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The news as big as this is Costa Rica potentially missing out altogether. Especially if Haiti do end up winning either way, because if that happens, Costa Rica are the least likely to be top 2 best 2nd place teams out of 3 that qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs.
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Suriname, Curaçao and Haiti on 21:28 - Nov 18 with 1974 views
"And of course at 1am here on ITV, we're off to Seattle to take on that crucial Group H game between Haiti and Uzbekistan....you won't want to miss that one!"
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Suriname, Curaçao and Haiti on 14:57 - Nov 19 with 1280 views
It's exactly as expected. The bloated finals will have umpteen low quality teams (which will keep Infantino in office) so most of the group stages will be utterly tedious. Wake me up when the k/o stages begin. I could just about accept a 32 team finals - 8 groups of 4 produce 16 teams for the k/o stages, but this is bonkers.
I used to have a mad idea that a wild card space should be reserved for the San Marinos, Liechtensteins etc who turn up knowing they're in for a heroic drubbing and have no hope of qualifying. Seems we're there now.
Suriname, Curaçao and Haiti on 21:42 - Nov 19 by FBI
I used to have a mad idea that a wild card space should be reserved for the San Marinos, Liechtensteins etc who turn up knowing they're in for a heroic drubbing and have no hope of qualifying. Seems we're there now.
[Post edited 19 Nov 2025 21:46]
Oh well, if we're talking bonkers World Cup formats....
Scrap qualifiers. Say that if you're in the top 64 if the FIFA rankings by six months before the tournament starts, you're in. No group stage, straight FA Cup style knock out from the word go. No seedlings. If you end up with Germany vs Brazil in the first round, so be it. Now and again you'll get a bonkers year like the FA Cup 2008 was and end up with a final between Japan and Austria. What larks!
Plus, it'd be 64 games, which is what it was anyway before next year.
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Suriname, Curaçao and Haiti on 22:46 - Nov 19 with 959 views
And the Fantasy Football recreation, I didn't know that about Gerald Sinstadt.
And a bit more:
'Having lost 2-0 but been happy with their performance against Scotland, Ilunga says the mood of the Zaire players changed when they discovered that a bonus owed to them had been intercepted.
He blames those close to the authoritarian regime of Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko.
"We were really unhappy," he told the French newspaper. "We had just spent two months far from our families, without anyone by our side. There weren't the same forms of communication as there are today. And they take our money? You don't do that."
Ilunga says the players decided that they would not take to the field for their second game against Yugoslavia.
"Two hours before kick-off, we still didn't want to play. Then there were threats. We were told to play, otherwise we'd be sent to a dungeon, so we went on to the pitch but we sabotaged the match. A bit like a strike. That's why we lost 9-0."
Ilunga says Mobutu sent them a message, telling the players that if they lost by more than five goals against Brazil they would never be allowed to return to their homes.
In the 78th minute, Ilunga stepped out of a defensive wall and booted the ball away before Brazil could take a free kick.
He said he was "annoyed" by provocative remarks the Brazilian players had made but added: "At the same time, it was also an opportunity that I took to provoke the referee. I wanted him to give me a red card.
"I said to myself: 'I'm not playing anymore. Why would I stay on the field and take the risk of not returning home when the others -- the people who took our money -- are watching us peacefully from the stands?"
Ilunga says they were not given much support by Mobutu and his supporters after the World Cup. Forty years on, he maintains that they are still waiting for the money that they are owed.'
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