Friday, March 29, 2013

Nations in Qualifying Position for Brazil 2014

There's still a long way to go before the final field is set for Brazil 2014 but this is a list of nations that are currently in "qualifying position" at this early stage of final round World Cup qualifying.

CONCACAF (3.5 teams qualify)
USA (33)
Panama (41)
Costa Rica (53)
Honduras (49) (Intercontinental Playoff with Oceania)

AFRICA (5 teams qualify: 5 home-and-away series)
Cote d'Ivoire (13)
Nigeria (30)
Algeria (34)
Zambia (36)
Tunisia (44)
Egypt (75)
Cameroon (79)
Senegal (82)
Congo (101)
Ethiopia (112)

ASIA (4.5 teams qualify)
Japan (26)
South Korea (47)
Uzbekistan (59)
Jordan (90)

Australia (39) (Playoff - then Intercontinental Playoff with South America)
Iran (57) (Playoff - then Intercontinental Playoff with South America)

EUROPE (13 teams qualify)
Spain (1)
Germany (2)
Italy (5)
Netherlands (8)
Russia (10)
Switzerland (14)
Belgium (19)
Bosnia-Herzegovina (23)
Montenegro (28)

Playoff Positions (The 8 best group runners-up will play Round 2 in 4 home-and-away series)
England (4)
Croatia (9)
Greece (12)
France (17)
Hungary (32)
Bulgaria (46)
Albania (64)
Israel (74)

OCEANIA
New Zealand (88) (Intercontinental Playoff with CONCACAF)

SOUTH AMERICA (Brazil + 4.5 teams qualify)
Brazil (18) (Automatic Qualification Home Nation)

Argentina (3)
Colombia (6)
Ecuador (11)
Chile (22)

Venezuela (43) (Intercontinental Playoff with Asia)

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

World Cup Qualifer Upsets - March 2013


Upsets from the last round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (March 21-26, 2013).

FIFA Rank difference -- Score -- Home Team (Rank) v Away Team (Rank)


Upset Wins (25+ FIFA rank difference) 
64 -- 2:1 -- Jordan (90) v Japan (26)
47 -- 4:3 -- Equatorial Guinea (104) v Cape Verde Islands (57)
42 -- 3:1 -- Tanzania (119) v Morocco (77)
37 -- 1:0 -- Venezuela (43) v  Colombia (6)
36 -- 1:2 -- Slovenia (56) v Iceland (92)
33 -- 2:0 -- Liberia (118) v Uganda (85)

Upset Draw (40+ FIFA rank Difference)
130 -- 1:1 -- Lesotho (166) v Zambia (36)
119 -- 0:0 -- Cyprus (133) v Switzerland (14)
96 -- 1:1 -- Nigeria (30) v Kenya (126)
86 -- 1:1 -- Spain (1) v Finland (87)
67 -- 3:3 -- Israel (74) v Portugal (7)
66 -- 2:2 -- Australia (39) v Oman (105)
60 -- 1:1 -- Slovakia (55) v Lithuania (115)
49 -- 1:1 -- Liechtenstein (157) v Latvia (108)

Thursday, March 21, 2013

MLS Week 3 - Goal Scorer Nationalities




CONCACAF

Canada
1 - Patrice Bernier (MTL)

Costa Rica
1 - Alvaro Saborio (RSL)
1 - Rodney Wallace (POR)

Jamaica
1 - Deshorn Brown (COL)

USA
1 - Jack McInerney (PHI)
1 - Justin Morrow (SJ)
1 - Eddie Johnson (SEA)


EUROPE

Italy
1 - Marco Di Vaio (MTL)

Wales
1 - Robert Earnshaw (TOR)



SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil
1 - Gláuber (CLB)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

FIFA Best/Worst Ranking - March 2013


Nations currently at their best or worst all-time ranking position in the March 2013 FIFA Rankings.

Best Ranking
11 - Ecuador
24 - Mali
41 - Panama
141 - Afghanistan
149 - Aruba

Worst Ranking
109 - China
170 - Yemen
175 - Fiji
182 - Curaçao
201 - Kyrgyzstan

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

MLS Week 3- Total Goals by Nationality

The total number of goals scored by different nationalities in the first 3 weeks of the MLS season.


