Soccer post.

[patdog]

Since we couldn't even qualify for the World Cup and we don't have a coach, why not go ahead and play #3 Portugal next month? What could go wrong? In better news, the U-17 team beat Paraguay 5-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup and the U-20s made the quarters of their World Cup. So there may be some hope for the future.

 

[EngDawg]

In other news, Iceland, a country of just over 300,000 people, has managed to qualify.

 

[aTotal360]

The Weah kid is going to be special.

 

[Col. Forbin]

The roster for this game should consist of nothing but 17-23 year olds. Maybe throw in a Dempsey or another veteran.

 

[patdog]

Any player over 30 needs to be retired immediately. Can't play most of the 17-20 year olds too early (Pulisic being an exception). But need to go with 20-30 year olds exclusively. I'm actually OK with playing Portugal. It's not like we have anything to lose. Need to set up some matches next spring with teams that did qualify, and then next summer against the top teams that didn't.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

^^^ Wants a Soccer NIT - seriously though, there would be some good matches...

 

[patdog]

I hope we'll try to set up a 4-team round robin tournament in the USA like the women's team has done a couple of times this year. I also hope we don't suck *** in it like the women's team did and like the men's team did in qualifying. Gulati and Ellis need to be right behind Arena on the chopping block.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

There may not be many national teams that want to play - for example, Switzerland and Wales rarely play friendlies as they negatively affect FIFA rankings.

 

[Philly Dawg]

Any relation to George Weah?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

He's George Weah's son.

 

[patdog]

Both Switzerland and Wales play friendlies. Just not as many as we do because their qualifying schedule is more congested with full qualification rounds for both the World Cup and the Euros. We played Switzerland in a friendly just a couple of years ago. I'm sure we can find 3 decent teams that would like to get the younger generation a few meaningful matches instead of a whole summer off.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

We didn't qualify for the world cup and jumped up in the FIFA rankings... clearly someone from the college football playoff committee is making decisions for FIFA rankings.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

BTW, the draw has been made for the European playoffs...

<blockquote><p>Here's the full breakdown of the European <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCQ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WCQ</a> play-offs!<br><br> Which four do you think will make it through?<br> <a href="https://t.co/EOqXMxN7JV">pic.twitter.com/EOqXMxN7JV</a></p>— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/920291390743105537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2017</a></blockquote>


I kind of like Ireland's chances against Denmark. Otherwise, I think the seeded nations (Italy, Croatia, and Switzerland) should win.

 

[patdog]

There's gonna be 4 pretty good teams not in the World Cup next year. Europe doesn't get enough bids.

 

[MSUDC11]

There's gonna be 4 pretty good teams not in the World Cup next year. Europe doesn't get enough bids.

The World Cup is expanding to 48 teams in 2026. I believe Europe gets three more spots, but that also means more spots for the other federations. So for every Holland, Chile, and USA that got left out this year, you’ll also add countries like Trinidad, Uzbekistan, and Burkina Faso. Going to be some absolute annihilations in the group stage.

 

[patdog]

The 48-team World Cup is going to be a joke. Some teams will be coming off byes heading into the knockout stages, while others will come in playing their 3rd match in a week. Group stages won't end with simultaneous games, so get ready for the next West Germany - Austria scandal (the teams knew that if West Germany won 1-0, both teams would advance, so West Germany got an early goal and then the teams just kicked the ball around for 80 minute without really trying to play either offense or defense). And yes, the blowouts. It's going to be ugly.