2018 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)

[OliDegu2008]

THE 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP: RUSSIA

2018 WORLD CUP LOGO.jpg

I will be recreating the 2018 FIFA World Cup using C&D games as my simulator.

As was the case with my 2010 and 2014 World Cups simulations, the only change I will make is by randomly drawing the pairings and groups during each qualification stage in each Confederation, just to give the match-ups a little different feel!

The 2010 journey saw Germany win the World Cup, Brazil defended its home turf in 2014. Will the trophy stay in Brazil for 4 more years or will it change hands? Only time will tell.

Here is a quick Q&A to answer any questions.

Q: What does from the ground up mean?
A: I will be recreating each confederation qualifying from the preliminaries all the way to the World Cup Final.

Q: How will updates occur?
A: Updates will be much more detailed for these reports. They will also chronicle the individual story-lines along with week-to-week updates instead of waiting for a whole group to be finished.

Q: How will I know what is going on with all the games being played as a reader?
A: I will have information explaining every update on what is going on and I will try my best to make it clear what is happening so it is not jumbled and you folks are not confused. Most were happy with my 2014 report, so I won't mix it up too much.

Q: Will you be doing one confederation at a time?
A: Yes, until all 32 qualifiers have been selected.

Q: What are the confederations?
A: Each continent has its own football confederation, UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC.

Q: What about Red Cards, Lineups and Injuries?
A: Red cards, yellow cards and injuries will all be dealt with as they normally are in real life. A red card means immediate ejection and you miss the next competition. The recaps will provide all the details on what happens in every game during the qualifying process and the World Cup. In terms of squads, I will do my best to represent real life situations and go from there. Try to mix it up as it happens, just like in real life.

[OliDegu2008]

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING LIST

1. Russia (Host)

Africa (CAF) (54 teams competing for 5 berths)

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North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) (35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths; a playoff against AFC determines which confederation gets the berth)

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South America (CONMEBOL) (10 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against OFC determines which confederation fills the berth)

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Europe (UEFA) (54 teams competing for 13 berths)

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Asia (AFC) (46 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against CONCACAF determines which confederation gets the berth)

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Oceanic (OFC) (11 teams competing for 0 or 1 berths; a playoff against CONMEBOL determines which confederation gets the berth)

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[OliDegu2008]

The 2014 World Cup in review ---
Brazil defends its home turf, wins the 2014 World Cup

Brazil wins 2014 World Cup.jpg

Brazil lifted the World Cup trophy for a record setting 6th time and for the first time since the South American nation won the 2002 World Cup which was hosted in Japan and South Korea.

The semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup saw Brazil, Colombia, Italy and Uruguay all battle for football immortality. I know what you're saying to yourself and yes, not only was the World Cup held in South America but 3/4 semi-finalists were South American nations.

In an insane World Cup Final, Brazil would go on to defeat the Colombians in 3-2 and hoist the Jules Rimet for the first time since 2002. Late Brazilian sub Lucas scored the winning goal, he'll never have to work again!

Two small minnows, the Solomon Islands and Cape Verde made the big dance in 2014 showing what really makes the World Cup so special.

I have said it before and I will keep saying it, fans are what keeps the game going around the pitch, without them, sport is nothing. There is no other competition in the world, in the galaxy that is as competitive and beautiful as the World Cup. It unites countries and defies laws, it takes 4 years to qualify.

The 11 men representing their countries are out there not only as world class athletes on the pitch, but world ambassadors representing the best aspect of the human perspective and their cultures.

Here is a list of World Cup champions since the first tournament played all the way back in 1930.

1930: Uruguay
1934: Italy
1938: Italy (2)
1950: Uruguay (2)
1954: West Germany
1958: Brazil
1962: Brazil (2)
1966: England
1970: Brazil (3)
1974: West Germany (2)
1978: Argentina
1982: Italy (3)
1986: Argentina (2)
1990: West Germany (3)
1994: Brazil (4)
1998: France
2002: Brazil (5)
2006: Italy (4)
2010: Germany (4)
2014: Brazil (6)

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)
2014 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)

Which nation will be crowned the 2018 World Cup champion?

THE ROAD TO RUSSIA STARTS NOW!

[OliDegu2008]

The road to Russia starts here...
AFC World Cup qualification

AFC ROAD TO RUSSIA.jpg

*The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification starts now.

*Qualification will see 46 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against CONCACAF determines which confederation gets the Inter-confederation play-off berth.

*The 2014 AFC World Cup qualification saw Australia, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Korea advance to the World Cup finals. However, unlike the 2010 World Cup Finals where 4/5 AFC nations advanced out of their respective groups into the knockout round, in 2014, not one AFC nation advanced past the Group Stage.

*Here is how qualifying will work:

*First round: 12 teams (ranked 35–46) will play home-and-away over two legs. The six winners will advance to the second round.

*Second round: 40 teams (ranked 1–34 and the six first round winners) will be divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will then advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification.

*Third round: The 12 teams (an increase from 10 for 2014) which will advance from the second round will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will then qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.

*Fourth round: The two third-placed teams of each group from the third round will play home-and-away over two legs. The winner will advance to the Inter-confederation play-offs against the nation that qualifies from CONCACAF.

What will happen this time around?

[OliDegu2008]

AFC ROAD TO RUSSIA.jpg

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round

Format:

A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46 in the AFC entrant list) will play home-and-away over two legs.

The matches are to be held with the first legs on March 12, 2015 and second legs on March 17, 2015.

The six winners will advance to the second round.

2018 AFC FIRST ROUND TEAMS.JPG

The draw looks like this --- all first-leg matches to be play March 12, 2015 (Higher seeded nation is home for first leg)

*Yemen vs. Nepal
*Chinese Taipei vs. Pakistan
*Timor-Leste vs. Brunei
*India vs. Bhutan
*Sri Lanka vs. Mongolia
*Cambodia vs. Macau

Tiebreakers

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages using a home-and-away knockout format, the team that has the higher aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round.

In the event that aggregate scores finish level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progresses. If away goals are also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time are played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team qualifies by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.

[pfeifere1]

he's baaaaaaaaaack!!!

[OliDegu2008]

Quote: Originally Posted by pfeifere1

he's baaaaaaaaaack!!!

Thank you brother. Been a while, that's for sure. I have started and stopped this project probably a thousand times but I want to do it! I love international football and I mean I have been doing it for so long I have to do it while my eyes and hands still function. Hope you are well!

[OliDegu2008]

Is this thing still on?

It's been over three years but here I am again, ready to tackle this project.

I was re-looking over my past World Cup projects and I just miss doing this. The community here has always been fantastic and supportive!

Will pick up where I left off with the beginning of qualification starting with the AFC - First Round.

If you haven't checked out my 2010 and 2014 projects, give them a look-through!