World Cup qualification. Tuesday fixtures.

Leon Smolski — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 09:43:58 +0000

Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Switzerland have already secured participation in the World Cup. Tomorrow we will know the remaining four automatic qualifiers as well as eight squads to go through play-off ties.

Group A
Now that Belgium have secured the top spot in the group, the final round is a mere formality.

Belgium vs Wales
Serbia vs Macedonia
Scotland vs Croatia

Group B
Four teams are competing for the second spot in the group with Denmark favorites as they host Malta in Copenhagen. Armenia travel to Italy while Bulgaria and Czech Republic meet in Sofia.

Italy vs Armenia
Bulgaria vs Czech Republic
Denmark vs Malta

Group C
All six squads know their final places with Germany in Brazil and Sweden heading for play-offs and tuesday matches turn into friendlies.

Sweden vs Germany
Republic of Ireland vs Kazakhstan
Faroe Islands vs Austria

Group D
Turkey, Romania and Hungary fight for the runner-up position and must win on last night. However, Turkey meet in-form Netherlands, while Romania and Hungary are likely to get easy points against Estonia and Andorra.

Turkey vs Netherlands
Hungary vs Andorra
Romania vs Estonia

Group E
Iceland and Slovenia must win their respective matches against Norway and Switzerland to keep hopes of qualifying through play-off. Iceland could also go with one point if Slovenia fail to get three in Bern.

Cyprus vs Albania
Switzerland vs Slovenia
Norway vs Iceland

Group F
Portugal have all but lost the chances of automatic qualification after drawing with Israel last Friday. However, Russia still need one point against Azerbaijan to stay safe at the top of the group.

Portugal vs Luxembourg
Israel vs Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan vs Russia

Group G
Bosnia and Herzegovina have a much better goal difference than Greece but need to get three points in Kaunas to celebrate a historic qualification to the World Cup.

Latvia vs Slovakia
Lithuania vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Greece vs Liechtenstein

Group H
England are one win from the World Cup but still need to beat Poland at Wembley to finish ahead of Ukraine who face San Marino.

San Marino vs Ukraine
England vs Poland
Montenegro vs Moldova

Group I
Spain have all but qualified after beating Belarus on Friday but technically still need a point from the match against Georgia to secure the first spot. France match against Finland will likely be the preparation for play-off ties in November.

Spain vs Georgia
France vs Finland

Top 5 former Yugoslav football national teams

Leon Smolski — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:14:47 +0000

They might not be the most consistent countries in world football, but they never grant easy life for their rivals whatsoever, that’s for sure! They are former Yugoslav countries.

Let’s check what our users think of the national squads from the Balkans.

19. Croatia

The most successful Balkan team that has missed only one World Cup and one European Cup since obtaining eligibility to enter those tournaments. It took the squad only five years from being accepted to FIFA to get their first medals at World Cup 1998. Guided by Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban and Slaven Bilić the Croatians beat favorites Germany and the Netherlands to claim a stunning third place. They never managed to repeat that success but have remained a solid powerhouse in world football and compete for another Brazil World Cup qualification.

20. Montenegro

The youngest of all international squads, formed in 2006, Montenegro have almost made it to Euro 2012 but lost to the Czech Republic in the play-offs. Before that they competed in a united squad of Serbia & Montenegro. In the current campaign to 2014 World Cup the small Balkan state takes a challenge to outlast England, Poland and Ukraine. Mirko Vučinić, Stevan Jovetić are the leaders of the squad.

28. Serbia

After a brilliant generation of Predrag Mijatović, Dragan Stojković, Siniša Mihajlović, Dejan Savićević, Savo Milošević that dominated in 1990s Serbia is struggling to get back to its former shine, although the likes of Branislav Ivanović, Aleksandar Kolarov, Neven Subotić and Nemanja Vidić helped them to make it through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and beat the favorites Germany.

64. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Arguably the most underestimated national team in FootballTop user ranking. Guided by brilliant forwards Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibišević Bosnia and Herzegovina reached the play-offs to Euro 2012 but had to concede to Portugal. They are currently topping the qualifying group to the World Cup in Brazil and come close to their first big tournament.

75. Slovenia

Slovenia has so far qualified for two World Cups (2002 and 2010) and one European championship (2000). After they eliminated Russia in the play-off they participated in the World Championship in South Africa where they managed to get a victory over Algeria and draw with the United States.

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World Cup qualification. Tuesday fixtures.

Top 5 former Yugoslav football national teams