World Cup, Russia

[zzgloo]

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Lets see..if we can guess who is going to what group for qualifications...and if we have any preferences....
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AFC – KUALA LUMPUR, The line-up for the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World has been finalised following the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2.
The eight group winners and four best second-placed teams that will take their place in the third qualifying round draw are as follows:
Group winners:
Group A: Saudi Arabia
Group B: Australia
Group C: Qatar
Group D: Iran
Group E: Japan
Group F: Thailand
Group G: Korea Republic
Group H: Uzbekistan
Best second-placed teams:
1. Iraq
2. Syria
3. United Arab Emirates
4. China
The third round draw will be held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on April 12, where these 12 teams divided in to two groups of six.The six teams in each group will play each other on a home and away basis with top two sides from each group booking their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.
The two third-placed teams will face each other over two legs, with the winner taking on the side that finishes fourth in the fifth round of the CONCACAF qualifiers in a two-legged inter-confederation playoff.
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The Fifa Ranking of the Asians teams..are as follow..as of April 1996
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1- Iran.....................#44
2- Japan...................#56
3- South Korea..........# 57
4- Saudi Arabia..........# 60
5- UAE......................# 64
6- Australia................#67
7- Uzbakistan..............#74
8- Qatar.....................# 80
9- Jordan....................# 82
10-Iraq......................#91
11- North Korea...........# 94
12- China....................# 96
13- Oman....................# 97
14-Kyskizestan.............# 105
15 - Turkemenstan........#113
16- Palestain................# 117
17-Thailand..................# 118
18 - Syria..........................#123
19 - Bahrain.................# 132
20-Kuwait....................# 133
21 -Philipine.................# 135
22- Hongkong..................# 138
23- Lebanon....................#145
24- Vietnam....................# 146
25- Singapour.................# 148
26 -Tajikestan..................# 150

[zzgloo]

.Possible " Pots "
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A-..Iran,Japan,South Korea,Saudi.
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B - Australia,Uzbakistan,Qatar,Iraq.
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C - China,Oman,Thailand,Syria.

[zzgloo]

It appears ..the Draw..has taken place..and Iran is in a tougher group..
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IRAN
South Korea
Uzbakistan
Qatar
China
Syria
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there will be tough games,and upsets....and the key will be in the consistancy of TM plays...and TM can not afford to go through up and downs..
and no one is better for TM consistancy than CQ.....his system,if not perfect for one to one matches,it is very solid for long term tournements..
It is Imparetive and very important for TM,to keep CQ as the coach.,

[Paradigm]

Iran should not underestimate China during the qualifications. They seem to have very ambitious goals and are investing big. Check out: https://www.theguardian.com/football...tion-world-cup

[Dreamer]

I truly hope that we've learnt our lesson this time around. We tend to psychologically underestimate "smaller" teams, which ends up haunting us in the later stages.
There are 10 games in total, meaning 30 points available for grabs. Keep in mind, for 2014 we qualified by a very narrow margin, had we not won that insane game in Korea we would've ended up going to play offs.
We won 5 games last time, and went through. Given that last time there were 8 in total, and we won 5, I think that if we win 6/7 games this time we should be in the clear.
South Korea in my opinion is the least of our worries given that we tend to show up for big games. For the 7 wins, if we get our crap together and win against Syria, China and Qatar at home, that's 3 wins down.

Away from home, a draw against Qatar and China, win against Syria should do us good. That makes it 14 points so far (4 wins and 2 draws). Let's say we tie South Korea away from home, and by some miracle win against them at home, that'll be 4 points in the bag, making it a total of 18. Say we lose to Uzbekistan for arguments sake, and that'll leave us with 18 at the end.

That would make it 18 points (5 W - 3 D - 2 L). This still leaves us in a very vulnerable position as both South Korea and Uzbekistan proved to be worthy opponents the last time around. Qatar and China are investing heavily, and Syria will be playing some dangerous counter attacking football.

Better than facing Japan and Australia, but we still need to be very careful. Hopefully we'll be playing attacking football against the 'smaller' teams so that we can secure the necessary points and not make it a last minute clutch match again.

[Keano]

I don't think we got the harder group. Basically this group is the reminiscent of our 2014 WCQ last round, the only new additions are the "underdogs" China and Syria.

I am not trying to imply that we got it easy, as even last time it wasn't an easy road for us either, let alone the addition of these new 2 teams to the group, for I believe China is an extremely underestimated team, which can cause big upset against all teams, in particular Iran and South Korea.

I doubt CQ will take any of these teams lightly and will go full force against all of them. I just hope our players' typical undermining the weaker opponents mentality will change and they will fight every single team as if it were a do-or-die match!

[Paradigm]

So what are Iran's chances to reach the World Cup with Mayeli-Kohan at the helm? Or was CQ just bluffing about resignation? It's been kind of hard to predict his actions.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

So what are Iran's chances to reach the World Cup with Mayeli-Kohan at the helm? Or was CQ just bluffing about resignation? It's been kind of hard to predict his actions.

we always have the NFL thread in International Sports forum.... just saying...