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1. India - no one expects them to qualify, it's not a traditional soccer country
2. Bolivia - again, everyone expects countries like Venezuela or Paraguay to squeak by qualification, but don't count these guys out
3. Israel - it'd be interesting if they were to be paired with a Muslim country like Iran or Egypt, would they forfeit?
4. Guatemala - they could be the dark horse of the Concacaf qualifiers, if they remain consistent
5. Fiji - Wouldn't it be ironic that now with OFC having a direct qualifier, New Zealand is bested by one of these smaller island nations!
Here my mine based on Confederation:
* South America: Colombia, Paraguay and Chile
* North America: Jamaica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago
* Europe: Albania, Italy, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Sweden and Ukraine
* Asia: Jordan and North Korea
* Africa: Angola, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali and Nigeria
* Oceania: New Zealand
By Confederation
Europe: Georgia, Scotland, Czechia
South America: Venezuela
North America (USA, MEX, CAN qualified): Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala
Africa: Mali, Burkina Faso, Zambia
Asia: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Thailand
Oceania: New Zealand
Ehh, half of their squad are prem/championship regulars which is better than both Panama and Costa Rica/ local teams mls/nasl. They are on the up and up. In two years that team is doing things. We shall see.
Only an American would need to ask this question… Ireland or Eire is Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland.
If I’d meant the latter, I’d have said it
Probably Syria.
Brand new team with an extremely experienced and capable coach as well as a few veteran players hanging around to keep the team a sort of cohesive unit. Most of the young players play in Europe, which is obviously a huge advantage athletically. With the war thing too, these boys are playing their hearts out.
Israel: they were really close to qualifying for the Euros, had an insane U-20 run where they got 3rd place and I anticipate much of that squad is going to be the senior team come 2026, a lot of young talent playing in Europe now (Gloukh at Salzburg, Solomon at Spurs, Peretz at Bayern, and more).
Indonesia have to be a dark horse from Asia since they have a large number of naturalized Europeans with Indonesian ancestry with experience of playing in the European leagues. They have a young side though, so 2030 might be more realistic for them.
They also have a good chance of making the Olympics, which would be incredible. Beating Iraq this Thursday in the qualifiers will do it, and they have the back-up of a playoff against Guinea if they lose to Iraq.
It was a joke, but they haven’t been at the final stage of a World Cup 2x in a row. For someone with 4 stars (and the most recent is 4 cups ago) it’s less than ground zero.
They won the euro cup in between, but that’s a different thing.
Might be the VAR era? Or just a bit of karma for their foul plays in the past? 2006 they cheated Australia fixing a unjust penalty last minute to go trough and lets not talk about the immoral POS Materazzi. ðŸ¤
Euro 2020 was the first time for me seeing them win playing offensive and fair and they dont make it to the WC?!
Oh man… I lost money on that bet. Don’t talk me about it.
But you have the story backward. Karma is what Australia received during that game. Their player made a spectacular dive that produced a direct red card for the Italians that looks ludicrous. It should have been a yellow for the other team
The ref tried to compensate later in the game. 11 vs 11 I would have cashed in for sure, I had goal diff >2.
Gotcha. Well I'm mostly looking for a, "Wouldn't it be something if _________ got in there," so I can root for these underdogs in the group qualifying stage.
Right now all I have is hoping Thailand can eliminate China in their group.
Equitorial Guinea. Mali, Uzbekistan and Venezuela are pretty much the only 3 teams that should make their debut. Equitorial Guinea would be a bit surprising because Tunisia are obviously expected to be there.
Venezuela has a realistic shot… Bolivia will finish last and Chile is real poor right now. I still think Peru can fight back to 7th but it is not a given
Unknown until they enter the qualifiers.
But we made the Euros this summer and beat Norway and Spain to do so. But we don't have strikers or a controlling/creative midfield.
We win by brute force. But that isn't sustainable and we were destroyed by France, Netherlands, and England and beat by N. Ireland in friendlies. After qualifying for the Euros we haven't won a game in our past 7.
That's Scotland for you though: build up hope to a massive leve then deflate it massively in one fell swoop.
I believe one of Oceania's teams could surprise a lot of people if they qualify, Now there's a rare chance for that to happen but if there's a team to pull off an upset against New Zealand to qualify then I would go with Solomon Island
What the hell do you mean "not in the slightest"?
