GDT: Canadian Soccer | Canada at the Copa America - July 9 vs Argentina in the SF

[Zenos]

The problem is they could offer him any number of roles in their FA, and being from England, he could conceivably be open to "going home," even if it meant a few more years working his way up their hierarchy until he got a shot at being manager. He was already on their radar with the women's program, I assume his profile has only gone up significantly since then.

Of course it’s all possible and I didn’t want to dismiss the concern.... I just find the whole fretting over what our manager might do in one, two, or four years a bit premature. We‘re truly living through the greatest moment in our country‘s football history. Let’s just enjoy it for a while!

 

[Cloned]

Unless he was being offered the manager gig or something close, though, I feel like he might prefer to stay here and bet on his own success.

Apparently he was going to leave for England until we offered him the mens job. If the offer is enticing enough, he’d probably leave. Bigger challenge and all.

 

[AM]

Apparently he was going to leave for England until we offered him the mens job. If the offer is enticing enough, he’d probably leave. Bigger challenge and all.

It’s not bigger, except in the pay cheque. Once Canada got the World Cup, it was a no brainer for him. And yes after two appearances, the job may look appealing to a lot of managers.

 

[Cloned]

It’s not bigger, except in the pay cheque. Once Canada got the World Cup, it was a no brainer for him. And yes after two appearances, the job may look appealing to a lot of managers.

England hasn’t won a World Cup in almost as long as Canada hasn’t.

I’d say that’s a pretty big challenge lol.

 

[AM]

England hasn’t won a World Cup in almost as long as Canada hasn’t.

I’d say that’s a pretty big challenge lol.

If fifa ranking implying a better opportunity to win, you don’t have a leg to stand on.

 

[Cloned]

If fifa ranking implying a better opportunity to win, you don’t have a leg to stand on.

That’s why it’s a bigger challenge. Because they’re objectively a more talented soccer nation that somehow hasn’t won in over 50 years. Bigger expectations, more pressure, bigger challenge overall.

 

[AM]

That’s why it’s a bigger challenge. Because they’re objectively a more talented soccer nation that somehow hasn’t won in over 50 years. Bigger expectations, more pressure, bigger challenge overall.

Most of the world hasn’t won, as there can be only one. Keep in mind, it’s every 4years. To equal the leafs their drought would have to last another 200 years or so. Btw, not even the English public is nutty enough to expect to win. They do expect to have a good showing. For a good showing you have to have a committed team ethos, and countries with less talent that make the World Cup have that in full measure.

 

[oilers'72]

As of today, Canada is in 34th place.

The teams that have qualified, either ahead or behind us in the rankings, are:

AFC

Iran - 21st
South Korea - 29th
Qatar - 52nd

COMNEBOL

Brazil - 2nd
Argentina - 4th

UEFA

Belgium - 1st
France - 3rd
England - 5th
Spain - 7th
Denmark - 9th
Netherlands - 10th
Germany - 11th
Switzerland - 14th
Croatia - 15th
Serbia - 24th

 

[oilers'72]

Bubble teams ahead of us:

AFC

Japan - 23rd (2 games lest in the group stage)

CAF (3rd round - 2 leg playoffs)

Senegal -19th
Morroco - 25th
Nigeria - 32nd
Egypt - 33rd

Note: Senegal and Egypt play each other.

COMNEBOL (2 games left in the group)

Uruguay - 16th
Columbia - 18th
Peru - 22nd
Chile - 26th

CONCACAF (3 games left in the final stage)

Mexico - 12th
United States - 13th

UEFA (2-leg playoffs)

Italy - 6th
Portugal - 8th
Sweden - 17th
Wales - 20th
Ukraine - 27th
Poland - 28th
Austria - 30th
Czechia - 31st

Note: Wales vs Austria in the Path A semi-final and Sweden vs Czechia in the Path B semi-final.

 

[AM]

Thanks. lol that Belgium are always #1. I mean what have they ever won? But permanently, almost, for last decade Belgium is up. Apparently Belgium is still "generational" despite many of the supposed generationaly players being geriatric by Soccer standards now. I cheer against Belgium every time..

Cheer against Belgium? As you said they have never won. Kinda mean don’t you think?

 

[harpoon]

. Btw, not even the English public is nutty enough to expect to win

A statement proven wrong by all the English men and women I know. Each and every time the WC is played I am treated to lengthy speeches about how this is the year ‘it’s coming home’. Most deluded fan base I’ve seen in any sport. Including Leaf fans.

