2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers

[decodx]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina. 

[Sithara007]

Well Turkey has been playing really bad in the EUROs and the WCQ currently.Before the EURO started Turkey played probobly the best football and i really had high hopes for them to make a good result in the EUROs.Something happened there and the change of the coach needed to happen.Hopefully they start playing better now.

I hope this is just a temporary dip in form. Turkey is the same team which surprised everyone a few months ago, when they defeated Netherlands. But the form went down after that and the 6-1 defeat against the same opponents this week was perhaps the lowest point. But I would caution them against over-reacting. If you look at the points table, it can be seen that Turkey may still qualify for the world cup. For that they need to perform well in the remaining matches. However, if there is no stability in the team, how they are going to perform?

[CryptoBuds]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina. 

He came to the end of his career and helped the team win a cup. There are very few experienced and star players in the Argentina team. Although Aguero and Di Maria played well enough, Aguero is often injured. Moreover, their defense is very weak. Winning the title with such a team was not easy. Congratulations to Messi, he has done a great job.

[zanezane]

After the bad results in a row, the Turkish football federation dismissed the coach Şenol Güneş. He did poorly in groups at Euro 2020 and at WCQ. The latest 6-1 defeat against the Netherlands prepared the end of Güneş. Until the next Turkey - Norway match, the search began to bring a good coach to the team.

Wouldn't it be a bit too late for them to look for one now? I mean the morale in the team must be really low right now so I don't think a replacement could do them any good but I still believe in upsets in sports.

[Daniel91]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina. 

This title was the most important for Messi in his career, since fans in Argentina always compare him to Maradona.
Since he could not win anything with the national team for a very long time, the fans was very angry and accused him of not trying hard enough when he played for the national team.
Now he took that burden off his back and that’s why Messi was so emotional and crying.
However, since he failed to become world champion with Argentina, in the eyes of the fans he will always be behind their deity Maradona.
The competition in world football is great and I really doubt that Messi will succeed in that, but who knows, he will probably have another, last attempt at the World Cup in Qatar 

[Silberman]

Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Messi will still have a level high enough to try to make a run for the World Cup however I am not so sure the team that is around him is going to be enough for them to compete, besides the level of Europe is increasing with them winning 4 of the last 5 World Cups and having 8 of the last 10 finalists, so while I would like for Messi to win it all with Argentina I doubt that something like that will happen during the next World Cup.

[uneng]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina.  

This title was the most important for Messi in his career, since fans in Argentina always compare him to Maradona.
Since he could not win anything with the national team for a very long time, the fans was very angry and accused him of not trying hard enough when he played for the national team.
Now he took that burden off his back and that’s why Messi was so emotional and crying.
However, since he failed to become world champion with Argentina, in the eyes of the fans he will always be behind their deity Maradona.
The competition in world football is great and I really doubt that Messi will succeed in that, but who knows, he will probably have another, last attempt at the World Cup in Qatar  

Messi is a great player and I think fans are unfair when they say he isn't trying hard enough, because the results of the national team don't depend only on him. He can't bring the title to Argentina by himself, carrying the team on his back. I don't know if the problem is a lack of standing out players in argentinian team (with Messi's exception), the fact the team relies too much on Messi, what makes the rest of the players lazy and unfocused or that although they have good players they don't know how to play well as a team.

In my opinion Messi even outstands Maradona. Besides being the best world's player he has never scored with his hand.

[buwaytress]

After the bad results in a row, the Turkish football federation dismissed the coach Şenol Güneş. He did poorly in groups at Euro 2020 and at WCQ. The latest 6-1 defeat against the Netherlands prepared the end of Güneş. Until the next Turkey - Norway match, the search began to bring a good coach to the team.

Wouldn't it be a bit too late for them to look for one now? I mean the morale in the team must be really low right now so I don't think a replacement could do them any good but I still believe in upsets in sports.

See a lot of rumbling about Turkey, which is strange for me. I mean, nah, if one big loss causes the entire team to lose morale (and to Netherlands anyway who was the outright favourite) then the team's not very strong to begin with.
 
It wasn't long ago that they also caused their own share of upsets (France springs to mind). That didn't lead to Deschamps getting fired, did it? Not that he's still not had to deal with enduring questions of his ability!

[Daniel91]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina.  

