International Football
FINAL LAP TO 2018 WORLD CUP FINALS BEGINS
Twenty two teams are already through to the World Cup Russia 2018, leaving 16 other teams struggling for the remaining nine spots to complete a field of 32 finalists.
From this Thursday through to next week Wednesday, 26 matches are on the card to complete the projected 874 matches of the 2018 World Cup qualifying series. Not all the 26 matches hold significance.
Some like the Algeria versus Nigeria as well as the Ghana versus Egypt are mere formality fixtures as winners in the respective African qualifying groups have emerged. So also are other six matches involving 12 African teams that are already eliminated.
So, of the 52 countries engaged in the final days of the qualifying series, only 16 are jostling for qualification.
The 16 are made up of the eight teams in Europe battling for four spots, six from Africa battling for three tickets while four others in intercontinental playoff are battling for the last two slots.
The battle begins this Thursday when Croatia hosts Greece and Switzerland will be away to Northern Ireland in the first leg of their European play-off. Both matches hold simultaneously at 8:45pm Nigerian time.
The two matches are to be followed by four other matches across three continents on Friday. By next week Wednesday, all qualifiers would have emerged.
Sports Village Square takes a look at the two-leg European and intercontinental playoffs matches, and the possible three other World Cup bound teams from Africa.
Thursday 9 November – NORTHERN IRELAND vs. SWITZERLAND
Northern Ireland last qualified for the World Cup at Mexico ’86. But hopes are high as they host Switzerland this Thursday.
The Irish reached the playoff after placing second in a group where reigning World Cup holders, Germany emerged.
Switzerland players are still rueing the 2-0 loss to Portugal which relegated them to second in the group and now struggling in a European play-off.
According to Associated Press, Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic was still looking back to the 2-0 loss at Portugal last month, saying he had imagined playing a “nice friendly” game this week. He acknowledged his team was too passive against Portugal, and challenged players he did not identify to take more responsibility now.
The Swiss need to forget about that match before the first leg against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, where only Germany has beaten Northern Ireland in a competitive match in the past four years.
Switzerland has a nine-game winning streak at home in tournament qualifiers, and hosts the return on Sunday in Basel.
Thursday 9 November – CROATIA vs. GREECE
Greece will be without defender Kostas Manolas, who is banned from the first leg which is away to Croatia.
The return match will hold on Sunday. FIFA banned Manolas because he tried to manipulate his disciplinary record by deliberately earning a yellow card against Cyprus on October 7.
The decision compounded problems for Coach Michael Skibbe, who is missing midfielder Petros Mantalos and striker Tasos Donis because of injury.
Croatia is set to miss defensive midfielder Milan Badelj for both matches against Greece.
The Croatians and the Greeks were in the playoffs for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Croatia eliminated Iceland 2-0 on aggregate, while Greece beat Romania 4-2 on aggregate.
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Friday 10 November – SWEDEN vs. ITALY
If Italy fails to survive the play-off with Sweden, it will be the first time that the four-time World Cup winners will be absent at the World Cup.
The only other time Italy failed to feature was at Sweden 1958. Incidentally, Sweden is the hurdle the Azzuris must cross to get to Russia 2018.
According to AP, Italy has showed poor form recently, ever since a 3-0 loss to Spain in September. After that match, Italy edged Israel 1-0, drew 1-1 with Macedonia and beat Albania 1-0.
While Sweden didn’t qualify for the last two World Cups, it impressed in qualifying with a win over France and finished ahead of the Netherlands.
“We are winners just by being here,” Sweden coach, Janne Andersson said.
The first leg will be in Sweden on Friday, with the return match on Monday in Italy.
Sweden went unbeaten at home in qualifying at Friends Arena and striker Marcus Berg scored eight times in nine matches.
Friday 10 November – HONDURAS vs. AUSTRALIA
This is the scenario Australia aimed to avoid when it switched from Oceania to the Asian Football Confederation after the 2006 World Cup: A last-ditch intercontinental playoff in the Americas for a spot at soccer’s marquee event.
Australian players travelled from three continents to assemble in Honduras this week to prepare for Friday’s first leg. The return match will be in Australia on Wednesday.
It was a similar scenario when the Australians played Uruguay for a place at the 2006 tournament. Uruguay won 1-0 in Montevideo, and Australia levelled it up with a 1-0 win in Sydney before advancing 4-2 on penalties.
