Despite being currently ranked as the world's worst team (but that will now change), finally after many years San Marino are now no longer the worst team in Europe.
Last night they were promoted to the third tier of the Nations League after beating Liechtenstein. It was the first away win in their history, the first time they scored more than once in a competitive game and the first time they had ever scored three goals in a match.
Is that right? Surely some of the Pacific Island nations are ranked lower? Samoa just got dicked 8-0 at home by New Zealand and have lost to Tahiti and Vanuatu. I can’t imagine San Marino are (or were) that bad?
It goes on points tho. Those teams have probably picked up enough points in Pacific games or early WCQ to get more points than San Marino.
Oh, I see. Thanks. I’d argue it’s a flawed system though. Even at their worst, when San Marino were getting 8-0 drubbings, it was always against Germany, Italy and the like. Never a nation like NZ that is, with the greatest of respect, not very good at football. Also, didn’t some nation get walloped about 30-0 a while back? How can they be anything other than bottom of the rankings? I feel San Marino have been harshly labelled. They’re not great, obviously, but I don’t think they’ve been the worst for some time.
FIFA running a flawed system ..who'd have thought!
It’s not just Samoa - NZ always play teams like that - New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji etc. You’d imagine SM could beat all of them on their day. As others have said though, the rankings have never been a reliable indicator of how good nations are though because of the points system and the way it works.
It’s not just Samoa - NZ always play teams like that - New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji etc. You’d imagine SM could beat all of them on their day. As others have said though, the rankings have never been a reliable indicator of how good nations are though because of the points system and the way it works.
Now that Oceania is guaranteed a spot at the World Cup, NZ are pretty much going to always qualify. But despite this i wonder how long it will be before they follow Australia and apply to join the Asian setup. Take this week for example, they played two qualifiers and won 8-1 and 8-0. There is literally no competition for them. It's basically like England having to qualify for the World Cup by only playing teams from Nations League D.
It’s not just Samoa - NZ always play teams like that - New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji etc. You’d imagine SM could beat all of them on their day. As others have said though, the rankings have never been a reliable indicator of how good nations are though because of the points system and the way it works.
Now that Oceania is guaranteed a spot at the World Cup, NZ are pretty much going to always qualify. But despite this i wonder how long it will be before they follow Australia and apply to join the Asian setup. Take this week for example, they played two qualifiers and won 8-1 and 8-0. There is literally no competition for them. It's basically like England having to qualify for the World Cup by only playing teams from Nations League D.
Does it make sense for them to leave for Asia though, they are almost guaranteed a world cup spot staying in Oceania. The next round is a 4 team knockout (semis then finals), and are one legged. So who knows, maybe by miracle a Fiji or New Caledonia could fluke a result against NZ and qualify for the WC. It did happen with Tahiti making the confederations cup.
There are potentially two spots for Oceania at the World Cup Finals although dont see it happening.
The team that end up second in OFC Qualifying (as after the Group Stage, it turns into a KO Tournament), will go into the InterContinental Play-Offs
Looks like those Play-Offs will be a new format to previous Qualifying tournaments, however whoever finishes second in Oceania could well take a spanking in that alone from those that qualify from other Continents - In 2014; New Zealand themselves got spanked 9-3 on agg. by Mexico
It’s not just Samoa - NZ always play teams like that - New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji etc. You’d imagine SM could beat all of them on their day. As others have said though, the rankings have never been a reliable indicator of how good nations are though because of the points system and the way it works.
Now that Oceania is guaranteed a spot at the World Cup, NZ are pretty much going to always qualify. But despite this i wonder how long it will be before they follow Australia and apply to join the Asian setup. Take this week for example, they played two qualifiers and won 8-1 and 8-0. There is literally no competition for them. It's basically like England having to qualify for the World Cup by only playing teams from Nations League D.
Does it make sense for them to leave for Asia though, they are almost guaranteed a world cup spot staying in Oceania. The next round is a 4 team knockout (semis then finals), and are one legged. So who knows, maybe by miracle a Fiji or New Caledonia could fluke a result against NZ and qualify for the WC. It did happen with Tahiti making the confederations cup.
You could argue the same for Australia though but they moved.
Obviously by moving NZ would make it harder for themselves to qualify, but then they'd be playing a lot more games and it would be far more competitive for them. From what i can tell they will currently play a maximum of FIVE games to qualify, which is quite pathetic.
There's a really good podcast I listen to and they often feature San Marino on their travels
It's called The Sweeper and talks about all the international minnows as well as funny stories from all over the globe. Strongly recommended
They talked about an international tournament a while ago that was going to invite the lowest ranked teams in the world for a crap-team world cup style tournement.
There's a really good podcast I listen to and they often feature San Marino on their travels
It's called The Sweeper and talks about all the international minnows as well as funny stories from all over the globe. Strongly recommended
They talked about an international tournament a while ago that was going to invite the lowest ranked teams in the world for a crap-team world cup style tournement.
Presumably loser goes through, then a grand final to determine the Worst?
Comments
The team that end up second in OFC Qualifying (as after the Group Stage, it turns into a KO Tournament), will go into the InterContinental Play-Offs
Looks like those Play-Offs will be a new format to previous Qualifying tournaments, however whoever finishes second in Oceania could well take a spanking in that alone from those that qualify from other Continents - In 2014; New Zealand themselves got spanked 9-3 on agg. by Mexico
Obviously by moving NZ would make it harder for themselves to qualify, but then they'd be playing a lot more games and it would be far more competitive for them. From what i can tell they will currently play a maximum of FIVE games to qualify, which is quite pathetic.
It's called The Sweeper and talks about all the international minnows as well as funny stories from all over the globe. Strongly recommended
They talked about an international tournament a while ago that was going to invite the lowest ranked teams in the world for a crap-team world cup style tournement.