Should teams like Andorra be in the World Cup?

[nevergoagain]

Of course they should!

Its a WORLD cup qualifier so EVERY nation in the world that can raise a team is entitled to their right to try and qualify for a competition the are allowed to play in!

Its just this is the way that the european qualifiers are organised.

You're honestly telling me that if you were born in San Marino and could play football well enough to play for their national side, you'd say 'no we must pre-qualify for our right to play at wembley'? BULL!

World cup for every nation in the world.

Totally agree, who are we to decide that other nations must go through additional rounds to qualify. It's a world cup so all eligible nations should start on an equal footing.

Yes most of these teams will likely get hammered a lot of the time but there have been more than a few massive upsets over the years to justify their inclusion.

If you are moaning about having to pay £30/£40 to watch an easy game, then don't go. Simple. I bet the kids there absolutely loved it last night.

 

[JJ McClure]

Agree with IndianaPaul and nevergoagain.
This IS the qualifying stages of the competition. To make the lower ranked sides have to qualify for the qualifiers is quite frankly bullshit.
Every nation no matter how good has the same chance to qualify via the standard recognised format.
As said, if you don't like it then don't watch it. I expect the 60,000 at Wembley last night quite enjoyed seeing a 6 goal victory.

 

[Mendoza]

Of course every nation should be allowed. It gives people a chance to play on the biggest stage, so why take that away from them?

As JJ McClure said, this is the qualifying round, not an actual tournament. This is the stage where the shit get removed, and the elite make it to the "big event." Yes you get one sided games, but you get hard games to balance it out. Its not like every game is like this (although looking at 7 wins from 7, you could argue against it)

They call it the beautiful game, and a universal language, so let it be

 

[seagulls4ever]

YES. Would be totally unfair to remove them. Each team should start on equal footing, regardless of quality. Also, these types of matches bring in some much needed revenue for these smaller nations, which can only be a good thing.

 

[Wozza]

So would you pay £30+ for a ticket to watch England vs Vatican City State at Wembley, in a World Cup qualifier ?

Well 50,000 or so idiots paid last night, so I'm sure the English FA don't mind playing minnows/extra games.

 

[Husty]

would you say the same if the FA Cup became a top one or even top two division league competition

Is the right answer...

 

[house your seagull]

what's the BNP's stance on this?

 

[Giraffe]

I've been banging on about this for YONKS.

Your Faroes Isles / Luxembourgs / Lichtensteins / Andorras / San Marinos should ABSOLUTELY have to pre-qualify before earning a place in a professional World Cup / European Championship qualifying group. They have NO RIGHT, as amatuers, to walk out at Wembley, Turin, the Bernabeu, etc stright off the cuff to clog up these groups against proper footballing nations.

I've had enough of the non-event, one-sided spectacles we saw again tonight. They turned up and (predictably) hardly got out of their own half. Thats not SPORT, its pointless, predictable humiliation. Anyone paying £30+ for that was a mug.

By all means include junk like Andorra in World Cup qualifiers, but for fucks sake, make them battle through against teams of similar stature before chucking them out at Wembley and calling it a "World Cup Qualifier". If you're ranked outside the top 100 nations, you do not BELONG on that stage unless you've done something to earn it.

Pathetic.

Totally agree. These small countries make a mockery of the competition. If they had battled through past other similar nations then perhaps they would show a bit more fight than they did last night.

It's like declaring Worthing an independent country and entering them. Absolute nonsense.

 

[Easy 10]

I stand by my views.
Last night was a farce of a game. Andorra, as a nation, do not deserve to walk straight into a proper qualifying group. They are pointless cannon fodder who are simply unable to come anywhere CLOSE to competing with even the weakest of opposition. As a sporting spectacle it was a complete joke, as everyone knew it would be, and anyone who thinks its worthwhile having the likes of Andorra in a World Cup qualifying group wants their rocks felt.

They were also officially the DIRTIEST team in Europe in the qualifying group for the 2008 Euros. How would people have felt if one of their amatuer cloggers had booted Rooney out of the game for 6 months ?

