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FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: ASIA
Current Standings: Group A
Group B
FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: AFRICA
Current First Place Teams: Group A Algeria Group B Tunisia Group C Nigeria Group D Cameroon Group E Mali Group F Egypt Group G Ghana Group H Senegal Group I Morocco Group J DR Congo Commentary: Keep an eye out for updates in the next few months! FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: NORTH AMERICA
Current Standings: Mexico USA Canada Panama Costa Rica Jamaica El Salvador Honduras Commentary: This could and should change very soon as the USMNT plays Mexico 11-12-21. FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: SOUTH AMERICA
Current Standings: Brazil Argentina Ecuador Colombia Uruguay Chile Bolivia Paraguay Peru Venezuela Commentary: Ecuador? Apparently so. Watch out for Ecuador this time around as it has a vibrant attack that might just catch a few teams off guard. As for Uruguay, it currently is in a fight for its World Cup life. Much more around the corner as this progresses. FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: EUROPE
Current First Place Teams: Group A Portugal Group B Spain Group C Italy Group D France Group E Belgium Group F Denmark Group G Netherlands Group H Croatia Group I England Group J Germany That's about right. Things can change at any time. Qualifications for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar start up again soon. Much more to come on route to Qatar! “The Four Year Review: America’s Quest for the Cup” continues!
(The World Cup that is!) The Gold Cup of 2021 just concluded with a grand finale on 8-1-21 in the final between the United States and Mexico! It doesn’t get any better than that! United States 1 Mexico 0 Gold Cup 2021 Champions: United States! Here’s the good news/bad news: Good news:
For newcomers, essentially the Gold Cup is the CONCACAF championship, with the exception of this year’s guest-team Qatar (who played quite well). Let’s take a look at the Gold Cup, which, in essence, is a warm-up tournament for the USMNT as it looks to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup starting this fall! Here is a summary of the 2021 Gold Cup for the USMNT: United States vs Haiti 7-11-21 Gold Cup 1-0 Haiti put up a good fight but the win went to the United States. United States vs Martinique 7-15-21 Gold Cup 6-1 Martinique, a small island-nation, didn't have the best of games. United States vs Canada 7-18-21 Gold Cup 1-0 Canada, a nation improving with soccer by leaps and bounds, had a decent showing but lost in the end. United States vs Jamaica 7-25-21 Gold Cup Quarter-Finals 1-0 Jamaica, always a tough opponent and a classic rival to the USMNT, put up a good fight but couldn't hold off the United States. United States vs Qatar 7-29-21 Gold Cup Semi-Finals 1-0 Qatar, a guest-team this time around (the host of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup), had a great game but couldn't find a goal. United States vs Mexico 8-1-21 Gold Cup Final 1-0 Las Vegas, Nevada Mexico had a better game yet the US pulled out a gritty win with a set piece toward the end of the match. The bigger picture is clear: What about the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers beginning this September 2021? Well, that’s the question. Can the US pull it off? Will the roster be adequate enough to topple the best of CONCACAF in the accelerated Octagonal qualification process? It’s yet to be seen as the USMNT chases America’s last athletic frontier: a men’s championship in the FIFA World Cup! *** Outside of Oceania, of course. The discussion is interesting though, as one could reasonably conclude that CONCACAF, Africa, and Asia are a tie. ITALY IS BACK! As Italy climbed back to European supremacy with the recent UEFA Euro 2020 title, it now has a great opportunity to win it all at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar which, in soccer terms, is just around the corner. A one-two punch conquest of the Euro and World Cup would put the Italians in rare air as Spain most recently did as much with the 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and then an unheard of third championship with the 2012 Euro (three titles in a row is ridiculously good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves quite yet; Italy has to go one step at a time before the Triple is a possibility).
With all payers healthy and everything rolling together chemistry-wise, it should be an interesting run as Italy is prime and ready for such a feat. Japan is on a roll. Not too long ago, on 3-30-21, Japan had a match with mighty Mongolia. There may have been some anxiety before this one. You never know.
Though, the result ended up:: Japan 14 Mongolia 0. Note to Mongolia...never mind. Never thought I’d say this: I can’t wait till the next game between Qatar and El Salvador. It turns out, before their 2021 Gold Cup Quarter-Final, they had a heated match in which un-nice things were exchanged thereby setting the stage for an exciting Gold Cup ecounter just recently. Tempers flared and a good game ensued as Qatar walked away with a narrow 3-2 victory. Dare I say it? A rivalry has been established: Qatar and El Salvador. It reminds me of the ‘international games’ at SIUC I witnessed when I was a kid. These matches—which were primarily bouts to express anger—were often between two teams representing geographical locations somewhere in the middle of the world that resulted in squabbles over certain affairs regarding hegemony back in the homeland; the bird was given in multiple ways, foul words were exchanged, promises of curses or something therein were made, invisible lines were drawn thus tempting the other side to cross to see what’s next, arms flailed around—it was beautiful. Sometimes I’ve thought about those games and wondered ‘what was the point?’ You know, no one cared, no one was there, outside of a few friends, say. The point was: They were in the moment, competing. Likewise, Qatar and El Salvador—two teams you’d ordinarily forget about—were in the moment, competing like there was no tomorrow. It was great to see and hopefully there’s more down the road.
By the way, Qatar, so it was finally announced, is a “guest team” in the 2021 Gold Cup. It’s about time. For second there it was like: Okay, Gold Cup, we’ve got US, Mexico, Honduras, Qatar, Jamaica…wait a second! Huh?! Somebody call 911! What the?! Qatar?! Somebody call the doctor! What the?! So basically, as a promotion for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar is showcasing its talents as a guest team in the 2021 Gold Cup just as the Gold Cup has welcomed previous guests to the tournament such as Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa. Go figure. ITALY IS BACK! Euro Winners Prior to 2020: 1960: Soviet Union 1964: Spain 1968: Italy 1972: West Germany 1976: Czechoslovakia 1980: West Germany 1984: France 1988: Netherlands 1992: Denmark 1996: Germany 2000: France 2004: Greece 2008: Spain 2012: Spain 2016: Portugal 2020: Italy  |
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(NS) refers to "Non-Soccer" related blog entries, stories and essays. AuthorShane Stay, author of The Euro 2020, The World Cup 2018 Book, Why American Soccer Isn't There Yet. CategoriesALL WRITTEN WORK COPYRIGHT SHANE STAY 2014-2021
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