EURO 2024 - qualifiers

[Lorric]

Wales just can't hit the target.

[Greyn]

Armenia take an early lead, great finish from outside the box.

Without looking at past results / statistics, I recall that Armenia are good in taking the early leads and then struggle to hold on.

And just when I was typing Wales scored...

[Lorric]

Wales just can't hit the target.

So Armenia did it for them, heading in an own goal. 1-1.

[Lorric]

Armenia had a great chance but couldn't control the ball. They come again and hammer the bar, wide open net on the rebound and he hits over. Wales very lucky indeed, Armenia much improved in the second half, they're going for the win they need to have any hope.

[Lorric]

Big save by Wales keeper, big chance Armenia.

[Lorric]

1-1 FT. Armenia are Croatia's best friend.

We'll see if Croatia can take advantage of this now.

[matt]

Armenia and Wales had to win at all costs, unbelievable that this game ended in a draw. Did both teams took risks at the end?

[Fish1987]

Armenia and Wales had to win at all costs, unbelievable that this game ended in a draw. Did both teams took risks at the end?

Yes, Armenia in particular had a load of chances in the last 10 minutes but their shooting accuracy was terrible, most of them were off target. Not a helpful result for either side, now we need either Latvia or Armenia to do us a favour against Croatia. If Croatia win tonight then Armenia are out, so I'm not very hopeful for our chances.

[Lorric]

Armenia and Wales had to win at all costs, unbelievable that this game ended in a draw. Did both teams took risks at the end?

It was very open at the end.

[Fish1987]

Looks like the playoffs for us - a shame that Albania qualified last night because we could have been the only League A team left otherwise and played Estonia in the semi final. Now we probably have to play Finland/Iceland/Ukraine, which is tougher but still winnable and likely whoever misses out between Poland and Czechs if we get to the final. Of course this is assuming that Netherlands (surely!), Switzerland (probably) and Italy qualify, really really don't fancy our chances if we end up having to play Italy in the semi final!

[MercedesBenz240]

Looks like the playoffs for us - a shame that Albania qualified last night because we could have been the only League A team left otherwise and played Estonia in the semi final. Now we probably have to play Finland/Iceland/Ukraine, which is tougher but still winnable and likely whoever misses out between Poland and Czechs if we get to the final. Of course this is assuming that Netherlands (surely!), Switzerland (probably) and Italy qualify, really really don't fancy our chances if we end up having to play Italy in the semi final!

Poland has already missed out

Edit: Also as an Albanian, my sincere apologies for qualifying

[Fish1987]

Poland has already missed out

Edit: Also as an Albanian, my sincere apologies for qualifying

Oh yeah, forgot they didn’t have another game left. In that case hopefully Czechs get the job done on Monday for us, as fun as it would be for Moldova to qualify.

[Sagy]

It is not meaningful to compare Europe with other parts of the world in this respect.

Why not, because the factual data does not support your theory?

No, it’s because they’re at very different levels of development and competitiveness.

There is no data to support that NL format will help development or overall competitiveness.

Yes, each group will be more competitive (by definition). However there is nothing to show that the confederation overall competitiveness would improve and even less to show that overall quality would improve. All the data we have supported open (one in which all teams have a relatively similar path) qualifying format.

So we are clear, I love NL as it’s own competition. I also think that using it for second chance qualifying opportunity is a solid idea. I even support using NL as the basis for continental qualification seeding.

What I’m totally against is using this format for qualification to continental tournaments and even more so to the World Cup. I can understand, still don’t like, if finanacial reasons drive a confederations to that format, but to claim that it is advantageous for footballing, sporting, or development reasons is ludicrous.

[dandeer]

Looks like the playoffs for us - a shame that Albania qualified last night because we could have been the only League A team left otherwise and played Estonia in the semi final. Now we probably have to play Finland/Iceland/Ukraine, which is tougher but still winnable and likely whoever misses out between Poland and Czechs if we get to the final. Of course this is assuming that Netherlands (surely!), Switzerland (probably) and Italy qualify, really really don't fancy our chances if we end up having to play Italy in the semi final!

Sorry, which NT are you rooting for? I'm not a regular reader.

[Lorric]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Zahavi heads in a corner 90 seconds in, 1-0 Israel!