2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

the 1-4 spots within each group are randomly determined too

Shearer saying he doesn't think the travelling times are that important - how far is it from St. Petersburg from Ekaterinaburg?

tbfttl it's about half the distance of Porto Alegre to Manaus.

Hold on, Peru are second seeded?

England are so getting Poland.

spain and portugal in the same group is delicious

lol a timely reminder that Belgium are managed by Bobby Martinez, no sweat lads

Oh good we get to watch England play all the dudes we literally see every week.

I'm sure the commentators won't mention that.

I hope egypt progress at russia's expense

mental note to stick a tenner on Iceland to turn Argentina over in the first game

Group D is pure hipster shit.

France, Peru, could be worse. Poor Sweden.

Not much death on show yet.

Apart from the group with Spain and Portugal in you mean?

You need at least three teams in contention for a proper Group of Death.

Yes!

Fred will be happy.

lol (xp)

small nation mentality

ok now Group D is pure hipster

Russia vs Saudi Arabia as the first game of the tournament. #getthispartystarted

Overall a pretty good draw, no? Denmark lucky, but apart from Morocco and Iran nobody can be that upset.

group d not quite a group of death, more a group of sustained peril

great group for england

Group H could be interesting, all DARK HORSES all the time.

when did England last get out of a group? they may have a shot

I think Morocco could frustrate Portugal or Spain

lol russia vs saudi arabia is on my birthday too - gonna be sweet

i've decided i'm supporting mo salah's egypt

Overall a pretty good draw, no?

Dull as ditchwater for the neutrals. Apart from Por v. Spa.

Poland
Senegal
Colombia
Japan

^is that the most balanced WC group ever?

Calling Argentina v Croatia as the game of the tournament already. England v Belgium dead rubber probably the worst.

H is the Group of Life.

lol

Overall a pretty good draw, no?

Dull as ditchwater for the neutrals. Apart from Por v. Spa.

― Action of Boyle Man Prompts Visitor to Stay (Tom D.), 1. december 2017 17:00 (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, yeah. These two things might be connected :)

Jose Fonte knows more about geography than Shearer.

Spain group closest to something of a death group.

I expect Morocco to shine and take second place.

Poland
Senegal
Colombia
Japan

^is that the most balanced WC group ever?

― ogmor, Friday, 1 December 2017 16:02 (forty-eight seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

According to our agreed-on Ogmor Quality scale, yes it is.

The same scale tells us that the easiest group is group A (cumulative quality points 81, where the best team gets 1 point and the worst gets 32) and the most difficult group is F (53).

now that's the sort of stats the people need to hear

Three quarters of the Spain group total next-door neighbours also, you could probably get from Portugal to Morocco in a car in an afternoon (NB this estimate is untested).

(via Spain obv)

My gut feel is that Colombia are comfortably the best team in that group but we'll find out.

colombia didn't look great getting beaten by SK the other day. that's definitely the most curious, I've not seen senegal play at all

How are Eng fucking thia up? I don't know but I'll enjoy finding out.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DP-RCM-X4AMgiVV.jpg

Love this pic; so many possible explanations for what might be happening here; most of them are more plausible than "this is the draw for the world cup 2018".

why are they in area 51

The general lack of legit good teams (four, maybe) should make this pretty even and interesting, I think.

Has anyone got tickets / plans to go?

I've not seen senegal play at all

Mane, Balde Keita, Sow and Niang up front, Koullibaly at the back - definitely wouldn’t bet on Colombia in their current form.

Russia could well be out of this after the first round; I can see Egypt and Uruguay ending above them.

Here's hoping.