476 replies to this topic

[TransplantedEdmontonian]

95% of the Russian men's national team plays in Russia.  Is google broken this morning?

 

https://en.wikipedia...m#Current_squad

[Victoria Watcher]

95% of the Russian men's national team plays in Russia.  Is google broken this morning?

 

https://en.wikipedia...m#Current_squad

 

According to that roster, less than 82% play in Russia.  Less than 78% of recent call-ups play domestically.  Is your calculator broken this morning?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 February 2022 - 05:23 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Poland certainly would forfeit if the game was still scheduled. The hope is here that Russia is disqualified now, that FIFA takes a bigger step .

FIFA and UEFA, two of the preeminent governing bodies in world soccer, announced Monday that "all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice."

https://www.foxnews....ll-competitions


The unprecedented decision comes just weeks before the Russian national team was set to face off against Poland in a single-leg semi-final for the chance to advance to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The announcement marks a change in course for FIFA, which just a day earlier had announced Russia would not be eliminated from qualification but rather play using the "RFU" acronym for the country’s soccer federation.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 February 2022 - 12:20 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Canada Soccer is joining other countries in refusing to play Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

 

"In steadfast support of Ukraine, its people and Ukrainian-Canadians who represent the third-largest Ukrainian population outside Ukraine and Russia, Canada Soccer, its member associations and clubs will not compete at any level against Russia until sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored," Canada Soccer said in a statement.

 

https://www.timescol...n-clubs-5109712

[FogPub]

Well, FIFA did the right thing for a change...after being shamed into it.

[FogPub]

Three more days to wait to punch our Qatar ticket after an undeserved 0-1 loss to Costa Rica.  But unless there's a total collapse against Jamaica the celebration will be on home turf, so there is that.

[Victoria Watcher]

We win!

[Victoria Watcher]

Canada scored 3 goals enroute to a 4-0 win.



Canadian men qualify for 1st World Cup since 1986 with shutout victory on home soil

https://www.cbc.ca/s...ch-26-1.6399334

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 March 2022 - 02:40 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The historic win came 37 years after Canada qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with a 1-0 victory over Honduras on Sept. 14, 1985, in St. John's, N.L. That marked the Canadian men's lone trip to the soccer showcase, where they lost all three games without scoring a goal.

https://www.cbc.ca/s...ch-26-1.6399334

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 March 2022 - 05:35 PM.

[FogPub]

And now the question becomes one of whether Canada can do any damage in Qatar later this year.

 

If our main players stay healthy, on a good day I'm not sure anyone would want to play us.

[Victoria Watcher]

How does the World Cup 2022 draw work (April 1st)?

 

The 32 teams that qualify will be divided into four pots, based on the FIFA world rankings released on March 31. There will be a placeholder for the three slots that won't yet be decided.

 

Hosts Qatar will automatically join the seven other best-ranked teams as one of the top seeds and will be assigned to Group A as is customary at the FIFA World Cup.

 

Eight groups of four teams each (consisting of a team from each of the four pots) will be drawn for Groups A through H.

 

No group can have more than one team from each region except in the case of Europe (UEFA), for which the maximum limit per group is two European teams given the 13 spots assigned to European nations.

 

https://www.sporting...yc2vp2cdurjjf7u

 

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 March 2022 - 06:27 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0 and Poland saw off Sweden by the same score in play-off finals on Tuesday to book their places in the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.

https://amp.france24...up-finals-spots

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 March 2022 - 01:57 PM.

[m3m]

Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, and Cameroon also all qualified today.

 

Only 5 spots left. 

[FogPub]

For two of which the USA and Mexico are pretty much locks.  We won't know the other three until June.

[Victoria Watcher]

City hall won’t comment on costs of hosting 2026 World Cup matches in Vancouver

 

Toronto pegs price tag of hosting five games of international soccer tournament at $290 million.

 

The price for City of Vancouver to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be much higher than Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s proposed $5 million grant.

 

A City of Toronto staff report to the March 30 executive council meeting estimates hosting five matches could cost $290 million. Organizers of the joint U.S.-Canada-Mexico tournament are expected to name the 16 host cities in May.

 

Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal were among 23 candidates in the winning 2018 bid. Vancouver was excluded after the B.C. government couldn’t reach an agreement over extra costs to taxpayers at BC Place Stadium. When Montreal withdrew last July over rising costs, Premier John Horgan said his government had reopened talks with FIFA.

 

Toronto city officials estimate almost $94 million in direct costs to city taxpayers, so they are asking the Ontario and federal governments to cover two-thirds of the budget, or $177 million. They contemplate only $12.7 million revenue from FIFA.

 

 

https://www.timescol...ncouver-5209668

 

 

 

 

 

Never underestimate the ability of government to screw things up.  I understand there are significantly higher security costs, but Toronto probably hosts over 250 big events per year with massive crowds, with relatively little cost to taxpayers, except some extra policing and traffic control.  But 5 games costs nearly $60 million each?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 March 2022 - 06:04 AM.

[Mike K.]

Why the heck are we even playing these money games? Holy smokes, if people want to go watch grown men kick a ball around they can pay for it themselves.

Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal were among 23 candidates in the winning 2018 bid. Vancouver was excluded after the B.C. government couldn’t reach an agreement over extra costs to taxpayers at BC Place Stadium. When Montreal withdrew last July over rising costs, Premier John Horgan said his government had reopened talks with FIFA.

Why??

[Victoria Watcher]

Well, it's OK having the games, but why isn't there more revenue to pay for them?   From ticket sales and TV revenue.  The article says only $13M is provided by FIFA.

 

It seems to me that 55,000 at BC Place would generate over $22 million from tickets sales (average $400 per seat) per game.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 March 2022 - 06:16 AM.

[Mike K.]

These events seems to virtually always become losing propositions for taxpayers.

Don’t we have some highways to improve in our province? Do we really need to pay hundreds of millions to watch these silly games? Geez Louise.

[Victoria Watcher]

These events seems to virtually always become losing propositions for taxpayers.

Don’t we have some highways to improve in our province? Do we really need to pay hundreds of millions to watch these silly games? Geez Louise.

 

It's usually framed to be a big winning investment.   The kind of publicity for the city/country that you could never buy.  Yada yada.  

[Mike K.]

Yeah. Much good the Commonwealth games did us, ultimately.