It ended a long drought for the Socceroos, who had failed to advance from the last playoff stage in 1986 (against Scotland), in 1994 (against Argentina), in 1998 (against Iran), and in 2002 (against Uruguay).
Tim Cahill, the only player still active from that playoff series in 2005 and now Australia’s all-time leading scorer, is in doubt because of an ankle injury.
Friday 10 November – SOUTH AFRICA vs. SENEGAL
This is a potentially explosive encounter that could be described as ‘thunder and blood’. The number of qualified teams can rise to 23 this Friday if Senegal beat South Africa in Polokwane.
The match is the replay of an earlier one that was cancelled owing to match manipulation by the Ghanaian referee.
A win by Senegal makes the reversed fixtures irrelevant. It also turns into mere formality, the other Group D encounter of Burkina Faso and Cape Verde.
Friday 10 November – ALGERIA vs. NIGERIA
This ordinarily should have been a clash of two continental giants who were the last African teams standing at the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
Of the five African teams in Brazil, Algeria and Nigeria were the only ones to make it to the second round where both crashed out on the same day.
But with the Group B already decided, Algeria may not put up spectacular performance as there is virtually nothing for the troubled side to fight for. It had prosecuted virtually every match of the final qualifying round with new coaches.
The legendary Rabah Madjer is the latest man on the saddle. In the six-match series of the final round that began last year’s October, Algeria secured just one point from the 1-1 draw it played against Cameroon in Match Day 1.
The team lost all others. Friday’s match may not be an exception. On the other hand, Nigeria has had almost a stress-free flight in the final qualifying series.
The Super Eagles were, expectedly, only stretched to almost breaking point in the last match with Zambia last month where both teams nervously have everything to fight for.
But the side facing Algeria may slightly be a different one as Coach Gernot Rohr could be tempted to try new options as he focuses on his final World Cup squad. Besides, some regulars have been unavailable owing to varying degrees of injury.
But all the same, the team will try to maintain its World Cup qualifying unbeaten run which could be stretched to an all-time African record of 35 matches.
On Friday, it would be 13 years, four months and 21 days (4,891 days) since Nigeria last lost a World Cup qualifying match.
It is a record good to be carried over to the qualifying series of Qatar 2022.
Saturday 11 November – DENMARK vs. IRELAND
Ireland is on a familiar terrain as being in the playoff in major tournaments is not new to the country.
Easily recalled is the controversial loss to France in the playoff to South Africa 2010 when Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball in the build-up to the crucial goal.
Ireland is involved in playoff for the ninth time and had lost five in the past. Ireland will host the second leg on Tuesday.
Ireland will likely rely on the counterattacking tactics that worked so well in Cardiff.
While there are no real stars in the Ireland team, Denmark has a standout in Christian Eriksen — one of European soccer’s best playmakers over the past few years at Tottenham.
He scored eight times from midfield in qualifying.
The Danes’ 4-0 win over Poland in group play highlights their potential and they are also higher in the FIFA rankings, at No. 19 compared to Ireland’s No. 26.
The managers — Martin O’Neill and Age Hareide — are former teammates at English club Norwich.
Saturday 11 November – NEW ZEALAND vs. PERU
New Zealand will return to the scene of one of its greatest triumphs when it hosts Peru on Saturday.
In 2009, New Zealand beat Bahrain 1-0 in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the Wellington Regional Stadium to qualify for the World Cup for the second time.
It had previously qualified in 1982, the same year in which Peru made its last World Cup appearance. The return leg will be in Peru on Wednesday.
Rory Fallon, who scored New Zealand’s winning goal in that match eight years ago, has been recalled to the All Whites after a one-year absence.
He is currently playing for Dorchester in the seventh tier of English soccer. That win over Bahrain briefly put soccer centre-stage in a rugby-mad country and Saturday’s match will likely do so again. The match is a sell-out.
Peru, ranked No. 10, starts as the overwhelming favourite against 122nd-ranked New Zealand but have a significant setback, with striker Paolo Guerrero ruled out after failing a doping test. Guerrero scored six goals in qualifying.
Saturday 11 November – Cote d’Ivoire vs. Morocco:
It is advantage Morocco which requires just a draw in the away match to pick the ticket. But in encounters of this nature, nothing is decided until the final whistle.