Region
26 - CONCACAF
13 - South America
9 - Europe
3 - Africa
1 - Asia

Nation
16 - USA
6 - Argentina
5 - Costa Rica
3 - Brazil
3 - Colombia
3 - Wales
2 - France
2 - Ghana
2 - Jamaica
2 - Scotland
1 - Ecuador
1 - Honduras
1 - Japan
1 - Liberia
1 - Mexico
1 - Republic of Ireland
1 - Spain

Friday, March 15, 2013

FIFA Confederation Ranking Comparison - March 2013


Comparing FIFA Confederations using the average FIFA ranking of the top 5 teams from each region.

Top 5 Avg. - Confederation (+/- February)

3.8 - Europe (-0.2)
1 - Spain
2 - Germany
4 - England
5 - Italy
7 - Portugal

11.0 - South America (+/-0.0)
3 - Argentina
6 - Colombia
11 - Ecuador
16 - Uruguay
18 - Brazil

24.2 - Africa (-0.2)
13 - Côte d'Ivoire
20 - Ghana
24 - Mali
30 - Nigeria
34 - Algeria

37.8 - CONCACAF (+0.2)
15 - Mexico
33 - USA
41 - Panama
49 - Honduras
51 - Haiti

45.6 - Asia (-2.0)
26 - Japan
39 - Australia
47 - South Korea
57 - Iran
59 - Uzbekistan

129.0 - Oceania (+2.2)
88 - New Zealand
103 - New Caledonia
138 - Tahiti
147 - Solomon Islands
169 - Vanuatu

Thursday, March 14, 2013

European Players in MLS - 2013

Austria
Michael Gspurning (SEA)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Siniša Ubiparipović (MTL)

Croatia
Dejan Jakovic (DC: Canadian International)

Denmark
Jimmy Nielsen (SKC)

England
Giles Barnes (HOU)
John Bostock (TOR)
Andy Dorman (NE)
Andrew Driver (HOU)
Dom Dwyer (SKC)
Richard Eckersley (TOR)
Hogan Ephraim (TOR)
Taylor Morgan (TOR)
Lewis Neal (DC)
Andy O'Brien (VAN)
Nigel Reo-Coker (VAN)
Darel Russell (TOR)
Lloyd Sam (NY)
Matt Watson (VAN)

Estonia
Joel Lindpere (CHI)

France
Hassoun Camara (MTL)
Kalifa Cissé (NE: Mali International)
Aurélien Collin (SKC)
Laurent Courtois (CHV)
Eric Hassli (DAL)
Thierry Henry (NY)
Wandrille Lefèvre (MTL)
Sébastien Le Toux (PHI)
Frédéric Piquionne (POR: Born in New Caledonia)
Saër Sène (NE)
Mikaël Silvestre (POR)
Djimi Traoré (SEA: Mali International)
David Viana (RSL: Portugal Youth International)

Germany
Arne Friedrich (CHI)

Republic of Ireland
Robbie Keane (LA)
Peter McGlynn (SJ)
Darren O'Dea (TOR)
Shane O'Neill (COL)

Italy
Carlo Cudicini (LA)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Matteo Ferrari (MTL: Born in Algeria)
Alessandro Nesta (MTL)
Andrea Pisanu (MTL)
Paolo Tornaghi (CHI)

Netherlands
Danny Koevermans (TOR)
Sherjill MacDonald (CHI)

Northern Ireland 
Jonny Steele (NY)

Poland
Konrad Warzycha (CLB)

Portugal
José Gonçalves (NE)

Scotland
Calum Mallace (MTL)
Kenny Miller (VAN)
Adam Moffat (HOU)
Jamie Smith (COL)

Serbia
Miloš Kocić (POR)

Spain
Rubén Bover (NY)
Oriol Rosell (SKC)

Sweden
Markus Holgersson (NY)
Adam Johansson (SEA)

Switzerland
Stefan Frei (TOR)
Dennis Iapichino (MTL)

Wales
Robert Earnshaw (TOR: Born in Zambia)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Alliterative MLS Player Names


Andre Akpan
Anthony Arena

Bradlee Baladez
Brandon Barklage
Bobby Boswell

Calen Carr
Conor Casey
Cordell Cato
Colin Clark
Caleb Clark
Carlo Cudicini

Dilly Duka
Dom Dwyer

Jack Jewsbury
George John
Jason Johnson

Kei Kamara
Kosuke Kimura
Kory Kindle
Chris Korb

Mike Magee

Robbie Russell

Soony Saad
Shea Salinas
Saer Sene
Seth Sinovic
Shawn Sloan



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

MLS Week 2 - Total Goals by Nationality

A look at the total number of goals scored by different nationalities in the first 2 weeks of the MLS season.

