World Cup Qualifiers

Donate To GopherHole


FIFA is weird. And corrupt as hell. As corrupt as the IOC.

Anyway!
 


Ski U Mah Gopher said:
Well, we have our first international superstar to be sitting home next December.

Erling Haaland and Norway is out.

Depending on how the draw goes on November 26, one other big name team may be out.

Unless the seeded draw goes in an order like this: Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Wales; there is a chance that Portugal, Italy & Sweden might meet the other for one of the 3 spots left in Europe. Me, I'm rooting for the Welsh to make it to Qatar.
Click to expand...
Okay, first we've got to qualify, but there's a chance we could be seeded in the World Cup drawings. We're currently ranked 12th in the world, with Italy and Portugal ahead of us. If they don't make the World Cup, then in terms of seeding we're then in the 10th spot, meaning we just have to move up three spots to be seeded in the World Cup drawings. If we do a solid showing in our final four games there's a really good chance we would indeed move up those three slots. A lot would have to break our way, but it could happen.
 


The USA vs El Salvador game, which will be played on Jan 27th, is either going to be held at Allianz or in Ohio. Decision coming soon. Playing in sub-zero conditions versus El Salvador would be some home-court advantage.

1637343343317.png
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland are all separate in FIFA's eyes.
Click to expand...
d8ea28ccf862658a444b3ad877cff53fd195157c.gifv
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
The USA vs El Salvador game, which will be played on Jan 27th, is either going to be held at Allianz or in Ohio. Decision coming soon. Playing in sub-zero conditions versus El Salvador would be some home-court advantage.

View attachment 15424
Click to expand...
If it is Allianz, I will be there (just have to start stocking up on more layers).
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
The USA vs El Salvador game, which will be played on Jan 27th, is either going to be held at Allianz or in Ohio. Decision coming soon. Playing in sub-zero conditions versus El Salvador would be some home-court advantage.

View attachment 15424
Click to expand...
And it's now official, we get Honduras instead of El Salvador. Game on at Allianz !!! Here's the schedule.
  • Jan 27: El Salvador in Columb
  • Jan 30: Canada in Hamilton, Ontario
  • Feb 2: Honduras in St Paul
Imagine you're Honduras.. you have 3 points from 7 games, you sit in last place in the Octagon, and now you have to travel to Minnesota in February for a game. Sucks to be them...
 
Last edited:



Were we getting a game no matter what, and essentially as a "reward" for building a new soccer-specific stadium?

Or is it really because of weather? Also wonder how much having the great crowd for the Carli Lloyd send off helped?
 

Canada and the United States have a huge advantage for winter home games. How many other countries enjoy such an advantage?
 


Curious to see what the ticket prices will be for a February game at Allianz.

I mean, I think I'll probably go, but that's cold for American players let alone Honduras.

Does Allianz field have heating Coyles?
They took them from TCF when the MNUFC quit playing their home games at TCF, correct?
 



Face The Facts said:
Curious to see what the ticket prices will be for a February game at Allianz.

I mean, I think I'll probably go, but that's cold for American players let alone Honduras.

Does Allianz field have heating Coyles?
They took them from TCF when the MNUFC quit playing their home games at TCF, correct?
Click to expand...

 

Face The Facts said:
Curious to see what the ticket prices will be for a February game at Allianz.

I mean, I think I'll probably go, but that's cold for American players let alone Honduras.

Does Allianz field have heating Coyles?
They took them from TCF when the MNUFC quit playing their home games at TCF, correct?
Click to expand...
Probably the same as Columbus against Costa Rica. Expect the cheap seats to be around $85. Possibly a little cheaper since the game is being played in the arctic, but don’t count on it and be pleasantly surprised if tickets are cheaper.
 

MplsGopher said:
Were we getting a game no matter what, and essentially as a "reward" for building a new soccer-specific stadium?

Or is it really because of weather? Also wonder how much having the great crowd for the Carli Lloyd send off helped?
Click to expand...
Before WCQ qualifying started, many people thought Allianz would get a game because of the cooler weather and favorable demographics. Granted, people were pegging us for a fall game, not the most brutal part of winter.

I think many wrote St. Paul off when the Costa Rica game went to Columbus in October. The USWNT game felt like it was given to Allianz as an apology for being passed over for WCQ. Nobody predicted they’d play this many games in the Midwest, and nobody expected the US to go to Minnesota in freaking February.

After Allianz didn’t get the Costa Rica game, people figured that this upcoming window would be played out East and the March window would be played down south. So this comes as a major surprise at the moment since nobody actually thought we would willingly come play a game in February in St. Paul.

I think all these Midwest games are a direct result of missing the last World Cup. Last cycle we went and got our butts kicked in New Jersey by Costa Rica in a game that was heavily attended by Costa Rica fans, then we started this cycle playing in a half empty NFL stadium in Nashville and dropped points to Canada. I think Gregg is doing everything in his power to not drop anymore points at home, even if it pisses off some fans that more than half of our home qualifiers get played in Ohio and Minnesota.
 