This title was the most important for Messi in his career, since fans in Argentina always compare him to Maradona.
Since he could not win anything with the national team for a very long time, the fans was very angry and accused him of not trying hard enough when he played for the national team.
Now he took that burden off his back and that’s why Messi was so emotional and crying.
However, since he failed to become world champion with Argentina, in the eyes of the fans he will always be behind their deity Maradona.
The competition in world football is great and I really doubt that Messi will succeed in that, but who knows, he will probably have another, last attempt at the World Cup in Qatar  

Messi is a great player and I think fans are unfair when they say he isn't trying hard enough, because the results of the national team don't depend only on him. He can't bring the title to Argentina by himself, carrying the team on his back. I don't know if the problem is a lack of standing out players in argentinian team (with Messi's exception), the fact the team relies too much on Messi, what makes the rest of the players lazy and unfocused or that although they have good players they don't know how to play well as a team.

In my opinion Messi even outstands Maradona. Besides being the best world's player he has never scored with his hand.

Fans never think rationally and the path from worship to hate is usually very short.
The fact is that no player in history has ever been so dominant at a World Cup as Maradona at the 1986 World Cup.
I watched that World Cup and I say openly, without Maradona Argentina would never have been a world football champion in 1986.
Maradona even led an average italian team, Napoli, to the Italian title and the UEFA Cup winner.
Messi plays in a much stronger team - Barcelona and PSG now, and a much stronger nacional team than Maradona in 1986, and yet he scored less than Maradona, so it is obvious to me who is a better player.
Statistics can't change that.

[bryant.coleman]

See a lot of rumbling about Turkey, which is strange for me. I mean, nah, if one big loss causes the entire team to lose morale (and to Netherlands anyway who was the outright favourite) then the team's not very strong to begin with.
 
It wasn't long ago that they also caused their own share of upsets (France springs to mind). That didn't lead to Deschamps getting fired, did it? Not that he's still not had to deal with enduring questions of his ability!

It's not just one bad match. Don't you remember what happened in the Euro Cup? Turkey lost all of their matches and finished at the rock bottom of their group. Their bad form just got extended to World Cup Qualifiers. And this was the reason why Şenol Güneş was fired. Personally I felt that it was a bit harsh, as Güneş was the coach when they had the famous victory over Netherlands a few months back. Still, there is a chance of redemption, IMO. They still have a chance for qualifying for the world cup.

[uneng]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina.  

This title was the most important for Messi in his career, since fans in Argentina always compare him to Maradona.
Since he could not win anything with the national team for a very long time, the fans was very angry and accused him of not trying hard enough when he played for the national team.
Now he took that burden off his back and that’s why Messi was so emotional and crying.
However, since he failed to become world champion with Argentina, in the eyes of the fans he will always be behind their deity Maradona.
The competition in world football is great and I really doubt that Messi will succeed in that, but who knows, he will probably have another, last attempt at the World Cup in Qatar  

Messi is a great player and I think fans are unfair when they say he isn't trying hard enough, because the results of the national team don't depend only on him. He can't bring the title to Argentina by himself, carrying the team on his back. I don't know if the problem is a lack of standing out players in argentinian team (with Messi's exception), the fact the team relies too much on Messi, what makes the rest of the players lazy and unfocused or that although they have good players they don't know how to play well as a team.

In my opinion Messi even outstands Maradona. Besides being the best world's player he has never scored with his hand.

Fans never think rationally and the path from worship to hate is usually very short.
The fact is that no player in history has ever been so dominant at a World Cup as Maradona at the 1986 World Cup.
I watched that World Cup and I say openly, without Maradona Argentina would never have been a world football champion in 1986.
Maradona even led an average italian team, Napoli, to the Italian title and the UEFA Cup winner.
Messi plays in a much stronger team - Barcelona and PSG now, and a much stronger nacional team than Maradona in 1986, and yet he scored less than Maradona, so it is obvious to me who is a better player.
Statistics can't change that.

On those times soccer were very different from the currently one. There were masters like Maradona and normal players. But right now even master players face difficult challenges against considered weak teams, because the professional background of every players in almost every countries improved a lot and they are a lot more strategical than in 90's and below.
Barcelona and PSG are strong teams, but all the other teams are also strong if you compare them to the soccer of the old days. In the situation you mentioned I think it would be only possible to know who is the best if it were possible to send Messi to 1986 and replace Maradona for him on the field.

[buwaytress]

It's not just one bad match. Don't you remember what happened in the Euro Cup? Turkey lost all of their matches and finished at the rock bottom of their group. Their bad form just got extended to World Cup Qualifiers. And this was the reason why Şenol Güneş was fired. Personally I felt that it was a bit harsh, as Güneş was the coach when they had the famous victory over Netherlands a few months back. Still, there is a chance of redemption, IMO. They still have a chance for qualifying for the world cup.

