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going through the FIFA site and looking at the various make ups of the different confederations, i wondered at the relative strength of each.

its a no brainer that UEFA is #1 and CONMEBOL is #2, but what after that?

looking at the next round of qualifying for the AFC, thats going to be 10 tough teams. Iraq is only ranked #8 in Asia, yet they look a very good team.

i've always thought CONCACAF was extremely weak with only one and a half decent teams and thus should not deserve 3 spots in the WC let alone the 3.5 they have now been granted. thats a joke.

but what of the relative strength of the AFC v CAF? CAF have 5 spots (6 this time) so FIFA deem CAF stronger than the AFC. up until the 2002 world cup that was probably accurate given prior performances at that tournament, but i wonder now if it is still the case. sure many of the world's top players are now from the CAF zone, but not many of their teams are that strong in international competition.

could the AFC challenge for a #3 ranking in confederations any time soon?

i know FIFA is all politics, but i think what we need in the AFC is a well run and well supported AFC nations cup next time around, to make then rest of the world take notice. (that last was a bit of a debacle). I'm not sure how it will go in Qatar with only ~800 000 local residents in that country.

We seem to always be competetive against the African, usually produce poor defenders and keepers, teams, But its the pathetic culture of Asian football holding the game back.

If they think diving and time wasting are going to help them beat Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany etc...they are haivng a laugh. Plus there are barely any decent strikers in Asian football who aren't from the Arab region. Too small, not enough strenght to play as a target man like viduka or Younis Mahmoud. Its the curse of football in the region. They all import South Americans to play up front.

yep i agree about the lack of decent strikers in Asian football.

aside from that i think they're superior in organization and defense to the African teams.

no physical reason why the strikers in Asia cant be improved. even in East Asia, some of those Chinese are quite big and physical. maybe it's a cultural thing.

Europe
Americas
Africa
Asia
Oceania

tbh

tobes wrote:Europe
Americas
Africa
Asia
Oceania

tbh

Americas are two confeds

thanks

Europe
South America
Africa
Asia
North America
Oceania

tbh

tobes wrote:thanks

Europe
South America
Africa
Asia
North America
Oceania

tbh

We've had the upside down world cup before. I wonder how the island nations of Oceania would do against the Carribean Islands like St Vincent and the Grenadines, Aruba and the like.

Bodø Glimt wrote:

tobes wrote:thanks

Europe
South America
Africa
Asia
North America
Oceania

tbh

We've had the upside down world cup before. I wonder how the island nations of Oceania would do against the Carribean Islands like St Vincent and the Grenadines, Aruba and the like.

26 all.

Mexico surely lift North America above Asia?
They would be one of the favourites for WC 2010.

They say Mexico is a sure bet to qualify every time. The confederation as a whole would be that strong. Take Mexico and the United States out and the level drops dramatically. The Carribean Islands aren't that much chop.

Asia too has the likes of Hong Kong, Timor Leste and Bangladesh which aren't that strong, but at the other end of the scale there are half a dozen sides that stand out as much as Mexico and the United States in their confederation (ie. South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia).

Bodø Glimt wrote:They say Mexico is a sure bet to qualify every time. The confederation as a whole would be that strong. Take Mexico and the United States out and the level drops dramatically. The Carribean Islands aren't that much chop.

Asia too has the likes of Hong Kong, Timor Leste and Bangladesh which aren't that strong, but at the other end of the scale there are half a dozen sides that stand out as much as Mexico and the United States in their confederation (ie. South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia).

Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica etc were competitive at the World Cup. Just as good if not better than the Koreans, Japanese, Saudis and Iranians

il duce wrote:Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica etc were competitive at the World Cup. Just as good if not better than the Koreans, Japanese, Saudis and Iranians

With the exception of the Koreans and Costa Rica all Asian and Concacaf members picked up just one point. The Koreans did notch up a win. Costa Rica lost all their matched.

The Koreans at least tried to play some football. The rest was rubbish although T&T's point agaist Sweden was well deserved.

Bodø Glimt wrote:

il duce wrote:Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica etc were competitive at the World Cup. Just as good if not better than the Koreans, Japanese, Saudis and Iranians

With the exception of the Koreans and Costa Rica all Asian and Concacaf members picked up just one point. The Koreans did notch up a win. Costa Rica lost all their matched.

The Koreans at least tried to play some football. The rest was rubbish although T&T's point agaist Sweden was well deserved.

pretty even I'd say. Go back four years and Costa Rica were unlucky to not progress but played some brilliant football. Korea's achievements must be discounted because they were not achieved in a fair manner. Needed 3 disallowed goals and an incorrect red card to progress, although what they did in the group stage was fair game. Japan did well. Saudi's got hit for 8.

Both comps are relatively even. USA and certainly Mexico are stronger than the Asian powerhouses though.

Africa is better than both.

il duce wrote:pretty even I'd say. Go back four years and Costa Rica were unlucky to not progress but played some brilliant football. Korea's achievements must be discounted because they were not achieved in a fair manner. Needed 3 disallowed goals and an incorrect red card to progress, although what they did in the group stage was fair game. Japan did well. Saudi's got hit for 8.

Both comps are relatively even. USA and certainly Mexico are stronger than the Asian powerhouses though.

Africa is better than both.

I never really gave that tournament much thought as 2002 is quite a while ago. South Korea may have had some fortunate decisions go their way but it's not as though they had control of those. How would Japan have gone if they weren't playing in Japan? China did bugger all and yes the Saudi's did get hit for eight by Germany. I would agree Mexico would be much better than those, but the united states generally doesn't do well.

Africa definately better than both.

i think ive just figured something out that will be horrendus.

New Zealand vs Uraguay/Chile etc. for world cup place?

the way its going it will be bloody brazil vs new zealand.

Forza Roma wrote:i think ive just figured something out that will be horrendus.
New Zealand vs Uraguay/Chile etc. for world cup place?
the way its going it will be bloody brazil vs new zealand.

Not possible as Oceania will play off with Asia 5th best nation... which might be Australia