WORLD CUP PLAY-OFFS: the Scottish balls-up scenario. It couldn't happen, could it?!

[accies1874]

Is it the first three ties out the hat that will play at home in the final, or am I misremembering?

[craigkillie]

Nah, it's 1, 3 and 5. The winners of the first tie will be at home to the winners of the second and so on.

See below - it is 1 v 2, 3 v 4 and 5 v 6, but there will be a separate draw for home advantage in each.

Edited November 26, 2021 by craigkillie

[Gordopolis]

Semi final draws ranked from best to worst:
 
North Macedonia (Dream)
Austria
Turkey
Ukraine (I think they’re worse than Turkey, but the extra implication that getting them means Italy/Portugal more likely)
Czech Republic 
Poland (Nightmare) 
 
 
Final opponents ranked best to worst: 
 
Wales home
Sweden home
Russia home
Wales away
Sweden away = Portugal home
Russia away
Italy home
Italy away 

Not really getting the Poland = nightmare thing.
They're solid enough, and yes Lewandowski is the big threat, but they are very beatable.

[DAFC.]

What time can we expect to see some balls getting rummaged? 

[Jambomo]

2 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

What time can we expect to see some balls getting rummaged? 

4pm I think. On the FIFA website 

[DAFC.]

2 minutes ago, Jambomo said:

4pm I think. On the FIFA website 

Yeah, they say that, but usually takes ages to get to the nitty gritty. 

[AndyDD]

2 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Nah, it's 1, 3 and 5. The winners of the first tie will be at home to the winners of the second and so on.

Not sure that's correct, actually--

In order to determine which of the semi-final winners will play at home in their finals, the following draw will be conducted:

Two balls with ‘semi-final 1’ and ‘semi-final 2’ will be placed in an empty pot. This first ball drawn will indicate the winners of which semi-final will play the final at home.

This will also apply for semi-finals 3&4 and 5&6.

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/2022-world-cup-play-off-draw-preview/?rid=13925&fbclid=IwAR2QMQfaDgVCrNUGmrcoc5gztpIiyVNQXZ73kopcYBBuHC0ajxvKTRGRt4I

[2426255]

1 hour ago, Gordopolis said:

Not really getting the Poland = nightmare thing.
They're solid enough, and yes Lewandowski is the big threat, but they are very beatable.

As far as the unseeded teams go it's much of a muchness for me. 

[DAFC.]

3 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

As far as the unseeded teams go it's much of a muchness for me. 

Play anything like we have recently, we will beat any one of those teams. Poland have Lewandowski, who is a major threat, but apart from that, there really is nothing to be afraid of. Poland aren't the team we played circa 2014, where they had some right good players playing at the top of their game. 

[ScottMc77]

56 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Yeah, they say that, but usually takes ages to get to the nitty gritty. 

Wondering this also, as I'll be driving back from work at 4 til 425.

Not sure whether I'll be home in time for the actual draw, or whether to hold off at work for 10 minutes(not holding off past 415), or just listen to it on the radio (if that is even an option!).

 

[craigkillie]

49 minutes ago, AndyDD said:

Not sure that's correct, actually--

In order to determine which of the semi-final winners will play at home in their finals, the following draw will be conducted:

Two balls with ‘semi-final 1’ and ‘semi-final 2’ will be placed in an empty pot. This first ball drawn will indicate the winners of which semi-final will play the final at home.

This will also apply for semi-finals 3&4 and 5&6.

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/2022-world-cup-play-off-draw-preview/?rid=13925&fbclid=IwAR2QMQfaDgVCrNUGmrcoc5gztpIiyVNQXZ73kopcYBBuHC0ajxvKTRGRt4I

I missed that latter part on the FIFA rules - I suppose it makes sense because otherwise the Russia/Ukraine constraint could screw teams over.

[Gordopolis]

Play anything like we have recently, we will beat any one of those teams. Poland have Lewandowski, who is a major threat, but apart from that, there really is nothing to be afraid of. Poland aren't the team we played circa 2014, where they had some right good players playing at the top of their game. 

And tbf we matched them even then (two 2-2 draws I think?)

[AndyDD]

2 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

I missed that latter part on the FIFA rules - I suppose it makes sense because otherwise the Russia/Ukraine constraint could screw teams over.

Yeah, I had assumed the same as you until that last bit was pointed out to me. 

Awk well. Adds an extra wee frisson of excitement I suppose. 

[DAFC.]

9 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

41 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Play anything like we have recently, we will beat any one of those teams. Poland have Lewandowski, who is a major threat, but apart from that, there really is nothing to be afraid of. Poland aren't the team we played circa 2014, where they had some right good players playing at the top of their game. 

And tbf we matched them even then (two 2-2 draws I think?)

We did. Could have won both tbf. We were in good winning positions in both. 

[nate]

Haven’t checked all the previous posts here, but does anyone know if FIFA still deem Russia (seeded) v Ukraine (unseeded) a “prohibited” fixture? The pair have deliberately been kept apart over the past few years. If this is still the case then today’s draw will not be as fair and transparent as we are led to believe. 

[BFTD]

4 minutes ago, nate said:

Haven’t checked all the previous posts here, but does anyone know if FIFA still deem Russia (seeded) v Ukraine (unseeded) a “prohibited” fixture? The pair have deliberately been kept apart over the past few years. If this is still the case then today’s draw will not be as fair and transparent as we are led to believe. 

Yep. There's a whole thread about the prohibited list.

I'm pretty sure they'd be kept apart in the draw for the first stage of the tournament proper too, although they'd just have to get over it if they met after that.

Edit: here it is: 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by BFTD

[Ken Deans]

17 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

49 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Play anything like we have recently, we will beat any one of those teams. Poland have Lewandowski, who is a major threat, but apart from that, there really is nothing to be afraid of. Poland aren't the team we played circa 2014, where they had some right good players playing at the top of their game. 

And tbf we matched them even then (two 2-2 draws I think?)

Lost a last minute goal at Hampden for 2 2. If Ireland hadn't got 4 points off Germany we'd have qualified

[nate]

7 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Yep. There's a whole thread about the prohibited list.

I'm pretty sure they'd be kept apart in the draw for the first stage of the tournament proper too, although they'd just have to get over it if they met after that.

Edit: here it is: 

 

Cheers. Mind you, my fave “prohibited” match up is Spain v Gibraltar. How silly is that?

[Bully Wee Villa]

Spain are running scared of them, IMO.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Small Bovine Maisonette

[Bully Wee Villa]

1 hour ago, DAFC. said:

Yeah, they say that, but usually takes ages to get to the nitty gritty. 

They're also drawing the African and the intercontinental playoffs. So not sure if Europe will be first on.