I was referring to an earlier discussion of one big loss causing an entire team's morale to deplete, which was not the case, as it was a string of bad games. And a Covid season problem to add.

Ignoring their 2002 run (which I happened to witness as well) Güneş wasn't just the architect of that Dutch win but the French win as I mentioned not long after he took over.  Anyway, no use discussing further what's done. Just always makes it slightly sad that it's one game that seemed to have triggered it after the memories he's given me betting on them haha. I blame the players more but fair enough, the coach is paid to shoulder responsibility.

[KTChampions]

It's not just one bad match. Don't you remember what happened in the Euro Cup? Turkey lost all of their matches and finished at the rock bottom of their group. Their bad form just got extended to World Cup Qualifiers. And this was the reason why Şenol Güneş was fired. Personally I felt that it was a bit harsh, as Güneş was the coach when they had the famous victory over Netherlands a few months back. Still, there is a chance of redemption, IMO. They still have a chance for qualifying for the world cup.

On the one hand, even despite the monstrous defeat in the last match, the situation for Turkey is not hopeless (it is in the third place and is only 2 points behind the leading teams) but it's hard for me to imagine that they will be able to beat Norway (their direct competitor) and the Netherlands team will lose points in the remaining 3 matches.

[Sithara007]

On the one hand, even despite the monstrous defeat in the last match, the situation for Turkey is not hopeless (it is in the third place and is only 2 points behind the leading teams) but it's hard for me to imagine that they will be able to beat Norway (their direct competitor) and the Netherlands team will lose points in the remaining 3 matches.

Why not? Norway is not a very strong team. If Turkey is able to beat the Netherlands, then they definitely has the potential to do so against Norway. But chances are low, obviously because the team is not in good form right now and the morale is down. On top of that I don't know how the new coach will get adjusted himself with the players in such a short duration. And also, I don't think that it will be possible to topple Netherlands from the first position (despite the poor form in the initial matches). The competition for the second spot is between Norway and Turkey.

[CryptoBuds]

It's not just one bad match. Don't you remember what happened in the Euro Cup? Turkey lost all of their matches and finished at the rock bottom of their group. Their bad form just got extended to World Cup Qualifiers. And this was the reason why Şenol Güneş was fired. Personally I felt that it was a bit harsh, as Güneş was the coach when they had the famous victory over Netherlands a few months back. Still, there is a chance of redemption, IMO. They still have a chance for qualifying for the world cup.

On the one hand, even despite the monstrous defeat in the last match, the situation for Turkey is not hopeless (it is in the third place and is only 2 points behind the leading teams) but it's hard for me to imagine that they will be able to beat Norway (their direct competitor) and the Netherlands team will lose points in the remaining 3 matches.

Turkey is now just two points behind than Norway and the Netherlands. They still have a lot of chances to qualify. Their next match is on October 9. They still have 25 days. In these 25 days, they have to find their weak points and try their best to overcome their weaknesses. Their lack of consistency in performance is their main weakness. After a 4-2 victory in the first match against the Netherlands, they lost 6-1 in the second. Such irregular performance needs to be improved.

[KTChampions]

On the one hand, even despite the monstrous defeat in the last match, the situation for Turkey is not hopeless (it is in the third place and is only 2 points behind the leading teams) but it's hard for me to imagine that they will be able to beat Norway (their direct competitor) and the Netherlands team will lose points in the remaining 3 matches.

Why not? Norway is not a very strong team. If Turkey is able to beat the Netherlands, then they definitely has the potential to do so against Norway. But chances are low, obviously because the team is not in good form right now and the morale is down. On top of that I don't know how the new coach will get adjusted himself with the players in such a short duration. And also, I don't think that it will be possible to topple Netherlands from the first position (despite the poor form in the initial matches). The competition for the second spot is between Norway and Turkey.

Because even if Turkey beats Norway, it will not be enough, since not everything depends on the Turkish team. After that, they will have to hope that Norway will beat the Netherlands (which is very illogical - losing to Turkey, but beating the Netherlands) - a very unlikely event, right? I do not take into account the rest of the matches because everything is clear there, although even there may be surprises and most likely it will be an unpleasant surprise from Turkey than from Norway and the Netherlands.

[Sithara007]

Because even if Turkey beats Norway, it will not be enough, since not everything depends on the Turkish team. After that, they will have to hope that Norway will beat the Netherlands (which is very illogical - losing to Turkey, but beating the Netherlands) - a very unlikely event, right? I do not take into account the rest of the matches because everything is clear there, although even there may be surprises and most likely it will be an unpleasant surprise from Turkey than from Norway and the Netherlands.

