France beat Gibraltar 14-0 last night to set a new record for the biggest win in Euro qualifying history.
Congratulations to them and some of those goals were almost like they were doing flicks and tricks on the training ground.
But let's be honest. France and Gibraltar are literally worlds apart in football. One team is full of world class superstars and the other is pretty much a side full of amateur footballers.
And this is where FIFA/ UEFA come in ...
Countries like Gibraltar , Malta , the Fairies Islands , San Marino , Andorra , Lichtenstein , Moldova , Luxembourg , etc.. have literally nothing to look forward to in international football and their fans have zero hope of ever watching their country in the Euros or the World cup at all. It just doesn't seem right.
These smaller nations should all be in the same qualifying group for an international competition to battle each other out and therefore have a fair chance to finish top. The winners of this group will then go into a one match playoff for a chance to qualify to the World Cup or the Euros.
This would give football fans in those countries finally something to look forward to and get excited for their national teams.
A few years ago , I remember Australia were absolutely wiping the floors with the likes of Vanuatu , Tonga , Fiji and others in Oceania qualifiers and FIFA had to step in and move Australia to the Asian Confederation to face better competition.
So they can indeed make these decisions to make the game more competitive.
But we all know it's all about the money with FIFA and other footballing bodies out there.
San Marino v Gibraltar for example will not generate nearly as much revenue as England v Malta at Wembley or France v Gibraltar.
And ultimately that's what it's all about I'm afraid.
FIFA and UEFA
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
Turkey were whipping boys in the 80s. Two major semis since then.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by Robb - Glenn Maxwell. Legend. Hero. Icon. (U22716)
posted 4 hours, 32 minutes ago
When I was a kid playing tracksuit manager on the Atari ST Luxembourg were the Gibraltar of their day.
On Friday they beat Bosnia 4-1 so sometimes exposure to playing against better sides can make a side improve.
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Luxembourg has a population of 640,000, Gibraltar has 34,000, Bosnia 3.3m - Luxembourg are closer to Bosnia than Gibraltar by some distance. The entirety of Gibraltar could watch Everton at Goodison every week - it’s night and day
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 3 hours, 59 minutes ago
Countries like Gibraltar , Malta , the Fairies Islands , San Marino , Andorra , Lichtenstein , Moldova , Luxembourg , etc.. have literally nothing to look forward to in international football and their fans have zero hope of ever watching their country in the Euros
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BTW, Moldova are a win away from qualifying for Euro 24 and Luxembourg are in the play-offs.
Wasn't long ago Latvia were at a Euros, when it was far harder to qualify as a minnow, and North Macedonia were there last time despite being among the bottom ranked teams.
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Kazakhstan have a serious chance as well. But again the populations of Moldova and Latvia are 2.5m and 1.8m.
Countries with less than 100,000 people don’t stand a chance of ever really improving - what the likelihood 20 decent internationals come through in a similar time period when you have a population of 34,000 and your professional league is one notch above Sunday league standard
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by Cinciwolf----Old Trafford record attendance.....WOLVES V GRIMSBY. .......lolz (U11551)
posted 1 hour, 48 minutes ago
Turkey were whipping boys in the 80s. Two major semis since then.
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85m people in Turkey - the bigger mystery is why it took so long
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 3 hours, 19 minutes ago
comment by Mamba - Come at the King, you best not miss (U1282)
posted 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
comment by Robb - Glenn Maxwell. Legend. Hero. Icon. (U22716)
posted 11 minutes ago
When I was a kid playing tracksuit manager on the Atari ST Luxembourg were the Gibraltar of their day.
On Friday they beat Bosnia 4-1 so sometimes exposure to playing against better sides can make a side improve.
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Luxembourg have actually done very well for themselves in these qualifiers.
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Also Albania have qualified
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2.8m people
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by Striketeam7 - There used to be a football club... (U18109)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 3 hours, 59 minutes ago
Countries like Gibraltar , Malta , the Fairies Islands , San Marino , Andorra , Lichtenstein , Moldova , Luxembourg , etc.. have literally nothing to look forward to in international football and their fans have zero hope of ever watching their country in the Euros
------
BTW, Moldova are a win away from qualifying for Euro 24 and Luxembourg are in the play-offs.
Wasn't long ago Latvia were at a Euros, when it was far harder to qualify as a minnow, and North Macedonia were there last time despite being among the bottom ranked teams.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kazakhstan have a serious chance as well. But again the populations of Moldova and Latvia are 2.5m and 1.8m.
Countries with less than 100,000 people don’t stand a chance of ever really improving - what the likelihood 20 decent internationals come through in a similar time period when you have a population of 34,000 and your professional league is one notch above Sunday league standard
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I was replying to a comment that mentioned Moldova and Luxembourg had no chance of ever qualifying for a Euros...
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Striketeam7 - There used to be a football club... (U18109)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 3 hours, 59 minutes ago
Countries like Gibraltar , Malta , the Fairies Islands , San Marino , Andorra , Lichtenstein , Moldova , Luxembourg , etc.. have literally nothing to look forward to in international football and their fans have zero hope of ever watching their country in the Euros
------
BTW, Moldova are a win away from qualifying for Euro 24 and Luxembourg are in the play-offs.
Wasn't long ago Latvia were at a Euros, when it was far harder to qualify as a minnow, and North Macedonia were there last time despite being among the bottom ranked teams.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kazakhstan have a serious chance as well. But again the populations of Moldova and Latvia are 2.5m and 1.8m.
Countries with less than 100,000 people don’t stand a chance of ever really improving - what the likelihood 20 decent internationals come through in a similar time period when you have a population of 34,000 and your professional league is one notch above Sunday league standard
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was replying to a comment that mentioned Moldova and Luxembourg had no chance of ever qualifying for a Euros...
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Wasn’t trying to diminish you in anyway was just trying to make a point in general. For me, if your population is less than 100,000 then play your own tournament - what benefit is there in having France embarrass you on the world stage
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
Not sure if they review teams, but in reality San Marino shouldn't be involved. UEFA turned down Jersey and Guernsey, both of whom have bigger pools of players to pick from.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 52 seconds ago
Not sure if they review teams, but in reality San Marino shouldn't be involved. UEFA turned down Jersey and Guernsey, both of whom have bigger pools of players to pick from.
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Jersey and Guernsey didn't include brown envelopes in their applications.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
San Marino is a indiependant sovereign state
Has evry rite 2 have there own team