonably comfortably placed, though Burkina Faso impressed when they won 2-1 in Tunisia in June. Another loss would put the Tunisians in a somewhat precarious position)
19.00, Cairo, grp 10: Sudan vs Chad (originally scheduled for 31 May. Both legs of this match will now be played on neutral ground)
7 September
11.30, Antananarivo, grp 7: Madagascar vs Botswana
13.00, Harare, grp 2:
Zimbabwe vs Guinea (with a loss here, Guinea could fall to third, while Zimbabwe would have a chance of going through as they face bottom-placed Namibia in the final round)
13.00, Bloemfontein RSA, grp 5: Lesotho vs Gabon
13.00, Maputo, grp 7:
Mozambique vs Ivory Coast (Mozambique have a small chance of gathering enough points, but need three points against one of Africa's powerhouses. Looks unlikely)
13.00, Addis Abeba, grp 8:
Ethiopia vs Morocco (Ethiopia's last chance - their situation is a bit like Mozambique's in group 7, though they have to go to Rwanda and win by a goal or a couple of goals in addition to a win here)
14.30, Brazzaville, grp 10:
Republic of Congo vs Mali (the group is closely fought behind Mali, as Chad and Sudan are resuming footballing relations in Egypt, but the Malinese could be brought back to the pack with a loss here)
14.30, Kinshasa, grp 12:
Democratic Republic of Congo vs Egypt (another battle for first - the teams are currently separated by how much they beat hapless Djibouti by)
15.00, Cotonou, grp 3:
Benin vs Angola (Angola are in danger of missing out on the second round, though they do have a gimme three points against Niger at home in the final round. Still, a loss here would probably mean it comes down to goal difference against Uganda, and then hoping for the point sum to be good enough to make it)
15.30, Niamey, grp 3: Niger vs Uganda
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 P Kenya (5) 10 +4 Benin 9 +4 Nigeria 15 +7 Q
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
Cape Verde 9 +2 P Guinea 7 +3 Angola 7 +2 South Afr (5)4 -1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tanzania (5) 5 +1 E Zimbabwe 5 0 Uganda 7 0 Sierra Leone 4 -2
Mauritius (5)1 -9 E Namibia (5) 3 -7 E Niger 0 -6 E Eq Guinea 3 -4
Group 5 Pt GD Group 6 Pt GD Group 7 Pt GD Group 8 Pt GD
Libya (5) 12 +4 Algeria (5) 9 +3 Ivory Coast 8 +5 Morocco 9 +6
----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Ghana (5) 9 +5 Senegal (5) 8 +2 Botswana 5 -3 Rwanda 9 +4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gabon 6 +1 Gambia 5 0 Mozambique 4 +1 Ethiopia 6 +2
Lesotho 0 -8 Liberia 2 -5 Madagascar 3 -3 Mauritania 0 -12E
Group 9 Pt GD Group 10 Pt GD Group 11 Pt GD Group 12 Pt GD
Burkina Faso12 +7 P Mali 9 +5 Swaziland (3)4 0 DR Congo Ki 9 +11
----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Tunisia 9 +3 Congo Brazza 6 0 Zambia (3) 4 0 Malawi (5) 9 +7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Togo (2) 3 +0 - - - - - - - - -
Burundi (5) 6 -2 Chad (3) 3 -2 Eritrea w/d Egypt 9 +6
Seychelles(5)0 -8 E Sudan (3) 3 -3 Djibouti (5) 0 -24E
Top team + 8 best runners-up qualify
Runner-up tables (matches against current last team removed):
Kenya (3) 7 +4
Ghana (4) 6 +4
Rwanda (3) 6 +1
Tunisia (3) 6 +1
Angola (3) 4 +1
Senegal (3) 4 0
Zambia (3) 4 0
Botswana (3) 4 -3
-----------------
Cape Verde(2)3 -1
Congo Br (3) 3 -1
Malawi (3) 3 -3
South Afr (4)1 -4
Europe
Not that many interesting matches, but a few that should be close are bolded.
13.00, Skopje, grp 9: Macedonia 1-0 Scotland (Macedonia evidently on the way to the World Cup. The other teams are really rubbish.)