You are talking about a scenario where Turkey is topping the group. For me, it is a near impossible task. IMO, Turkey should be aiming for the no.2 spot behind the Netherlands and try to get a ticket to Qatar (3 out of the 10 second placed teams would gain qualification). 4 matches remain for each of the teams. For Turkey, the matches are against Norway, Latvia, Gibraltar and Montenegro. Don't know about the match against Norway, but they should be able to win the other three matches comfortably. Norway is in a tighter position, as their last group match is against the Netherlands. 

[KTChampions]

Because even if Turkey beats Norway, it will not be enough, since not everything depends on the Turkish team. After that, they will have to hope that Norway will beat the Netherlands (which is very illogical - losing to Turkey, but beating the Netherlands) - a very unlikely event, right? I do not take into account the rest of the matches because everything is clear there, although even there may be surprises and most likely it will be an unpleasant surprise from Turkey than from Norway and the Netherlands.

You are talking about a scenario where Turkey is topping the group. For me, it is a near impossible task. IMO, Turkey should be aiming for the no.2 spot behind the Netherlands and try to get a ticket to Qatar (3 out of the 10 second placed teams would gain qualification). 4 matches remain for each of the teams. For Turkey, the matches are against Norway, Latvia, Gibraltar and Montenegro. Don't know about the match against Norway, but they should be able to win the other three matches comfortably. Norway is in a tighter position, as their last group match is against the Netherlands. 

Yes, first of all, I consider options that allow a team to get to the championship without looking at the results of other teams, and in this situation it is difficult for me to say which of the 10 teams that took second places will be better. As for Norway, in order to "protect" at least the second place, they must beat Turkey, and this task seems to me quite solvable, especially considering that Turkey is at the bottom both in terms of results and in terms of play.

[Silberman]

...
Congratulations to Leo Messi, he just passed Pele and became the most goalscorer in South America in national teams. It was a nice hat-trick against Bolivia, he just showed still how hungry he is. Brasil and Argentina's positions are almost guaranteed at this point, they will get the ticket eventually.

Yes. Congratulations to @Argentina on winning Copa America and the long-awaited title. A beautiful goal from Messi!
Now I want Brazil vs Argentina.  

This title was the most important for Messi in his career, since fans in Argentina always compare him to Maradona.
Since he could not win anything with the national team for a very long time, the fans was very angry and accused him of not trying hard enough when he played for the national team.
Now he took that burden off his back and that’s why Messi was so emotional and crying.
However, since he failed to become world champion with Argentina, in the eyes of the fans he will always be behind their deity Maradona.
The competition in world football is great and I really doubt that Messi will succeed in that, but who knows, he will probably have another, last attempt at the World Cup in Qatar  

Messi is a great player and I think fans are unfair when they say he isn't trying hard enough, because the results of the national team don't depend only on him. He can't bring the title to Argentina by himself, carrying the team on his back. I don't know if the problem is a lack of standing out players in argentinian team (with Messi's exception), the fact the team relies too much on Messi, what makes the rest of the players lazy and unfocused or that although they have good players they don't know how to play well as a team.

In my opinion Messi even outstands Maradona. Besides being the best world's player he has never scored with his hand.

There are many reasons why Messi has not being able to win a world cup with Argentina but at the end it all boils down to the fact they are not as good as they used to be so Messi needs to carry them, but as you may guess this is very difficult in a World Cup as many players are playing to their best of their ability because now not only their names but national pride is at stake as well, and while Messi has not scored a goal like the one Maradona scored against England the Argentinian see that goal with good eyes as it happened a few years after the Falklands War so it was their way to get back at the UK for what happened back then.

[Sithara007]

Yes, first of all, I consider options that allow a team to get to the championship without looking at the results of other teams, and in this situation it is difficult for me to say which of the 10 teams that took second places will be better. As for Norway, in order to "protect" at least the second place, they must beat Turkey, and this task seems to me quite solvable, especially considering that Turkey is at the bottom both in terms of results and in terms of play.

The last time when Norway played against Turkey (27th March 2021), the latter thrashed the former by a margin of 3-0. And this was a home match for Norway (although played in Malaga since travel ban was in place within Norway). And on 8th October, the two teams will be facing each other once more, and this time the match will be played in Turkey (Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul). I am expecting Turkey to win this match, which would see them getting elevated to the second spot. Now whether they can qualify for the world cup or not is difficult to say at this point.