I'll post the current standings around the globe when I have a little more time, but I like to get the discussion going with another set of games being played this week. I'd have started this some time ago if China hadn't somehow been eliminated in the preliminary round by 1 goal last November. ](*,)

U.S. lost to Mexico on Sunday, but that's expected since it's in Mexico. They should still get the top 3. Over the weekend in South America, Ecuador beat Paraguay 5:2 (not sure if Paraguay is as decent as before, so probably not an upset), Brazil won 1:0 over Peru, while Bolivia came out victorious over Venezuela 3:1.

Other results from a busy week:

26-Mar-2005

Guatemala 5:1 Trinidad and Tobago
Costa Rica 2:1 Panama

Chile 1:1 Uruguay
Bolivia 1:2 Argentina
Venezuela 0:0 Colombia

Tunisia 7:0 Malawi
Morocco 1:0 Guinea
Zambia 2:0 Congo
Nigeria 2:0 Gabon
Burkina Faso 1:2 Cape Verde Islands
South Africa 2:1 Uganda
Kenya 1:0 Botswana
Senegal 6:1 Liberia

Turkey 2:0 Albania
Romania 0:2 Netherlands \:D/
Denmark 3:0 Kazakhstan
Israel 1:1 Ireland Republic
Belgium 4:1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Italy 2:0 Scotland
Georgia 1:3 Greece
France 0:0 Switzerland
Bulgaria 0:3 Sweden
Armenia 2:1 Andorra
Wales 0:2 Austria
England 4:0 Northern Ireland
Czech Republic 4:3 Finland
Liechtenstein 1:2 Russia
Croatia 4:0 Iceland
Estonia 1:2 Slovakia
Poland 8:0 Azerbaijan

27-Mar-2005

Algeria 1:0 Rwanda
Egypt 4:1 Libya
Zimbabwe 2:0 Angola
Mali 1:2 Togo
Cote d'Ivoire 3:0 Benin
Cameroon 2:1 Sudan
Congo DR 1:1 Ghana

GOOOO AJAX!!

I really think the US could beat Mexico if it was on a neutral court and we were healthy.

Upcoming games:

30-Mar-2005

Asian Zone
15:35 Korea DPR - Iran
20:05 Korea Republic - Uzbekistan
19:45 Kuwait - Saudi Arabia
19:30 Japan - Bahrain

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone
20:30 Panama - Mexico
19:00 USA - Guatemala
16:30 Trinidad and Tobago - Costa Rica

European Zone
20:30 San Marino - Belgium
20:30 Switzerland - Cyprus
20:30 Austria - Wales
20:30 Netherlands - Armenia
21:00 Serbia and Montenegro - Spain
21:30 Greece - Albania
20:30 Georgia - Turkey
20:50 Israel - France
20:45 Moldova - Norway
20:45 Hungary - Bulgaria
20:00 Poland - Northern Ireland
20:15 Slovenia - Belarus
18:00 Estonia - Russia
18:00 Croatia - Malta
16:50 Andorra - Czech Republic
19:00 Slovakia - Portugal
19:00 Latvia - Luxembourg
19:15 Ukraine - Denmark
20:00 Bosnia-Herzegovina - Lithuania
20:00 Macedonia FYR - Romania
19:45 England - Azerbaijan

South American Zone
21:30 Uruguay - Brazil
20:00 Peru - Ecuador
20:00 Argentina - Colombia
19:00 Paraguay - Chile

W00t!!!!, we kicked US ass!! \:D/

that's because the US plays real football, not sissy soccer.

ooh BRAVO!! =D> , if it wasnt for soccer, there wouldnt been any american football! =;

very bad excusse! [-X , those guys suppose to be professional Soccer players!

England is going to kick some Azerbaijani ass

Mexico played a beat up US team, on their home turf ... where they bo'd the US, chanted Osama, Osama, burned the US flag ... at an elevation the US is un used to playing.

We played with you the entire game ... you beat us only as we were bent over because we wern't used to the thin air in the second half of the first period. We are better than Mexico.

Well England won 2-0 \:D/

both teams are great!, and yes the thin air is a big factor on there back to back loses, but the US team its been training on the colorado mountains to prepare for this game, and i saw an interview and they were very confident entering the game!

Look at there record, and i dont care about them, it dont mean notthing

Mexico (MEX) -------------- USA (USA)
40-------------- Played--------- 40
19--------------- Won ----------11
10-------------- Drawn ----------10
11--------------- Lost ------------19
78------------- Goals ------------46

all visiting team get bo'd, i mean c'mon your on a different country, trying to beat there national team!
Yes stupid people chanted Osama, just a few and the burned US flag wasnt during the game.... but still theres no reason to do does kinda thing.

They struggled though, as a lot of European powerhouses did today.

Yeah, and i conveniently glossed over that minor point :wink:

Oh man, World Cup in Germany, that's going to rule so much.

I hope Germany makes it past the quarter-finals :???:

I'd be surprised if USA makes it even there. Last time was a surprise.

Hehe, I was born in Azerbaijan.

This USA team is not as strong as past to be sure ... not this world cup but the next or the one after is where I expect the US in the quarters, and possibly the finals. I would be thrilled if we make it out of ou group.

I bet a grand that the US team won't make it to the finale in the next 20 years

Yay, we beat Island and Malta by combined score of 7:0.

Island and Malta! World powerhouses!!!

DAMMIT!! it Mexico tied (1-1) it was suppose to be an easy game, but whatever there still on top of the Group!, they played horrible BTW

the US won againts Guatemala (2-0), they Jump to Second (just one point behind Mexico)

You would be stupid if you did ....

You just wait a few years, the US has a TON of young talent coming up.

Yep we're certainly a world powerhouse!

That score was very unfortunate though... we're probably going to sack our manager soon because the results thus far have been completely unsatisfactory. We know we're not exactly worldbeaters but come on, we've been nothing short of pathetic, this is our worst performance in a qualification campaign in a loooong time.

I think Sweden will win the group though...

That's what they said about Africa too. Pelé said that he was completely sure that an African team would win the competition before the turn of the century and guess what, no African team has even come close. Personally, I don't see the USA ever becoming a realistic contender until the sport breaks in to the mainstream over there, that is of course if it ever will.

I wouldn't say that, when Cameron was this close to beat England to get to the 1990 semi-final in Italy. I'd say outside Europe and South America, Africa has the best chance of winning one first out of all the other continents.

I agree. Also Senegal's performance at the last World Cup has been impressive, IMO.

Im willing to bet that the US team wont make it to the world cup finals in the next 50 years or even, ever. They may have a lot of talent coming up, but really when it comes to the big stage they wont be able to compete, I say this because the competition in US leagues are crap. I think the only time of the year when these players get to play against good competition is in the summer when big european teams (like Man utd or AC) come for the summer tours etc. Unless the players get good experience playing in the big leagues like the Premiership, La liga, etc there really isnt much hope. Sadly, I would say the same for the African teams, I dont see them making it to the finals anytime soon.