Latest news with #BubbleWatchHub
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2026 World Cup Bubble Watch: Reigning champion Argentina breezes through qualifiers
Bubble Watch Hub | AFC | CAF | CONCACAF | OFC | UEFA World Cup expansion has taken the edge off many South American qualifiers. With 14 of 18 rounds played, all the big boys seem to be safe. Argentina clinched qualification Tuesday. Brazil and others could follow in June. But their places at the 2026 party aren't quite locked up. And below them, two nations who've never won a men's World Cup game, Venezuela and Bolivia, are fighting for a chance to make history. CONMEBOL World Cup berths: 6 (plus 1 intercontinental playoff berth) World Cup qualifying format: Simple. Ten teams, in a single table, play one another home and away. The top six qualify for the World Cup. Seventh place earns a journey to the intercontinental playoff. Standings | Schedule and results Qualified: ArgentinaConfident: Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, ParaguayBubble: Venezuela, BoliviaLong shots: Chile, PeruEliminated: None Winner: Paraguay — What a window for La Albirroja! Paraguay took four points, including one on the road in Colombia, and leapt into fifth place. Now, only a calamitous closing stretch — and an unforeseeable charge from Bolivia or Venezuela — could deny Paraguay a place in 2026. Loser: Colombia — They'll probably still qualify. But a heartbreaking loss in Brazil — to a 99th-minute Vinicius Jr. winner — and a blown lead at home to Paraguay have left Los Cafeteros only five points clear of the intercontinental playoff spot. Winner: Venezuela — A tight, tense 1-0 win over Peru was enough to lift La Vinotinto into seventh place. If they beat Bolivia on Matchday 15 at home — which they'll be favored to do — they'll have a four-point cushion.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2026 World Cup Bubble Watch: Watered down CONCACAF qualifying resumes in June
Bubble Watch Hub | AFC | CAF | CONMEBOL | OFC | UEFA CONCACAF World Cup qualifying was on hiatus in March, as the national teams of North and Central America and the Caribbean competed in Nations League finals and for spots in this summer's Gold Cup. It will resume in June, but it's been watered down by the fact that the 2026 World Cup's three co-hosts — Canada, Mexico and the United States — have all qualified automatically. World Cup qualifying format: After a four-team play-in round to shave the field from 32 to 30, those 30 were divided into six groups of five. The top two in each group will advance to a decisive third round, where the 12 second-round survivors will be drawn into three groups of four. The three winners of those groups qualify for the World Cup, and the two best runners-up head to the intercontinental playoffs. Standings | Schedule and results Qualified: Canada, Mexico, United States (all automatically)Confident: NoneBubble: Honduras, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Jamaica, Suriname, El SalvadorLong shot: Cuba, Cayman Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Aruba, Barbados, Guyana, Montserrat, Belize, Dominican Republic, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, AnguillaEliminated: U.S. Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2026 World Cup Bubble Watch: New Zealand books Oceania's only ticket to North American tournament
Bubble Watch Hub | AFC | CAF | CONCACAF | CONMEBOL | UEFA New Zealand clinched Oceania's only guaranteed berth at the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 victory over New Caledonia in Monday's OFC qualifying final. New Caledonia, which beat Tahiti in last week's semifinals, will go to the intercontinental playoffs, and is therefore still alive. But, as the 152nd-ranked team in the world, it will be a heavy underdog. World Cup qualifying results Qualified: New ZealandLong shots: New CaledoniaEliminated: Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
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2026 World Cup Bubble Watch: Japan, Iran become Asia's first teams to qualify
Bubble Watch Hub | CAF | CONCACAF | CONMEBOL | OFC | UEFA Japan last week became the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Iran joined the Samurai Blue on Tuesday. The rest of Asia will have to wait until the final window of third-round qualifiers in June to book tickets — either to the World Cup or a last-chance fourth round. Entering that final window, 15 countries remain alive for six more guaranteed places at next summer's tournament. Four of those places will be filled by June. The other two will be awarded in the fall, via the fourth round (explained below). World Cup berths: 8 (plus 1 intercontinental playoff berth) World Cup qualifying format: It's complicated. A first round whittled the field down from 46 to 36. A second round, featuring groups of four, cut it in half to 18. In the ongoing third round, those 18 teams were seeded and drawn into three groups of six. The top two in each group qualify for the World Cup. The next two — so six teams in total — go to a fourth round, or second-chance round, where they're split into two groups of three. The winner of each fourth-round group also qualifies. The runners-up go to a playoff for a place in the intercontinental playoff. So, yeah … complicated. Standings | Schedule and results Qualified: Japan, IranConfident: Uzbekistan, South Korea, JordanBubble: Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, UAE, Qatar, Iraq, OmanLong shots: Bahrain, China, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, KuwaitEliminated: North Korea, Mongolia, Maldives, Guam, Sri Lanka, Macau, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Brunei, Bhutan, Laos, India, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Philippines, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Nepal, Lebanon, Bangladesh Winner: Australia — Wins over Indonesia and China put the Aussies on solid ground in second place. Their June schedule is tough — vs. Japan, at third-place Saudi Arabia — but their three-point advantage over the Saudis entering the home stretch could prove decisive. Losers: China and Bahrain — Both marched into March with a realistic shot at direct qualification. Both limped out of the window with two losses and waning hopes of even reaching the fourth round. Winner: Jordan — Four points, including one at South Korea, have Jordan in pole position for a direct qualification spot in Group B. A win over Iraq would be sufficient — no matter how their first game of the June window, at Oman, plays out. Loser: Iraq — Held a 1-0 lead for most of Tuesday's game against Palestine, then threw it away. Palestine's 88th-minute equalizer and 97th-minute winner knocked Iraq out of the top two, for now, behind Jordan.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2026 World Cup Bubble Watch: No surprises in Europe's qualifiers, but March results set early tone
Bubble Watch Hub | AFC | CAF | CONCACAF | CONMEBOL | OFC European World Cup qualifying soft-launched in March. It won't kick into full gear until September, but six of the 12 groups — the ones with five teams, as opposed to four — are underway. Thus far, there have been no surprises. England took six points from its first two games. The rest of the top seeds will join the fray in June and September. In total, 16 European countries will qualify, the most from any single confederation ever. World Cup berths: 16 World Cup qualifying format: Europe's 54 eligible nations were split into 12 groups of four or five teams apiece. After a double round robin, the winner of each group qualifies for the World Cup. The runners-up, plus the four best-ranked teams remaining from a separate UEFA competition, the Nations League, go to playoffs — where they'd have to win two knockout matches to claim one of Europe's last four World Cup spots. Standings | Schedule and results Qualified: NoneConfident: Spain, France, England, Germany, PortugalBubble: Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Wales, Serbia, Scotland, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Slovenia, Greece, Ukraine, Iceland, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway, Israel, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, MontenegroLong shots: Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Belarus, Armenia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Cyprus, Moldova, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Faroe Islands, GibraltarEliminated: NoneBanned: Russia Winner: Norway — In perhaps the most consequential game of the March window, Norway put four past Israel on Tuesday. It also trounced Moldova, and announced itself as the challenger to Italy in Group I. Winner: Bosnia and Herzegovina — A 1-0 win at Romania gave the Bosnians an early leg up in Group H. Austria is still favored to top that quintet, but Bosnia established itself as a contender — perhaps for the top spot, and definitely for a playoff place.