 

[Alik Bordour]

I'm a nerd who actually did this out of my own curiosity

Here are all the countries ahead of Canada who are at risk/guaranteed to miss with the games remaining, based on the official rankings released that have us at #40:

UEFA:

Playoffs:

Path A: 19. Wales, 25. Ukraine, 31. Austria, 38. Scotland
Path B: 18. Sweden, 27. Poland, 32 Czech Republic, 34. Russia
Path C: 6. Italy, 8. Portugal, 37. Turkey, North Macedonia

Already eliminated:
39. Hungary

Looks like 9 (I mean North Macedonia COULD make it 10 but I doubt they make it out of Path C) UEFA teams ahead of us in the rankings will fail to qualify

CONMEBOL:

Two of 16. Colombia, 17. Uruguay, 22. Peru, 24 Chile are guaranteed to miss. Looking like 2 teams from CONMEBOL ahead of us in the rankings will fail to qualify, possibly 3 depending on intercontinental playoff but we'll assume 2 will miss.

CAF:

Depends on who wins/loses obviously but the teams here at risk are:

20. Senegal v Egypt
28. Morocco v DR Congo
29. Algeria v Cameroon
30. Tunisa v Mali
36. Nigeria v Ghana

I'm going to assume the higher seeds win their matchups. There are possibilities for upsets (AFCON Final is also Senegal v Egypt so that matchup is spicy especially as a Liverpool fan) but let's say 0 teams ahead of us in CAF.

AFC:

35. Australia is at risk here but they will likely be in the playoffs and will be playing CONMEBOL 5th place. They are the team I am assuming will miss and not the 5th place CONMEBOL which gives us 1 from AFC. Either way, the loser of the intercontinental game here will guarantee a team ahead in the rankings will drop out.

So in total we're looking at give or take 12 teams ahead of us in the rankings (as of today based on official rankings) that are guaranteed to miss. We are assured to be pot 3 if our ranking is anywhere above the 35 or 36 range I would think. I would say it's a very real possibility, probably even likely we end up in pot 3 unless I'm missing something. It mainly comes down to UEFA teams being highly ranked and quite a few of them missing. Still, there's lots of footy left to be played so all of this is speculation. Rankings are definitely going to change with AFCON still going on, the rest of the qualifiers, international friendlies etc. teams will drop and rise. For a quick comparison, the 2018 tournament had Denmark at 19 up to Iran at 34 for pot 3 and pot 4 began with Serbia at 38 to Saudi at 63.

An example draw as of today assuming the top seeds win:

Pot1: Qatar, Belgium, Brazil, France, England, Argentina, Spain, Italy
Pot 2: Denmark, Netherlands, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Croatia, Uruguay
Pot 3: Wales, Sweden, Senegal, Iran, Peru, Serbia, Japan, Morocco
Pot 4: Algeria, Tunisia, Korea, Nigeria, Canada, Ecuador, Panama, Saudi

We'd have to leapfrog 5 teams ahead of us and with Algeria having a not so great AFCON as well as Morocco and Tunisia losing to much lower ranked teams, they'll likely drop. That will leave us right on the cusp of pot 3 if we pass them and do well enough in our own matches.

It doesn't work this way. Only top seven places will be defined by official ranking, which will be seeded in Pot 1 with host Qatar. Other participating teams will put into other three pots based on geographic regions. In other words, no matter what, Canada will be in Pot with another Concacaf countries.
You'll Never Walk Alone

 

[Drivesaitl]

Cheer against Belgium? As you said they have never won. Kinda mean don’t you think?

I think most of Europe, I know the French do, get annoyed with how Belgium are constantly proclaimed the "Golden Boys" or the "Golden Generation" as if every othre nations players are dogshit in comparison. I'm a Germany fan ftr. I would acclaim any of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, but certainly not Belgium who have done nothing in international play to be called Golden all these years.

Its a pet peeve for me to constantly be hearing how Belgium are going to win this or that tournament. Through WC and Euro's they've been proclaimed Gold around 6 of these major tournaments by now.

 

[harpoon]

I would acclaim any of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, but certainly not Belgium

You forgot Holland.

 

[AM]

I think most of Europe, I know the French do, get annoyed with how Belgium are constantly proclaimed the "Golden Boys" or the "Golden Generation" as if every othre nations players are dogshit in comparison. I'm a Germany fan ftr. I would acclaim any of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, but certainly not Belgium who have done nothing in international play to be called Golden all these years.

Its a pet peeve for me to constantly be hearing how Belgium are going to win this or that tournament. Through WC and Euro's they've been proclaimed Gold around 6 of these major tournaments by now.

I thought you were an oiler fan? It’s hard to win tournaments, it’s somewhat happenstance. But the record speaks for itself. They win more. If France or Germany have a problem with the standings,maybe they should try winning more games.