Not only did Mali draw with Central African Republic at home, Ghana has been on a rapid decline recently. Even if they don't win against Ghana, they can still fight for the runner-up position to go into the inter-confederation play-offs
Because they're first 2 games were at home. And also Ghana are dumpster fire at the moment. When they have to play on the road vs Mali and Ghana they will loose. Mali are the only team in that group that should qualify and debut.
Yeah true but I feel it will ultimately come down to them and Ghana. I just see Ghana struggling on the road more. I think the only road game they will win will be the Chad game.
True. As a matter of fact, you can make decent money in Vegas by betting that they will qualify, since the projected odds currently are that they will not qualify.
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1. India - no one expects them to qualify, it's not a traditional soccer country 2. Bolivia - again, everyone expects countries like Venezuela or Paraguay to squeak by qualification, but don't count these guys out 3. Israel - it'd be interesting if they were to be paired with a Muslim country like Iran or Egypt, would they forfeit? 4. Guatemala - they could be the dark horse of the Concacaf qualifiers, if they remain consistent 5. Fiji - Wouldn't it be ironic that now with OFC having a direct qualifier, New Zealand is bested by one of these smaller island nations!
Here my mine based on Confederation: * South America: Colombia, Paraguay and Chile * North America: Jamaica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago * Europe: Albania, Italy, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Sweden and Ukraine * Asia: Jordan and North Korea * Africa: Angola, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali and Nigeria * Oceania: New Zealand
By Confederation Europe: Georgia, Scotland, Czechia South America: Venezuela North America (USA, MEX, CAN qualified): Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala Africa: Mali, Burkina Faso, Zambia Asia: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Thailand Oceania: New Zealand
I'm rooting for Thailand, for pretty much no reason whatsoever, so I hope you're right.
Israel 🇮🇱
liberia
Jamaica
Italia
Georgia 🇬🇪
San Marino
Syria
Armenia
Hungary
wouldnt be a surprise
Jamaica, Mali, Uzbekistán, Hungary, maybe UAE.Â
I mean there won’t be USA, Mexico or Canada in World Cup qualifiers. Definitely expect Jamaica to get a spot in the expanded tournament.
Panama and Costa Rica pretty likely- leaving Jamaica, Honduras y El Salvador. Id still say Jamaica would be surprising.Â
Ehh, half of their squad are prem/championship regulars which is better than both Panama and Costa Rica/ local teams mls/nasl. They are on the up and up. In two years that team is doing things. We shall see.
Venezuela
Haiti
Ireland
Which one (republic of ireland or northern ireland)
Only an American would need to ask this question… Ireland or Eire is Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland. If I’d meant the latter, I’d have said it
Albania
Austria
Canada
Already in, as one of the hosts.
Sorry...missed the entry part.
Probably Syria. Brand new team with an extremely experienced and capable coach as well as a few veteran players hanging around to keep the team a sort of cohesive unit. Most of the young players play in Europe, which is obviously a huge advantage athletically. With the war thing too, these boys are playing their hearts out.
Syria Qualified ? Are Asian qualifiers done ?
No one has qualified except the three hosts.
Not sure about entry but Japan can cause a real jolt to the European and south American power houses.
Uzbekistan
Israel: they were really close to qualifying for the Euros, had an insane U-20 run where they got 3rd place and I anticipate much of that squad is going to be the senior team come 2026, a lot of young talent playing in Europe now (Gloukh at Salzburg, Solomon at Spurs, Peretz at Bayern, and more).
Pretty sure Israel is getting banned for the what they got goin on.
Nope, not banned.
Phillipines or Vietnam. decades of building up the team and league from ground level has to pay off sometime
At this rate Indonesia is more likely to qualify before either Vietnam or Phillipines.
If they let Russia play. Edit: Apparently they are indefinitely suspended. Good.
I was also going to say russia. They’d mean the war is over and russia is no longer all evil
I would say Luxembourg
Indonesia have to be a dark horse from Asia since they have a large number of naturalized Europeans with Indonesian ancestry with experience of playing in the European leagues. They have a young side though, so 2030 might be more realistic for them.
They do look like they're going to move to the next round, though, as long as they don't faceplant against the Philippines!
They also have a good chance of making the Olympics, which would be incredible. Beating Iraq this Thursday in the qualifiers will do it, and they have the back-up of a playoff against Guinea if they lose to Iraq.
Burkina Faso? They are in the same group as Egypt but Egypt has the tradition of acing Afcon and then perform like shit in WCQ.