Last edited:

mnsportsgeek said:
Before WCQ qualifying started, many people thought Allianz would get a game because of the cooler weather and favorable demographics. Granted, people were pegging us for a fall game, not the most brutal part of winter.

I think many wrote St. Paul off when the Costa Rica game went to Columbus in October. The USWNT game felt like it was given to Allianz as an apology for being passed over for WCQ. Nobody predicted they’d play this many games in the Midwest, and nobody expected the US to go to Minnesota in freaking February.

After Allianz didn’t get the Costa Rica game, people figured that this upcoming window would be played out East and the March window would be played down south. So this comes as a major surprise at the moment since nobody actually thought we would willingly come play a game in February in St. Paul.

I think all these Midwest games are a direct result of missing the last World Cup. Last cycle we went and got our butts kicked in New Jersey by Costa Rica in a game that was heavily attended by Costa Rica fans, then we started this cycle playing in a half empty NFL stadium in Nashville and dropped points to Canada. I think Gregg is doing everything in his power to not drop anymore points at home, even if it pisses off some fans that more than half of our home qualifiers get played in Ohio and Minnesota.
Click to expand...

The last WCQ was shocking how much of a road game that Costa Rica game was.

I'm shocked they picked MN for February, but our road game out of that camp is Canada, so they are going to play a cold one anyway, and this will shorten the travel I assume between games.
 

Face The Facts said:
The last WCQ was shocking how much of a road game that Costa Rica game was.

I'm shocked they picked MN for February, but our road game out of that camp is Canada, so they are going to play a cold one anyway, and this will shorten the travel I assume between games.
Click to expand...
Less travel and preparation for the cold.
 




Face The Facts said:
I'm still waiting to buy my tickets.

Many great seats still available at high prices (and some at decent prices now).
Click to expand...
I think prices will drop a lot as it gets closer to the game. It'll be a bit of a mess getting in though as I think everyone will have to show proof of COVID vaccination. If you go, get there early...
 


Looking like it will be about as good as we can expect. Highs in the low to mid 20s and probably dropping to the high teens by the end of the game. No worse than some of the brutally cold gopher football games.

Full Speed Ahead said:
I think prices will drop a lot as it gets closer to the game. It'll be a bit of a mess getting in though as I think everyone will have to show proof of COVID vaccination. If you go, get there early...
Click to expand...

If it's anything like what I've heard from similar requirements in other states, you could hold a blank piece of paper in your hand and likely get in just fine. Security is more concerned about a handful of other things and will barely give your covid papers a glance.
 

9 point week coming right up. This window was kind of the stars aligning for me. I'm gonna be able to see all 3 games with no hotels, 1 cheap plane ticket to MSP, and a half day of PTO. Figured I better take advantage of the opportunity because I assume Nations League will all be out east and west since the midwest got pretty much every WCQ.

For bad news, the temp for the St. Paul game is dropping. High of 14. Probably single digits during the game. Thursday and Friday are even worse, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the high continue to creep down. Too bad this game wasn't on Tuesday where it will be 30 degrees.
 

I was on Seatgeek ready to pull the trigger on some nice tickets as I watched prices go down hundreds of dollars... then I got to checking out, and SeatGeek slaps $50 per ticket "fees" on.

Sorry, but I'm not paying that fee. Off to wait for further price reduction into this weekend on the available tickets or I'll opt for cheaper seats.
 

Currently it looks like another arctic front will push southward late Tuesday. Wednesday is looking cold, with highs in the single digits.
 

Strangely enough, Seatgeek is no longer listing the event.

Also, ticketmaster now shows a fraction of the seats available for resale.
I'm wondering if they are taking them off so people who are refunding their tickets by 1/30 are now able to refund?
 

Face The Facts said:
Strangely enough, Seatgeek is no longer listing the event.

Also, ticketmaster now shows a fraction of the seats available for resale.
I'm wondering if they are taking them off so people who are refunding their tickets by 1/30 are now able to refund?
Click to expand...
There’s a clause written in the lottery rules that if you win you can’t resell the tickets. If that hadn’t been there I would have bought some tickets. I wonder if they’re actually going to enforce that?
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
There’s a clause written in the lottery rules that if you win you can’t resell the tickets. If that hadn’t been there I would have bought some tickets. I wonder if they’re actually going to enforce that?
Click to expand...
They've never enforced that. If they really wanted to try they could disable reselling from ticketmaster and at least make it a little more difficult. The columbus game yesterday wasn't sold out when I kept checking leading up to the game and it was full last night. It's entirely possible people are just buying tickets or deciding to go instead of sell.

Weather forecast for next week keeps getting worse and worse lol. This might be (probably will be) the coldest soccer game ever on US soil.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom