World Cup Qualifiers 2010 WC

[Suprah]

so in africa only the #1 in the group makes it? 2nd place has no chance?

Yup.

2nd and 3rd place qualify only for African Cup of Nations

[CR7]

go Greece!!

[Demis-11]

^^

Well its gonna come to the last day, but we can at least assure 2nd place granted we dont lose to Luxembourg, but if Israel beats Swiss and we win, we will go first (at least we've ousted Israel lol)

[The Joker]

Algeria are three points above Egypt with one game left. Algeria have +seven and Egypt have +three in goal-differences. This means Egypt have to win against Algeria with two-zero to advance because both will have same points, same goal-difference and even same goals for and goals against. All will be decided to head to head were both will have three-three, where Algeria won the first at home against Egypt with three - one. But Egypt will advance because of goal scored at away if they win two - zero against Algeria in Cairo. Do you guys get it?

[PersianPrins]

very dissapointing if Egypt doesn't make it! But i would like to see algeria to WC aswell

[EKBATAN]

Algeria are three points above Egypt with one game left. Algeria have +seven and Egypt have +three in goal-differences. This means Egypt have to win against Algeria with two-zero to advance because both will have same points, same goal-difference and even same goals for and goals against. All will be decided to head to head were both will have three-three, where Algeria won the first at home against Egypt with three - one. But Egypt will advance because of goal scored at away if they win two - zero against Algeria in Cairo. Do you guys get it?

wow so it goes down to the wire and they're actually playing against each other....this is much better than praying for another result to go ur way, this way their destiny is in their own hands....should be a good game.


i really want egypt to make it, they've deserved it for winning african cups, beating italy in confed cup for the first time and also putting up a good fight against brazil, that game should've actually been tied

[Pharaoh]

Algeria are three points above Egypt with one game left. Algeria have +seven and Egypt have +three in goal-differences. This means Egypt have to win against Algeria with two-zero to advance because both will have same points, same goal-difference and even same goals for and goals against. All will be decided to head to head were both will have three-three, where Algeria won the first at home against Egypt with three - one. But Egypt will advance because of goal scored at away if they win two - zero against Algeria in Cairo. Do you guys get it?

Actually bro away goals do not apply in this instance. We had to resort to the official regulations document on FIFA.com to get to the bottom of this. Egypt needs to win by 3+ goals to qualify automatically. If they win by 2, they will force either a "drawing of lots" or a one-game playoff on neutral territory. Any other result means Algeria qualifies.

Guys, make no mistake about it... Algeria are playing awesome football and have a serious squad playing their ball in Europe. They remind me a lot of the Morocco team of France '98, if you remember them. Awesome team that was was basically cheated out of a round of 16 berth when Norway got that suspicious late penalty vs Brazil.

What can I say... I know our chances are slim but I'll take it. On June 20th, we were behind by 6 points, fresh off a loss at the Confederations Cup and Algeria had just beaten Zambia 2-0 away, the same team that we tied 1-1 at home. There had been so much off the field drama, I even made a thread about it on here. If somebody told me you're going to reel off 3 wins in a row, including 2 away wins (which simply does NOT happen in Africa) and would go into the final match alive mathematically, I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. We played like crap in Chililabombwe (Zambia) on Saturday but found a way to score and stay alive. One of the shittiest fields you'll ever see, high elevation (akin to La Paz), and hot.

It's going to be a long month, but I won't be naive enough to get my hopes up too high. If we qualify then wow.. what a comeback. I know these players have amazing heart, but they may just be too old and past their prime. If Algeria qualifies, then I'll be supporting this young, hungry team in South Africa and I think they can surprise a lot of people.

[The Joker]

^So if Egypt wins with 2-0 they will play another game against Algeria in neutral plan? Then you're right, Egypt gotta win by at least 3+ goals if they wanna avoid play-off game.

[Pharaoh]

^So if Egypt wins with 2-0 they will play another game against Algeria in neutral plan? Then you're right, Egypt gotta win by at least 3+ goals if they wanna avoid play-off game.

Yup! Because if we win by only two, we'll be tied on points, goal difference, goals scored, and head-to-head goal difference. Away goals head-to-head do not apply. Really tough situation.

The official rules:

6. In the league format, the ranking in each group is determined as
follows:

a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;

B) goal difference in all group matches;

c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria,
their rankings will be determined as follows:

d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between
the teams concerned;

e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the
teams concerned;

f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the
teams concerned;

g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

7. With the approval of the FIFA Organising Committee and should the
coordinated international match calendar allow, play-offs may be
played instead of drawing lots to decide ties within groups (cf. art. 17,
par. 6g). If any such play-off ends in a tie, extra time of two periods
of 15 minutes each will be played. If the score is level after extra time,
penalty kicks will be taken to determine the winner in accordance with
the procedure described in the Laws of the Game.

8. Should the best second- or third-placed team within a group stage
qualify for the next stage or for the fi nal competition, the criteria to
decide such best second- or third-placed team will depend on the
competition format and will require the approval of FIFA following
proposals from the confederations.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tour...s_en_14123.pdf

[K.C.I.N.]

Man after what I saw from Egypt in confed cup I thought they'd be more confident...
but now their situation reminds me of Iran's situation before the last match (although it is not that bad)

[Pharaoh]

Man after what I saw from Egypt in confed cup I thought they'd be more confident...
but now their situation reminds me of Iran's situation before the last match (although it is not that bad)

Well, we've actually won every qualifier home and away since the Confederations Cup, but Algeria simply haven't slipped up yet! They did get referee help against Zambia, but then again the officiating in their last game with Rwanda was pretty atrocious, mostly against Algeria.

