WC 26 INTERCONFEDERATION PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

WC 26 INTERCONFEDERATION PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

The Bolivia - Suriname - Iraq path will be entertaining to watch. The other seems like a foregone conclusion: Jamaica will beat New Caledonia and DR Congo will beat Jamaica. It would be really anticlimatic if DR Congo gets eliminated after bottling a 2-0 up vs Senegal and then eliminated Cameroon and Nigeria

I just don't want the altitude merchants in the World Cup, at least Iraq earned their way here through the AFC qualifiers. Of course the Bolivians will have to go through Suriname first which is far from a foregone conclusion. DRC really should be able to take out this meh Jamaica team, I would think.

1500m are nothing. Only 2500m and above is when altitude can start having an effect on a trained athlete.Serious question, Have you ever seen athletes play sports in Denver? I think most of them would tell you that it is definitely not the same as most other cities in the USA.

to me, bolivia are favorites here. they play at altitude in mexico which is kind of a home team advantage plus maybe their fanbase. also FIFA rankings is kind of unfair to them. they usually face strong oppositions in many more matches in south america than Iraq does which contributes to their slightly worse rank. o a sode note, none of the IC PO teams had played at a world cup in this century! last participation was Jamaica 1998.

Monterrey is the bigger stadium so it makes sense they scheduled the paths the way they did. Jamaica and New Caledonia may have like what, 5K? Unless the locals get cheap tickets or something.

are these games home and away or at a neutral site?games will be in Mexico

to me, bolivia are favorites here. they play at altitude in mexico which is kind of a home team advantage plus maybe their fanbase. also FIFA rankings is kind of unfair to them. they usually face strong oppositions in many more matches in south america than Iraq does which contributes to their slightly worse rank. o a sode note, none of the IC PO teams had played at a world cup in this century! last participation was Jamaica 1998.DR Congo/Zaire 1974 Iraq 1986 Bolivia 1994 Jamaica 1998 Suriname and New Caledonia have never qualified. Bolivia are the only one to have participated on multiple occasions although 1994 was the only time they qualified on merit.

Random ass prediction: DR Congo & Suriname (at least, these are the teams I am hoping for)

Looking at Iraq highlights, they do not really look all that much better than Bolivia or Suriname. They had a few lucky bounces against UAE to even make it into this tournament.We were very lucky against UAE tbh. But we went through a lot of changes. Our former coach Casas screwed things up badly. Every match we had 6-7 changes and he had some mind boggling callups. Graham Arnold is basically fixing the mess he left behind and I feel that we are improving every game. It just needs time and good preparation but I feel that on our best day like during the last Asian Cup we can do the job.

Monterrey is the bigger stadium so it makes sense they scheduled the paths the way they did. Jamaica and New Caledonia may have like what, 5K? Unless the locals get cheap tickets or something.Are there any high-quality smaller stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey? If there are, they ought to use them instead of the giants that will be used in the World Cup proper.

Looking at Iraq highlights, they do not really look all that much better than Bolivia or Suriname. They had a few lucky bounces against UAE to even make it into this tournament.

Bolivia is the best of the lot but I am rooting hard for Jamaica. I am glad they are on different paths.Bolivia is praying they play in Guadalajara (5,138 feet elevation) and not Monterrey (1,770 feet elevation). They stink outside of Bolivia and the high altitude of La Paz (11,940 feet) or El Alto (13,615).

Bolivia beat very good teams like Colombia and Brasil to get in. Sure, they used their home field advantage to the extreme but they should not be criticized and hated for it. Not sure Iraq could have done anything to beat those two type of teams or similar quality of teams, but they would have found any way to use an advantage if they could.

The Iraq, Bolivia, Suriname path is very open. I think Iraq is better tactically than the other two teams. They position themselves better on the pitch and are more organized as a team. Suriname have more players in Europe, and Bolivia are used to facing strong teams. It’s difficult to guess who will advance. I watched Suriname’s home match against Guatemala, and it really wasn’t impressive. These will be close matches, and they could very well be decided by who wants it the most and who sacrifices themselves the most on the pitch. Here, I know that Iraq are passionate and will give everything for their country. Bolivia are also passionate, but sometimes far too over-aggressive, which also results in red cards. I don’t know if Suriname are as passionate as the others. Many of their players were born in Europe and would prefer to play for the Netherlands.

New Caledonia will win against Jamaica