International Football
RUSSIA 2018 QUALIFYING SERIES IN NUMBERS
Courtesy of FIFA Media Team, Sports Village Square brings to you the Facts and Figures on the 32 teams’ roads to the 21st FIFA World Cup Finals
- A total of 871 matches were played in the Russia 2018 qualifiers, one more than originally projected. The South Africa versus Senegal match had to be replayed owing to referee’s manipulation of the result of the original match.
- Four nations made their debut in the qualifying competition. They are Bhutan, Gibraltar, Kosovo and South Sudan.
- Italy were the only previous world champions to fail to make it through.
The Road to Russia 2018 is the longest in the history of world finals qualifying competitions. For some it has been a mere stroll in the park; for others an arduous journey full of obstacles. Some 209 teams started out, but only 31 made it to the end, joining hosts Russia in next year’s world finals.
With the dust having now settled, FIFA.com takes a look at some of the qualifying competition’s quirkier statistics.
MATCHES AND RECORDS
871 – is the total number of matches played in the Russia 2018 qualifiers, a record. The first took place in Timor-Leste on March 12, 2015 and the last in Peru on November 12, 2017.
63 – is the number of World Cup qualifying matches Spain have now gone without defeat, a record La Roja can add to when the Qatar 2022 qualifiers get under way. Next on the list is Nigeria with 36.
22 – is the number of matches played by Australia on the road to Russia 2018, equalling the record set by Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago in the qualifiers for Korea/Japan 2002.
TEAMS
4 – is the number of teams who made their World Cup qualifying debuts: Bhutan, Gibraltar, Kosovo and South Sudan.
7 – is the number of previous World Cup winners who made it through the qualifiers: Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Uruguay, England and Argentina. The only one to miss out were four-time world champions Italy, who will be absent for the first time since Sweden 1958, following their defeat to the Swedes in the European play-offs.
21 – is the number of World Cup finals Brazil will have contested when they step out at Russia 2018. The first team to book their place, on March 28, 2017, the Brazilians are also the only nation never to have missed a single world finals. Holders Germany are next on the list with 17 consecutive appearances.
20 – is the number of teams who lined up at Brazil 2014 and will do so again at Russia 2018. Curiously, Nigeria are the only African side among them.
36 – is the number of years since Peru were last at the World Cup, at Spain 1982. The other teams to return after long absences are Egypt, whose last appearance came at Italy 1990, and Morocco, who were last on the big stage at France 1998.
GOALS AND GOALSCORERS
2,457 – is the number of goals that were scored in the qualifying competition as a whole. Quito scored the first, for Timor-Leste, in their 4-1 defeat of Mongolia in Dili on March12, 2015. Christian Ramos scored the last, for Peru, in their 2-0 win over New Zealand in Lima on November 15, 2017.
* The biggest win was Qatar’s 15-0 defeat of Bhutan in the second round of the Asian qualifiers.
* Joint leading goal scorers of the qualifiers, with 16 goals apiece:
- Mohamed Al Sahlawi (Saudi Arabia)
- Ahmed Khalil (United Arab Emirates)
- Robert Lewandowski (Poland), who also scored three hat-tricks
* Highest goalscorers in a single match, with five goals:
- Mohamed Al Sahlawi (Saudi Arabia), against Timor-Leste
- Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala), against St. Vincent and the Grenadines
* Goalscorers
- Youngest: Ahmed Al Sarori (Yemen), 17 years and 95 days
- Oldest: Pablo Escobar (Bolivia), 38 years and 91 days
* Players
- Youngest: Anthony Likiliki (Tonga), 15 years and 257 days
- Oldest: Dady Aristide (Turks and Caicos Islands), 44 years and 293 days
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
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
Nigeria Premier League attains a crescendo this weekend
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL7 days ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY4 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON7 days ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL6 days ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football6 days ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- feature4 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu