Big Nations Missing World Cup
Sweden, Czech Republic, Turkey Among Teams Out Of 2010 South Africa
Oct 16, 2009
World football fans will be missing a group of huge nations in the game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria and Norway all missed out at least on the Play-Offs in Europe.
Sweden
Everyone knew that Group 1 in Europe would be tough with Portugal, Sweden and Denmark in one group. But few would have expected that Denmark would win the group and book the automatic World Cup berth. That left Portugal and Sweden playing for the Play-Offs spot after the Danes beat Sweden on October 10, which meant Sweden would need a Portugal loss for a chance to reach the Play-Offs.
But Portugal blasted Malta 4-0, rendering as meaningless Sweden’s 4-1 win over Albania. That left the veterans of 11 World Cups at home next summer.
Czech Republic
The Czechs were considered one of the favorites in Group 3, which also had Slovenia, Slovakia and 2012 Euro co-hosts Poland. The 2004 Euro semi-finalists collected just two points in two scoreless draws against Northern Ireland though Croatia had five points from the four games against group winners Slovakia and second-placed Slovenia.
Poland
Poland’s best results date back to the mid-70s and early 80s but hopes were high for the 2012 Euro co-hosts to qualify for their third straight World Cup. But the Poles finished with just 11 points in fifth place of six teams – nine points from the Play-Offs spot.
After a decent start, Leo Beenhakker’s lost their last three qualifiers and five of their final seven. And the Polish team was a total mess.
Turkey
Turkey felt atop the world after taking third place in the 2002 World Cup. But they then felt absolutely horrible after failing to qualify for the 2004 Euros and 2006 World Cup. The Turks however responded and reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Euros.
In Group 5 of the 2010 qualifying, Turkey’s chances of reaching South Africa were doused when they drew at Bosnia and then lost 2-0 at Belgium.
Croatia
The Croatians, who finished third in 1998, knew they had a strong chance to qualify for South Africa with England and Ukraine in the group. Croatia drew twice against Ukraine but lost twice against England while Ukraine beat England once to finish with 21 points to Croatia’s 20 points.
Norway
Norway actually finished second in the Group 9 but they were kept out of the eight-team Play-Offs as the worst finishing second place team.
Senegal
Seven years after becoming the first African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, Senegal failed to qualify for their second straight World Cup. In fact, Senegal did not even get out of the second of three qualifying rounds, losing out to Algeria.
Togo
The 2006 World Cup debutants failed to qualify for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. And now they will be unable to overtake Cameroon or Gabon in Group A of Africa’s third qualifying round.
Iran
The Asian powers had reached the 1998 and 2006 World Cups and had loads of young talent and experienced veterans. But it was not enough to even reach the Round 5 Play-Off for the Play-Off against the Oceania winners.
China
The 2002 World Cup debutants missed qualifying for 2006 and then did not even get out of Round Three of four qualifying rounds.
Four More Europeans On Way Out In November
In November, the final four World Cup berths from Europe will be played out in the two-leg Play-Offs, meaning four of the following eight football powers will not reach the 2010 World Cup: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France and Ireland.
