International Football
THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS IN NUMBERS
335 – thousand is the rough population that makes Iceland easily the smallest nation to reach a World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago, which had a 1.3 million population in 2006, had previously held this distinction.
98 was Saudi Arabia’s position on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking when they kicked off their triumphant qualification campaign. Chile were fourth just four months ago, but failed to make the 32-team field.
90 was Switzerland’s win percentage in Group B, yet they only finished as its runners-up. Never had a European team registered a win percentage as high but not qualified directly for the World Cup. Portugal’s 2-0 win in their final outing ended Switzerland’s 27-game unbeaten run in World Cup preliminaries.
41 points is what Brazil managed – the second-highest in a South American qualifying campaign. Juan Sebastian Veron, Ariel Ortega, Hernan Crespo and Gabriel Batistuta helped Argentina reach Korea/Japan 2002 with 43 points. After Tite assumed the reins of the stuttering Seleção, they became the first South American side to win nine successive World Cup preliminaries.
39 was the sensational goal difference Germany managed (43 goals for; four against) to set an all-time record in UEFA qualifying. Joachim Low’s men won all ten of their matches to become the only team from any confederation to reach Russia with a perfect record.
32 years had passed since the Netherlands failed to qualify for back-to-back tournaments until they followed up missing out on UEFA EURO 2016 by finishing third in their Russia 2018 qualification group.
28 years: that is the World Cup absence Egypt will end in Russia. Since last appearing at the global finals in 1990, the Pharaohs have curiously won four CAF Africa Cup of Nations crowns.
21 goals is what makes Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez the joint-leading marksmen in South American qualifying history. At the start of the 2018 preliminaries, Messi and Suarez had 14 and 16 respectively, behind Ivan Zamorano (17), Marcelo Salas (18) and record-holder Hernan Crespo (19).
17 goals is what USA registered in the Hexagonal – more than any other team – yet they finished fifth and missed out on qualifying for an eighth consecutive World Cup.
16 goals, scored in just ten appearances, is what made Poland’s Robert Lewandowski the leading marksman, across all confederations (level with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Sahlawi and UAE’s Ahmed Khalil), in Russia 2018 qualifying. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who was one goal shy, was Lewandowski’s nearest challenger in Europe. Both broke the previous record tally in a UEFA qualifying campaign held by Yugoslavia’s Predrag Mijatovic (14).
12 consecutive World Cup qualifying clean sheets is what Iran became the first team from any confederation to record. Team Melli’s run eventually ended, after 18 hours and 41 minutes, and when they had already secured a ticket to Russia, in their final outing against Syria.
9 straight World Cups is what Korea Republic will appear in next year – after participating in just one, in 1954, before the run started. Only Brazil (21), Germany (17), Argentina (12) and Spain (11) have made it to more in succession, with Italy hoping to win their play-off and extend their run to 15.
- Courtesy FIFA
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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