Basically...
That's the way it used to be when you had a few groups with six teams and a few with five, the 2nd placed sides in groups with six had their result against the bottom side removed, but now that all of the groups have six teams don't they just round up the points totals as is?
They have a play-off round. Just someone has to miss out on the play-offs for the system to work.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Arena is hot trash. He reeks. He’d never have been rehired if it wasn’t for Gulati and his MLS buddies though. I’d like to be able to see us get to a point where we can be competitive in a World Cup. That’s never going to happen with them in charge. I think it’s possible we don’t qualify. Panama can definitely get a result tonight. I can also see Mexico laying down against Honduras and doing the opposite of what we did for them in the last round of qualifying. It probably won’t happen but it’s not impossible.
As a Welshman I'm hoping that you are completely right. Another win on Monday will see us in to the playoffs
CONMEBOL will come to a nailbiting conclusion next week. 5 teams vying for 2 direct qualification spots (Brazil and Uruguay already qualified). Argentina in massive trouble and have to win in the high altitude of Ecuador or they're out. Two really good footballing nations like Chile and Colombia are also in danger. Paraguay and Peru were the big underdogs, but finishing at home is a tremendous opportunity. These are the final fixtures
Brazil v Chile
Ecuador v Argentina
Uruguay v Bolivia
Paraguay v Venezuela
Peru v Colombia
Standings:
http://www.goal.com/en/wc-qualification-south-america/table/2db0aw1duj2my9l5iey5gm6nq
Only Uruguay-Bolivia is a dead rubber as the former is already qualified and Bolivia have nothing to play for.
Can't wait to see how it pans out
No open draw, it will be seeded. Which sucks.
There's no chance of Argentina missing the tournament next year, though. if they finish 5th in the CONMEBOL section, they'll have a two-legged play-off against NZ.
But if they don't beat Ecuador they'll likely be sixth and lose out.
I have to admit that I haven't seen the CONMEBOL table for a few weeks, and I didn't realise that Argentina was in danger of finishing 6th. That would be a real bummer if they even missed the cut for the play-off with NZ.
Three draws and a loss in their last four. 16 goals in 17 qualifiers. Something's gone very wrong there.
I don't know what their defence is like (probably mediocre to poor), but with players like those, they should be scoring enough goals to get the necessary points.