14.00, Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales vs Azerbaijan
15.00, Wrocław, grp 3: Poland vs Slovenia
15.30, Bratislava, grp 3:
Slovakia vs Northern Ireland
16.00, Tiraspol, grp 2: Moldova vs Latvia
16.00, Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia vs Turkey (attended by the Turkish president)
16.45, Tirana, grp 1: Albania vs Sweden
17.00, Oslo, grp 9: Norway vs Iceland
17.00, Lviv, grp 6: Ukraine vs Belarus
17.45, Budapest, grp 1:
Hungary vs Denmark
17.55, Tel Aviv, grp 2:
Israel vs Switzerland
18.00, Ta'Qali, grp 1: Malta vs Portugal
18.00, Montjuïc, Barcelona ESP, grp 6: Andorra vs England
18.00, Mainz GER, grp 8: Georgia vs Republic of Ireland (neutral ground due to South Ossetia conflict)
18.00, Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro vs Bulgaria (Montenegro's first qualifier as an independent nation)
18.00, Cluj, grp 7: Romania vs Lithuania
18.15, Luxembourg, grp 2: Luxembourg vs Greece
18.15, Zagreb, grp 6: Croatia vs Kazakhstan
18.15, Beograd, grp 7: Serbia vs Faroe Islands
18.30, Wien, grp 7: Austria vs France
18.45, Vaduz, grp 4: Liechtenstein vs Germany
18.45, Liège, grp 5: Belgium vs Estonia
18.45, Larnaca, grp 8: Cyprus vs Italy
20.00, Murcia, grp 5: Spain vs Bosnia-Herzegovina
Code:
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Portugal 0 0 Greece 0 0 Czech Rep 0 0
----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Sweden 0 0 Israel 0 0 Poland 0 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Denmark 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 Nor Ireland 0 0
Hungary 0 0 Moldova 0 0 Slovakia 0 0
Albania 0 0 Latvia 0 0 Slovenia 0 0
Malta 0 0 Luxembourg 0 0 San Marino 0 0
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Germany 0 0 Spain 0 0 Croatia 0 0
----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Russia 0 0 Turkey 0 0 England 0 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finland 0 0 Belgium 0 0 Ukraine 0 0
Wales 0 0 Bos i Herc 0 0 Belarus 0 0
Azerbaijan 0 0 Armenia 0 0 Kazakhstan 0 0
Liechtenstein0 0 Estonia 0 0 Andorra 0 0
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
France 0 0 Italy 0 0 Netherlands 0 0
----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Romania 0 0 Bulgaria 0 0 FYR Macedonia3 +1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serbia 0 0 Rep Ireland 0 0 Norway 0 0
Lithuania 0 0 Cyprus 0 0 Iceland 0 0
Austria 0 0 Georgia 0 0 Scotland 0 -1
Faroe Islands0 0 Montenegro 0 0
Group winner to World Cup
Eight best runners-up to play-off
CONCACAF
21.30, Port of Spain, grp 1: Trinidad and Tobago vs Guatemala (Trinidad and Tobago have a decent chance of reaching six points and ruining the group early)
22.00, Mexico City, grp 2: Jamaica vs Mexico (Mexico usually go through CONCACAF qualifiers without losing much, and as two losses should be enough to go through to the next round, a defeat here would not be catastrophic)
00.00, Montréal, grp 2: Canada vs Honduras (both teams got a poor start and need a win to stay in the group)
00.00, Havana, grp 1: Cuba vs United States (USA have been granted visas, I hope. Anyway, should be easy for the tourists)
01.30, San Salvador, grp 3: El Salvador vs Haiti (another pair of teams who struggled in their early game. El Salvador's home crowd might be enough to carry them)
02.00, San José, grp 3: Costa Rica vs Suriname (Costa Rica shouldn't have much trouble in this group, and a win here would give them a comfortable lead of 5 points down to the non-qualifying zone)
Code:
Group 1 Pt GD Group 2 Pt GD Group 3 Pt GD
Trini/Tob 3 +2 Mexico 3 +1 Costa Rica 3 +1
USA 3 +1 Jamaica 1 0 Suriname 1 0
----------------- ----------------- ------------------
Guatemala 0 -1 Canada 1 0 Haiti 1 0
Cuba 0 -2 Honduras 0 -1 El Salvador 0 -1
Top two to final league stage
South America
6 September
19.00, Buenos Aires: Argentina vs Paraguay (after a good start, Argentina only have two points from their last three games, and this is actually a top-of-the-table clash despite Paraguay losing me money against Bolivia in June. However, Uruguay in sixth are only five points down)
21.10, Quito: Ecuador vs Bolivia (Bolivia got their first win in June, but against Ecuador, their opponents will also have the advantage of altitude knowledge. Both sides struggling near the bottom)
23.20, Bogotá: Colombia vs Uruguay (Uruguay's campaign has resembled the curate's egg - their last result is a 6-0 demolition of Peru, yet they've lost points at home to Venezuela and Chile. Colombia are unbeaten after a series of draws, though Uruguay, with two losses, will overtake Colombia with a win)
01.30, Lima: Peru vs Venezuela (Peru are yet to win, and haven't impressed much, with only three points despite a number of decent players in Europe. Venezuela at home was usually a gimme, but the Venezuelans are four points ahead of Peru and keen to not lose ground)
following day, 01.00, Santiago: Chile vs Brazil (an embattled Dunga, whose team dropped points against Argentina at home and whose youths failed to take home that elusive Olympic gold, needs a decent result if Brazil's campaign is to get back. They currently lie fifth, with a particularly poor away record - their home record should, however, carry them home)
Code:
South AmericPt GD
Paraguay 13 +8
Argentina 11 +6
Colombia 10 +2
Chile 10 0
-----------------
Brazil 9 +4
- - - - - - - - -
Uruguay 8 +9
Venezuela 7 -1
Ecuador 5 -6
Bolivia 4 -10
Peru 3 -12
Top four to World Cup
Fifth to play-off with Asia
?