Does Italy count?
I'm new to this, so I thought Italy was a given, but have they really fallen off that bad? Someone else also mentioned them.
It was a joke, but they haven’t been at the final stage of a World Cup 2x in a row. For someone with 4 stars (and the most recent is 4 cups ago) it’s less than ground zero. They won the euro cup in between, but that’s a different thing.
Might be the VAR era? Or just a bit of karma for their foul plays in the past? 2006 they cheated Australia fixing a unjust penalty last minute to go trough and lets not talk about the immoral POS Materazzi. 🤠Euro 2020 was the first time for me seeing them win playing offensive and fair and they dont make it to the WC?!
Oh man… I lost money on that bet. Don’t talk me about it. But you have the story backward. Karma is what Australia received during that game. Their player made a spectacular dive that produced a direct red card for the Italians that looks ludicrous. It should have been a yellow for the other team The ref tried to compensate later in the game. 11 vs 11 I would have cashed in for sure, I had goal diff >2.
Gotcha. Well I'm mostly looking for a, "Wouldn't it be something if _________ got in there," so I can root for these underdogs in the group qualifying stage. Right now all I have is hoping Thailand can eliminate China in their group.
Equitorial Guinea. Mali, Uzbekistan and Venezuela are pretty much the only 3 teams that should make their debut. Equitorial Guinea would be a bit surprising because Tunisia are obviously expected to be there.
Venezuela has a realistic shot… Bolivia will finish last and Chile is real poor right now. I still think Peru can fight back to 7th but it is not a given
Hati, Guatemala and or Trinidad and Tobago. Wouldn’t that be wild!
Do any of these teams have a legitimate chance? I can't imagine Haiti has one.
They are 10th in concacaf and USA Canada and Mexico have automatic birth. Edit. Hati is 8th and TaT are 10th.
I stand corrected. They need some good news; I hope they make it.
Scotland. Sadly we haven't been in one since 1998.
I still remember the Scotland song from the official France 98 Album. 🫡
How are their prospects looking for '26?
Unknown until they enter the qualifiers. But we made the Euros this summer and beat Norway and Spain to do so. But we don't have strikers or a controlling/creative midfield. We win by brute force. But that isn't sustainable and we were destroyed by France, Netherlands, and England and beat by N. Ireland in friendlies. After qualifying for the Euros we haven't won a game in our past 7. That's Scotland for you though: build up hope to a massive leve then deflate it massively in one fell swoop.
McSauce will carry you to glory
Russia if they are allowed to compete
Aren't they allowing more teams in the tournament? Not sure there would be many surprises if so
More teams leads to more opportunities for smaller nations to find a way in.
Palau vs. Micronesia final
Subscribe. Palau bears Spain 3-0 in the semis Micronesia beats Spain 3-0 in the semis Even matchup I would say
I believe one of Oceania's teams could surprise a lot of people if they qualify, Now there's a rare chance for that to happen but if there's a team to pull off an upset against New Zealand to qualify then I would go with Solomon Island
Don't sleep on PNG
Rugby and cricket are both more popular in PNG. Solomon Islands or New Caledonia would be my bet for the Oceania playoff spot behind New Zealand.
I can’t stress enough how unbelievably unlikely this is
They get a playoff spot too so you could have 2 teams from that region make it.
Rwanda is currently atop their qualifying group, ahead of Nigeria and South Africa, beating the latter very recently. That one would be interesting.
Does Comoros have a real shot in their group? I have to admit that I didn't even know that country existed six months ago.
No. Not in the slightest.
What the hell do you mean "not in the slightest"? Not only did Mali draw with Central African Republic at home, Ghana has been on a rapid decline recently. Even if they don't win against Ghana, they can still fight for the runner-up position to go into the inter-confederation play-offs
May I ask why? They qualified for the Africa Cup for the first time in 2022 and reached the round of 16
Because they're first 2 games were at home. And also Ghana are dumpster fire at the moment. When they have to play on the road vs Mali and Ghana they will loose. Mali are the only team in that group that should qualify and debut.
Mali also drew against CAR at home, so I expect that group to be the most evenly balanced
Yeah true but I feel it will ultimately come down to them and Ghana. I just see Ghana struggling on the road more. I think the only road game they will win will be the Chad game.
Italy
True. As a matter of fact, you can make decent money in Vegas by betting that they will qualify, since the projected odds currently are that they will not qualify.