Morocco with nine points leads the group. The results of Group C have largely fallen within predictions as it was expected that the final outcome would be decided in the last match pitching the two giants.
There is a common denominator – Coach Herve Renard who is leading Morocco having in the past led Cote d’Ivoire. His ambition is simple – terminating the aspirations of his previous employers!
Saturday 11 November, Zambia vs. Cameroon:
For a different reason, this is another formality match. Both teams are already eliminated from the race and had virtually nothing to fight for.
Zambia would had hoped it picked maximum points last month in Uyo when it faced Nigeria and possibly fire full cylinder against a hapless Cameroon this weekend.
But after strong resistance coupled with sporadic offensive, the Zambians finally caved in when Alex Iwobi scored the decider for Nigeria.
The possibly scenario in Lusaka on Saturday is that Cameroon may not travel with their best of stars and in the best of spirits for a mere formality match.
Saturday 11 November, DR Congo vs. Guinea:
This is a match the hosts may like win. But owing to the possible outcome of the corresponding match in group where Tunisia will be facing the weak Libyan side, there may not be anything to fight for in the DR Congo versus Guinea encounter.
That may lead to both not putting in their best, but with the hosts still trying to maintain their prestige and hope for a possible slip in the Tunisia – Libya encounter.
The possibility exists as it happened in 2009 when Tunisia’s advantage was lost six minutes to end their South Africa 2010 World Cup qualifier in Mozambique.
Saturday 11 November, Gabon vs. Mali:
A formality match as both teams are out of contention. Their result will also not impact on that Group C of the contenders – Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire who will be involved in epic battle in Abidjan.
Sunday 12 November, Ghana vs. Egypt:
Flash back to the last qualifying battle to Brazil 2014. Ghana were high riding, beating Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi. The result put Ghana in vantage position for the eventual qualification. Time has changed.
Even if Ghana achieves any victory of any kind on Sunday, it is a labour in vain as the Egyptians are through to the World Cup.
But for that, this should be a heavyweight clash of two of Africa’s strongest teams.
So inconsequential is the outcome of the match that star player, Mohamed Salah asked to be excused from the fixture.
Sunday 12 November, Congo vs. Uganda:
The encounter is better relegated to the realms of a friendly match as both have been eliminated from the World Cup.
Soccer chiefs from Europe and South America will hold a final meeting before a Thursday deadline to decide whether and where this month’s “Finalissima” between Spain and Argentina will be played, with London emerging as the leading candidate after doubts over Doha, multiple sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The match between European champions Spain and Copa America holders Argentina had been scheduled for March 27 at Lusail Stadium in Doha.
However, it has become increasingly unlikely that Qatar will host the fixture after the Qatar Football Association suspended soccer tournaments indefinitely following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory missiles fired at the Arabian Peninsula.
The Spanish FA (RFEF) has been pushing for a swift resolution, mindful that the March international break is viewed as vital preparation ahead of the June-July World Cup in North America.
“I know that negotiations are underway,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente told Spanish Public Radio (RNE) on Monday. “The first thing, as a society, is to stop the conflict, but once you are immersed in it and you don’t know how long it will last, the solution would be, as long as you can’t play there, to find another venue as soon as possible.
Wembley Stadium staged the previous edition in 2022, when Argentina beat Italy, but it is set to host England v Uruguay on March 27. London, however, has other stadiums capable of staging the showpiece, leaving the English capital as the most likely alternative should Doha be ruled out, sources confirmed.
ALTERNATIVE OPPONENTS CONSIDERED
While keen to face Argentina and high-profile players such as Lionel Messi, sources told Reuters that Spain had made clear their priority was not to waste the last window of international fixtures before the World Cup and they were already contemplating alternative opponents.
With Spain also due to face Egypt three days later, any change would require agreement between the RFEF and European soccer body UEFA, South American confederation CONMEBOL, global governing body FIFA and the Argentine FA (AFA).
The RFEF, AFA and UEFA did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A spokesperson for South American confederation CONMEBOL told Reuters that several meetings between the parties had taken place in recent days but did not confirm Thursday’s deadline or London as the preferred venue.
Madrid was initially proposed by the RFEF but rejected by the AFA, who preferred a neutral venue rather than giving Spain home advantage.