 

[oilers'72]

It doesn't work this way. Only top seven places will be defined by official ranking, which will be seeded in Pot 1 with host Qatar. Other participating teams will put into other three pots based on geographic regions. In other words, no matter what, Canada will be in Pot with another Concacaf countries.
You'll Never Walk Alone

Nope. In the 2018 WC, Mexico was in Pot B, Costa Rica in Pot C and Paraguay in Pot D. It was based on FIFA rankings at the time of the draw. Before then the pots had the geographical considerations.

2018 FIFA World Cup - Wikipedia

 

[Drivesaitl]

I thought you were an oiler fan? It’s hard to win tournaments, it’s somewhat happenstance. But the record speaks for itself. They win more. If France or Germany have a problem with the standings,maybe they should try winning more games.

Well it isn't really that. Several Euro countries alone, including Germany have way more qualifying pts than Belgium does, and a better win %. The record doesn't speak for itself and ample criticism is regular around why Belgium is always being anointed first despite not "winning more".

Astoundingly Germany is ranked 12, behind several Euro nations, and despite having the best Win % in all of Europe zone qualifying for the World Cup. Amazingly Germany is also behind US, who lost to Canada and are having trouble even securing a birth in Concacaf. Germany was even behind Mexico who have also lost to Canada.

By any metric German has been best in Europe at Olympic qualifying this go round. They were the last go round as well, and the one before that. It doesn't much matter apparently for FIFA world rankings.

But the reality is that the rankings is just some arrived at algorithm that isnt' that good that replaced the previous FIFA algorithm, in 2018, that wasn't that good.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

Most of the world hasn’t won, as there can be only one. Keep in mind, it’s every 4years. To equal the leafs their drought would have to last another 200 years or so. Btw, not even the English public is nutty enough to expect to win. They do expect to have a good showing. For a good showing you have to have a committed team ethos, and countries with less talent that make the World Cup have that in full measure.

I'll take "how do I tell everybody I know nothing about soccer without actually telling them I know nothing about soccer" for 100 Alex.

 

[Gordy Elbows]

I think most of Europe, I know the French do, get annoyed with how Belgium are constantly proclaimed the "Golden Boys" or the "Golden Generation" as if every othre nations players are dogshit in comparison. I'm a Germany fan ftr. I would acclaim any of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, but certainly not Belgium who have done nothing in international play to be called Golden all these years.

Its a pet peeve for me to constantly be hearing how Belgium are going to win this or that tournament. Through WC and Euro's they've been proclaimed Gold around 6 of these major tournaments by now.

Kind of like hearing how the Leafs are expected to win the SC every season. Belgium is a legend only in its own self-inflated mind.

 

[AM]

Well it isn't really that. Several Euro countries alone, including Germany have way more qualifying pts than Belgium does, and a better win %. The record doesn't speak for itself and ample criticism is regular around why Belgium is always being anointed first despite not "winning more".

Astoundingly Germany is ranked 12, behind several Euro nations, and despite having the best Win % in all of Europe zone qualifying for the World Cup. Amazingly Germany is also behind US, who lost to Canada and are having trouble even securing a birth in Concacaf. Germany was even behind Mexico who have also lost to Canada.

By any metric German has been best in Europe at Olympic qualifying this go round. They were the last go round as well, and the one before that. It doesn't much matter apparently for FIFA world rankings.

But the reality is that the rankings is just some arrived at algorithm that isnt' that good that replaced the previous FIFA algorithm, in 2018, that wasn't that good.

So it’s a conspiracy and fifa is involved?

 

[AM]

I'll take "how do I tell everybody I know nothing about soccer without actually telling them I know nothing about soccer" for 100 Alex.

You think they surprised when they lose? The more fear of failure you have the more committed to a fandom there is.

 

[AlanHUK]

I'll take "how do I tell everybody I know nothing about soccer without actually telling them I know nothing about soccer" for 100 Alex.

oh we really don't expect to win anymore.

I'd expect from the outside it's the 'footballs coming home' thing that make people think it.

 

[Cloned]

oh we really don't expect to win anymore.

I'd expect from the outside it's the 'footballs coming home' thing that make people think it.

It's probably the same "we really don't expect to win anymore" mentality that Oilers fans have. The expectations are still there, even if they're hidden behind a sheen of self-deprecating pity to make ourselves feel better when we don't actually win.

 

[AM]

oh we really don't expect to win anymore.

I'd expect from the outside it's the 'footballs coming home' thing that make people think it.

I think most of the “footballs coming home”stuff is just reminding the Dutch they have never won. During the 70s while I lived in Scotland I even bought the Subbuteo team.

 

[Gene Carr]

I think most of the “footballs coming home”stuff is just reminding the Dutch they have never won. When I lived in Scotland in the 70’s my favourite team was the Dutch national team.

They were wonderful to watch. Neeskens, Cruyff and others I cant remember.