OPINION: Why European Qualifiers for World cup must be reworked to avoid the laughable amount of stats-padding that happens against countries ranked 100 or lower
90% of European qualifiers for the World Cup are actually so laughable. The amount of stats-padding that happens against countries ranked 100 or lower is crazy. COMNEBOL have a better format after CAF.
If San Marino, Gibraltar, Andorra etc get to compete in qualifying, so should the Vatican. Let the Pope and his Cardinals put out an XI.
UEFA and FIFA have to rework the European qualifiers because this just ain’t it. I’ll suggest, they have preliminary rounds for the lower ranked countries. That way, they get a better chance & higher ranked countries don’t play meaningless matches = less congested schedule.
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No one argues European qualifiers are necessarily “easy” to qualify from. The point is that there are *at least* 4 games per qualification cycle that are absolute jokes. The only point is basically to see how many goals can be scored. I guess the betting companies always cry seeing these games.
Lol yeah exactly it’s not complicated. It’d be like if in North America the USA and Mexico played 6 games against the Cayman Islands and Guadeloupe or other random tiny countries. Qualifying at the end of the day could still be tight, but those games would have zero purpose
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No one is denying Europe has best teams though because it’s 100% true. But each qualification group in UEFA has at least 2-3 very weak teams. Teams don’t walk unscathed in CAF and CONMEBOL qualifiers like that, honestly.
CAF currently have Cameroon/Ivory coast, Algeria/Burkina, Tunisia/Guinea etc yet to book a place at the 2nd preliminaries. Uruguay/Colombia currently one won’t be making the WC or neither as things stands. Germany was in a laughably bad group, and it ain’t even much worse than the rest I saw.
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Something needs to be done with the likes of Gibraltar, San Marino, Andorra etc being in qualifiers because it frustrates me. I’d propose a lesser version of the World Cup, to allow low ranked nations the chance to win qualify and win something. Like the UEFA Conference League.
I don’t know why that hasn’t been thought of I think that’s an amazing idea. Just feel that there is a total lack of respect shown to smaller nations by UEFA and not much is done for them to enjoy international football
It will only be fair for FIFA to have a rule like the European golden boot rule to count goals scored. Two goals scored against San Marino, Lithuania and the other useless teams under UEFA should be counted as 1 or 1.5 This level of stats padding is crazy. Kane scores a hat trick last week, and yesterday he netted 4. 7 goals in 2 games. Crazy.
UEFA and FIFA really needs to give San Marino a break. Come up with some mini pre qualification tournament against fellow lesser nations, so they have a chance and gain a bit of pride and purpose. Getting tonked every game is soul destroying.
Harry Kane has 17 goals and 3 assists in 22 games in all competitions and yet if you were to ask anyone to rate his season out of 10, I don’t think you’d see a score higher than a 6. Wild how much European qualifiers + the Conference League are boosting his stats all because of these senseless teams.
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