San Marino were beaten 9-0 by Belgium yesterday in Brussels.
Yes ... 9-0
Nations like San Marino , Malta , the Faroes Islands and others should be able to enjoy football as much as everyone else.
Fans in those countries have literally no reason to watch their national teams or get excited about football.
This is just not right. This is not fair.
Players in this small nations mean well and want to try as hard as they can to achieve some level of success but they just do not have the motivation and perhaps the support system that they need.
We all got tired of seeing Australia have their way in WC qualifiers against the likes of Vanuatu , Tonga and Samoa with ridiculous scores like 32-0.
FIFA stepped in and thankfully put a stop to that nonsense.
They moved Australia over to the Asia region where they have much better competition.
So my question to you lads is , what could FIFA or UEFA possibly do to give European minnows even the slightest of chance to actually dream of ever qualifying for a major tournament?
Maybe lump them all in one qualifying group every two years and only the top team get to qualify. That would be exciting and it'd finally give the fans in those countries a reason to watch and support their national teams and dare to dream about seeing them in the World Cup or the Euros.
Thoughts?
FIFA must do something
posted on 12/10/19
comment by There'sOnlyOneRed's (U1721)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Shugs (U14253)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Mason The King Greenwood (U10026)
posted 3 minutes ago
That’s still over ten times the population of the countries I named, Shugs.
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I know but who gets to decide where the line gets drawn
They'll always be whipping boys but if they have a national football association they're entitled to play as anyone else
I don't agree with having a qualifying system changed to help them either
I think their FAs are more concerned with their domestic clubs and getting money from UEFA qualifying rounds to fund it than they are about making an impact internationally tbh.
They're only other option internationally is CONIFA... Games against Padania or tv money from England visiting?
If we're going by population size tho... Thats a miss match too... Padania is bigger than NI Scotland Wales and ROI put together
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Wtf is Padania?
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14 regions of Northern Italy... They have an independence movement, think there was a vote or poll a while back and nearly 4 million wanted to break away from Italy
posted on 12/10/19
I’m not saying they aren’t entitled to play. I’m saying there should be a pre qualifying so they can play other poor teams on their level rather than just getting smashed every game.
posted on 12/10/19
comment by Mason The King Greenwood (U10026)
posted 5 seconds ago
I’m not saying they aren’t entitled to play. I’m saying there should be a pre qualifying so they can play other poor teams on their level rather than just getting smashed every game.
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Legally tho... If they're full members as they are at present they have to be allowed to play and fail to qualify like everyone else... Whether they should be full members is probably the real point
Their argument is you run the risk of nations never developing though... They'll point to Iceland and its development (while having half the population of Luxembourg who've done feck all)... How Turkey often used to get chinned 8-0 in the 80s
While countries of that size and population aren't ever going to qualify, if they're full members of uefa they can't be treated any differently.
Again tho, i think their membership is more about their clubs playing in European comps than a national team. (200k or so just for qualifying for the 1st qualifying round is big money for a part-time team)
Maybe the answer is a different membership tier... Entry to nations league but not full qualifying... And fifa to organise a world cup for smaller nations (CONIFA style but with real countries) so they can be competitive in some respect
Now they are in i can't see it being changed... Other smaller nations will support them to protect their own interests
posted on 12/10/19
I’m not sure it matters. If UEFA organise qualifying then membership doesn’t dictate when it’s organised on the basis of ranking. The nations league and club competition shows this.
It won’t happen, of course. But not for any legal reasons or altruism. UEFA just want more money. He ce the farce that is Euro 2020.
posted on 12/10/19
There is nothing legally to stop UEFA putting in pre-qualifiers.
posted on 12/10/19
comment by D'Jeezus Xhakaroni (c) (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
There is nothing legally to stop UEFA putting in pre-qualifiers.
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Under current regulations there is
A change of regulations needs either a member vote... In which turkeys won't vote for Christmas... And smaller and mid sized nations won't vote out their best chances of qualifying (beating minnows and similar ranked nations while hoping bigger nations beat each other and drop silly points somewhere)
Or uefa executive Committee could decide to implement it... Against the wishes of the people who voted them onto the gravy train
Bigger nations don't want more competitive qualifiers... To much money involved in the summer tournaments
posted on 12/10/19
comment by Mason The King Greenwood (U10026)
posted 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
I’m not sure it matters. If UEFA organise qualifying then membership doesn’t dictate when it’s organised on the basis of ranking. The nations league and club competition shows this.
It won’t happen, of course. But not for any legal reasons or altruism. UEFA just want more money. He ce the farce that is Euro 2020.
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Club and international competition set ups can't really be compared...
Clubs don't want to face minnows as there's no money in it...
Big international sides don't want to face other big international sides in case they miss out on big money from the tournament stage
The nations league is just a tv money grab for the summers without tournaments... It's probably organised the right way re seedings and cannon fodder getting the chance of being something more... But unless its seriously pushed over the next decade and gets close to the interest or glamour of the euros etc it's just a filler and a pain for club sides releasing players
posted on 12/10/19
Yeah nothing will be done about it, I agree.
posted on 13/10/19
I'd just have tiered qualifiers. Nothing wrong with that IMO.
After all you have to finish in a highish position in the PL to qualify for Europe so see no reason why the same principle can't apply in internationals. For example no one is saying Accrington don't have the right to play in the CL but they would have to move up the leagues first before getting their chance through the PL.
posted on 14/10/19
On the other hand OP, they could proud nations who love seeing their teams play against some of the worlds best players. International football means different things to different nations. For some, just existing in itself an achievement