Morocco offered to stage the game, but the RFEF was unwilling to back their Mediterranean neighbours amid tensions behind the scenes over the 2030 World Cup, which Spain, Morocco and Portugal will co-host. Both Spain and Morocco are campaigning to stage the final.
Miami was also considered, with Messi based there at Inter Miami, but Hard Rock Stadium is hosting the Miami Open tennis tournament at the same time.
-Reuters
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International Football
Spain-Argentina ‘Finalissima’ in Qatar at risk amid US, Israel attacks on Iran
The match between Spain and Argentina, tagged “Finalissima” in Doha, is in doubt after the Qatar Football Association suspended soccer tournaments indefinitely following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory missiles fired at the Arabian Peninsula.
The contest between European Championship winners Spain and Copa America champions Argentina was scheduled for March 27 at Doha’s Lusail Stadium, with potential big-name draws including Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi.
“Qatar Football Association announces the postponement of all tournaments, competitions and matches, effective from today and until further notice,” the association said in a statement on Sunday.
“The new dates for the resumption of competitions will be announced in due course through the Association’s official channels.”
The final call on whether to postpone the game rests with event organisers UEFA and CONMEBOL.
The Bahrain Football Association postponed all its matches until further notice, while the Asian Football Confederation on Sunday announced it was delaying Champions League Elite fixtures in the region.
The Asian Champions League Two, currently at the quarter-final stage, has also been impacted, along with games in the Challenge League.
Countries across the Middle East have been on high alert since Saturday, when the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes against Iran, aimed at diminishing Iran’s military capability.
Iran retaliated by attacking U.S. targets around the region, including in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
On Sunday, Qatar’s interior ministry reported a fire in an industrial zone after debris fell from an intercepted missile.
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International Football
Iran Conflict Casts Uncertainty Over Super Eagles’ Four-Nation Tournament Opener
Nigeria’s Super Eagles may face fresh uncertainty ahead of their scheduled participation in a Four-Nation Invitational Tournament in Amman, Jordan, following reports that Iran — their intended first opponents — is now at war after attacks by the United States and Israel.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had earlier confirmed that the Super Eagles would compete in the mini-tournament during the FIFA Men’s International Window in March 2026. The competition is slated to run from March 27 to 31 in the Jordanian capital.
Under the original fixture schedule, Nigeria were due to open the tournament on Friday, March 27 against Iran’s senior national team at the 17,000-capacity Amman International Stadium. Hosts Jordan were set to face Costa Rica the same day at the 62,000-capacity King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
However, the escalating military confrontation involving Iran has cast serious doubt over the participation of the Iranian national team and the viability of the opening fixture.
While tournament organisers in Jordan have yet to issue an official statement regarding possible changes, the developing security situation is expected to force urgent consultations between the participating federations, tournament organisers and FIFA.
The competition was designed to provide competitive match exposure during a window initially reserved for the intercontinental play-off for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Nigeria’s inclusion in the tournament had already generated debate at home, with observers questioning whether the NFF’s commitment signalled a shift in focus away from potential qualification disputes.
The new geopolitical crisis further complicates matters. International conflicts often trigger travel restrictions, airspace closures and security advisories that can directly affect national teams’ ability to assemble and travel.
Should Iran withdraw or be unable to participate, organisers may be compelled to seek a replacement team or adjust the fixture format entirely.
Nigeria are scheduled to face hosts Jordan on March 31 in their second match of the tournament, while Costa Rica and Iran were originally billed to meet the same day at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Kick-off times for the four fixtures had yet to be officially announced before the outbreak of hostilities.
For the Super Eagles, the tournament was seen as an opportunity to build cohesion and test tactical adjustments ahead of future competitive engagements. Now, attention will turn to whether the event can proceed as planned — and whether Nigeria’s opening match will require a late reshuffle.
The NFF is expected to monitor developments closely and may issue further clarification in the coming days as the regional and international situation evolves.
Meanwhile, Reuters has quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. But the Iranians have dismissed the claim, saying that the leader is ‘firmly commanding the field’. Both Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran.
President Donald Trump says action will give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers. Hits were reported in Israel and Gulf states as Iran retaliated. The attack has triggered fear and panics as as Iranians flee cities.
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