Get rid. They're a waste of space.

 

[Little Piggy]

Last time we played Andorra it ended up 2-0 after a scrappy game, and it was 0-0 at half time. I wouldn't be so quick to scoff at other countries abilities.

 

[sten_super]

I'm with Easy and others. These games are entirely pointless.

We're not talking about removing them from the competition completely; just make them qualify. If Brighton want to win the FA cup, they have to play in the first and second round against similar leveled teams. If we win those games, we get the chance to play against the big boys in the third round. The same idea should be applied to the European Championships.

They should still have a CHANCE to play at Wembley; but it shouldn't be handed to them on a plate. Certainly something needs to be done, as there are a ridiculous number of teams in the 'European' Championships and it's far too bloated. Look at where places like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are on a map. How is that 'Europe', even in the loosest sense of the word?

 

[The Uninvited Guest]

Yes they should be. Small teams beat bigger ones. Colchester V Leeds, Brighton V Walton, Brighton v Leatherhead and so on. Most recently who would have thaught that England would be beaten by The Neatherlands at cricket

 

[sten_super]

Yes they should be. Small teams beat bigger ones. Colchester V Leeds, Brighton V Walton, Brighton v Leatherhead and so on. Most recently who would have thaught that England would be beaten by The Neatherlands at cricket

But the Netherlands had to qualify to earn the right to face England.

 

[Uter]

Last time we played Andorra it ended up 2-0 after a scrappy game, and it was 0-0 at half time. I wouldn't be so quick to scoff at other countries abilities.

Quite.

We could have easily ended up with football pie all over our face.

And I quite enjoy watching England banging in a few goals, even if the opposition is terrible.

 

[Mendoza]

But the Netherlands had to qualify to earn the right to face England.

And Andorra have to qualify to earn a place in the World Cup, the same as what Netherlands did in the cricket version.

 

[Easy 10]

Last time we played Andorra it ended up 2-0 after a scrappy game, and it was 0-0 at half time. I wouldn't be so quick to scoff at other countries abilities.

Whoop de do. It was still yet another forgone conclusion. Just because we didn't rack up a cricket score, didn't make the game any less of a non-event formality. I'll remind you again of Andorra's International playing record over the 10 years they have been "competing" :

P85 W3 D9 L73 F28 A237

whats
the
point

 

[drew]

I afraid I believe they should pre-qualify. They could have a qualifying group for a world cup during the year and half that the top teams are qualifying for the Euro championship. The winner of the pre-qualifying group then goes into the draw for the world cup qualifying group. For arguements sake, let's say there are 10 small teams. They could have two pre-qualifying groups and the top 2 of each group go through to the (for want of a better word) real qualifying tournament. Then, during the 'real' world cup qualifying tournament the 'minnows' are doing a pre-qualifying tournament for the next Euro championship.

We have pre-qualifying for the FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League, Uefa Cup (or whatever it is next season) so why not the world cup and Euro championship. They are all entitled to be in the tournament just that they start at different stages.

 

[sten_super]

And Andorra have to qualify to earn a place in the World Cup, the same as what Netherlands did in the cricket version.

It's not really a great comparison to be fair, as England didn't have to qualify for the tournament (nor did any of the other 'good' teams). My point was that Netherlands had to beat teams of a similar quality in a tournament before they got the chance to play the big teams, they were not handed it on a plate.

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

So would you pay £30+ for a ticket to watch England vs Vatican City State at Wembley, in a World Cup qualifier ?

No I wouldn't but I would pay a fiver to go and see it. The issue you highlight here is cost, not whether the country shoudl be playing or not.

I thought that the whole point of qualifiers was so that teams like Andorra woudln't get to the Wolrd Cup.

So now we want qualifiers for qualifiers?

Rather than groups knockouts would be simpler, more practical. However, then woudl the smaller countries get enough competitive games to survive?

 

[Shoreham Beach Seagull]

I just can't see the point in playing a team that won't even try to score, they are playing just to concede less goals as they can, is there a point to it?