[Pharaoh]

Twenty years on, the 'hate match' between Egypt and Algeria is on again

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/10/egypt-algeria-repeat-hate-match

In 1989 all hell broke loose when Algeria and Egypt met for a World Cup place - the stakes will be just as high when they meet again



Security will be of paramount concern when Egypt frace Algeria. Photograph: Adam Davy/Empics

The World Cup 'hate match' is on again, and if it is anywhere near as bad as the last one it could keep Fifa's disciplinary experts busy – not to mention the police.

One goal on a bumpy pitch in Chililabombwe, northern Zambia, was enough to give Egypt victory in their penultimate qualifier today. When Hosni, player of the tournament in the last African Cup of Nations, scored it in the 69th minute millions celebrated back home in Egypt. It kept alive the African champions' hopes of taking one of the continent's five qualifying places in next summer's finals. All they have to do now is beat Algeria on 14 November, in an exact repeat of what they had to do 20 years ago.

They managed it in 1989, but there was so much trouble around the game that the post-match recriminations dragged all the way to this year. In April Interpol finally dropped an arrest warrant against one of the continent's greatest football heroes, Lakhdar Belloumi, scorer of the winning goal in Algeria's sensational 2-1 win over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup. At last he can travel outside Algeria again. He probably won't risk going to Cairo this week, though, because of what happened in 1989. He would be lucky to get out alive.

A point in Egypt would have taken Algeria to Italia 90, their third finals in succession. The build-up to the match was hostile, as the two countries already had a healthy dislike of each other.

"Get there early" was the message from Egypt's FA to the few foreign journalists who had travelled to Cairo, so they took us in by bus at 10.30am. For a 3pm kick-off. The ground was nearly full already, more than 100,000 packed in with more than four hours to go. At least 20,000 were wearing military uniform, and they joined the rest of the crowd in choreographed swaying to the rousing music blaring from giant speakers placed around the running-track. There were also a number of giant ornamental plants placed near the VIP area, which would become missiles for the Algerians after their 1-0 defeat.

"It was the first big game I ever went to watch with my father," recalls Mido, the former Tottenham and Middlesbrough striker. "There were 125,000 people in the ground, and we were behind the goal. I was only six, and I can remember Hossam Hassan's goal now. It was amazing."Algeria felt the referee had been biased, and when the final whistle went the officials were harassed and surrounded by the entire Algerian contingent, players, coaches, officials. Despite the best efforts of the police it still took the referee eight minutes to reach the safety of the dressing rooms.

The Algerians wanted somebody else to blame, so they turned to the VIP area and heaved plants, dirt and earthenware pots into the seats. Worse was to follow. At a post-match reception, Belloumi 'bottled' the Egyptian team doctor, who was blinded in one eye. Belloumi was back in Algeria when an Egyptian court later convicted him in his absence. He was sentenced to imprisonment and fined.

The incident further soured the relationship between the countries and two years later Egypt refused to send a team to the African Nations Cup in Algeria. They would have been kicked out of Fifa so eventually sent a youth team.

A long history of hatred

Why the hatred? Algerians and Egyptians have never warmed to each other, and they seem to like expressing their feelings through football. Egyptians are seen as snooty and aloof, and there was bad blood between the two countries in the late 1950s, when so many African countries – but not Egypt – were fighting for independence. In an excellent new book on African football, Feet of the Chameleon, Ian Hawkey tells the remarkable story of the FLN footballers, a team of top-division professionals who ditched their clubs in France and raised awareness of Algeria's claims for independence through football matches in north Africa, Asia and eastern Europe. Egypt would not play them.

There was more trouble in the 1970s, when Algerian police waded into Egyptian players and fans during a troublesome All Africa Games match between Libya and Egypt in Algeria. In the 1980s an Olympic qualifier between Algeria and Egypt was repeatedly held up by brawls. And even last season there was trouble at a club game, when Hossam Hassan, scorer of that goal in 1989, and his brother Ibrahim were both banned indefinitely by Fifa for their behaviour after the club they coached, Masri, lost in Algeria. Among other misdemeanours, Ibrahim Hassan assaulted the fourth official.

"When I hit the fourth official, I was trying to defend myself because he held my finger firmly and was about to break it!" said Ibrahim Hassan. "I will not apologise. I do not regret my reactions."

With the countries due to meet in Algeria in June this year (a 3-1 home win), it was time for diplomacy. Algeria's foreign minister started negotiations, the respective Olympic committee presidents came to an agreement, and persuaded the suitably compensated Egyptian team doctor to drop his case against Belloumi.

Both sides will hope for a more peaceful game in the next instalment, and with the stadium now modernised only 74,000 will be there. Algeria have played well and will fancy their chances, but if they come away with the result they need it could be yet more bad news for the Premier league's bottom club, Portsmouth. Nadir Belhadj and, for the first time, Hassan Yebda are in the Algeria team. If they make it to the World Cup finals this week they will be happy to get home safe and sound.

[The Joker]

^Im looking forward to that game.

[K.C.I.N.]

Lol they really seem to hate each other

[Pharaoh]

Lol they really seem to hate each other

haha yeah, most people aren't aware that North African derbies are no less crazy than those in Europe and even South America. The quality of the football is usually quite good too, with many teams that have made it to the knockout stages of the World Cup, players playing in Europe, and many continental titles between them.

By the way, Algerian fans get extremely rowdy no matter who they're playing. You'd think they hate everyone lol. At least that's how my Algerian friend explains it. It's definitely a little extra when we're involved though.

I hope the match is clean and without incident. I expect Algeria to get the result they need, whether its a loss or draw, but they could even beat us in Cairo. I had a dream last night that they scored two early goals on us .