Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums

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rygar:
That's one way of running the numbers, but it seems somewhat of a cherry picked stat. The US makes up around 55% of the total CONCACAF population. Mexico makes up around another 21%.

I think CONMEBOL are the losers because the CONCACAF or AFC top two would likely not compete for a CONMEBOL title. They could very well struggle to even qualify if they were in direct competition with CONMEBOL teams. If there was a truly open qualification process, CONMEBOL and UEFA members would make up almost all the seeded teams when it came time to draw groups.

I'm not necessarily saying they got screwed though. I see the merits for doling out the slots this way if you want to expand to 48 teams, but I don't see this as the final destination anyway. There is so much uncertainty around the Russia and Qatar world cups that I still see a real possibility of FIFA ostensibly being cut off at the knees (like the NCAA was when the P5 schools split away to form the CFB playoff system). To me that's the biggest motivation for the CONCACAF and AFC expansions. To keep the US, China, and India from cutting a side deal with the UEFA domestic clubs to create a new (and more lucrative) competition.

Edit: I had typed CFA where I meant AFC.

NWR_insanolord:
CONMEBOL's just a weird situation. On one hand, there are only 10 teams in it, but on the other, they're pretty much all at least somewhat good. Going by the current Elo rankings, the lowest South American team is Bolivia at 45, which would rank 4th in CONCACAF, 5th in Asia, and 6th in Africa.

NWR_insanolord:
Clint Dempsey was forced to stop playing soccer for 6 months and now he seems to be hellbent on making up for lost time. After scoring four goals in two games for the national team in the last week, he comes off the bench tonight for the Sounders and completely changes the complexion of the match.

Even though this matchup between two of the most potent attacks in MLS in Seattle and Atlanta ended in a 0-0 draw, Seattle dominated the match from Dempsey's entrance in the 56th minute until the final whistle, with Deuce bringing his trademark arsenal of no-look passes and general creativity plus the best scoring chance of the night for either team with a spectacular diving header that just went off the post. So glad to have him back.

Soren:
FIFA really really wants India and China in the World Cup for obvious reasons. If this new expanded Cup were truly about quality they wouldn't be giving out so many spots to CAF and AFC countries instead of UEFA and CONMEBOL countries where they truly belong. Even CONCACAF is probably getting one spot too many.

rygar:
There are reports that Canada, Mexico, and the US are expected to submit a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup. Quite honestly, as much as I love international sport, the IOC and FIFA are horrendous to the host countries. This is a good compromise, although ironically these are three countries that already have a lot of the "necessary" infrastructure already in place. However, this is obviously going to be very difficult and expensive for traveling fans. It also presents a backdoor qualification route for (most likely of the three) Canada.

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