Region
19 - CONCACAF
12 - South America
8 - Europe
3 - Africa
1 - Asia

Nation
13 - USA
6 - Argentina
3 - Colombia
3 - Costa Rica
2 - Brazil
2 - France
2 - Ghana
2 - Scotland
2 - Wales
1 - Ecuador
1 - Honduras
1 - Jamaica
1 - Japan
1 - Liberia
1 - Mexico
1 - Republic of Ireland
1 - Spain

Monday, March 11, 2013

MLS Week 2 - Goal Scorer Nationalities





CONCACAF

Costa Rica
1 - Jairo Arrieta (CLB)

Honduras
1 - Jerry Bengtson (NE)

Jamaica
1 - Ryan Johnson (PTL)

Mexico
1 - Giovani Casillas (CHV)

USA
1 - Omobi Okugo (PHI)
1 - Jack McInerney (PHI)
1 - Juan Agudelo (CHV)
1 - Eric Alexander (NY)
1 - Adam Jahn (SJ)
1 - Chris Wondolowski (SJ)


SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina
1 - Claudio Bieler (SKC)

Brazil
1 - Felipe (MTL)

Colombia
1 - Lionard Pajoy (DC)
1 - David Ferreira (DAL)

Ecuador
1 - Oswaldo Minda (CHV)


EUROPE

France
1 - Hassoun Camara (MTL)

Scotland
1 - Kenny Miller (VAN)
1 - Jamie Smith (COL)

Wales
2 - Robert Earnshaw (TOR)


ASIA

Japan
1 - Daigo Kobayashi (VAN)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Non-European EPL Top Scorers by Season

Non-European players that have been top 5 goal scorers in an EPL season.


Season Goals Player Nationality Club Top Scorer Position
1995-96 17 Dwight Yorke Trinidad & Tobago Aston Villa 4
1998-99 18 Dwight Yorke Trinidad & Tobago Manchester United 1
1999-00 20 Dwight Yorke Trinidad & Tobago Manchester United 3
2000-01 17 Mark Viduka Australia Leeds United 3
2002-03 20 Mark Viduka Australia Leeds United 4
2004-05 13 Yakubu Nigeria Portsmouth 4
2006-07 20 Didier Drogba Cote d'Ivoire Chelsea 1
2006-07 18 Benni McCarthy South Africa Blackburn Rovers 2
2006-07 14 Mark Viduka Australia Middlesbrough 4
2007-08 24 Emmanuel Adebayor Togo Arsenal 2
2007-08 19 Roque Santa Cruz Paraguay Blackburn Rovers 4
2007-08 15 Benjani Zimbabwe Portsmouth/Manchester City 5
2007-08 15 Yakubu Nigeria Everton 5
2008-09 14 Robinho Brazil Manchester City 4
2009-10 29 Didier Drogba Cote d'Ivoire Chelsea 1
2009-10 23 Carlos Tevez Argentina Manchester City 4
2010-11 20 Carlos Tevez Argentina Manchester City 1
2010-11 15 Peter Odemwingie Nigeria West Bromwich Albion 5
2011-12 23 Sergio Agüero Argentina Manchester City 3
2011-12 17 Clint Dempsey USA Fulham 4
2011-12 16 Emmanuel Adebayor Togo Tottenham Hotspur 5
2011-12 16 Demba Ba Senegal Newcastle United 5
2011-12 16 Yakubu Nigeria Blackburn Rovers 5

Monday, March 4, 2013

MLS Week 1 Goal Scorer Nationalities



CONCACAF

USA
3 - Mike Magee (LA)
1 - Graham Zusi (SKC)
1 - Ricardo Clark (HOU)
1 - Davy Arnaud (MTL)
1 - Josh Williams (CLB)

Costa Rica 
2 - Alvaro Saborio (RSL)


SOUTH AMERICA 

Argentina
2 - Fabian Espindola (NY)
1 - Federico Higuain (CLB)
1 - Diego Valeri (POR)
1 - Claudio Bieler (SKC)

Brazil
1 - Jackson (DAL)

Colombia
1 - Jamison Olave (NY)


EUROPE

France
1 - Sebastian Le Toux (PHI)

Republic of Ireland 
1 - Robbie Keane (LA)

Spain
1 - Oriol Rosell (SKC)


AFRICA

Ghana
1 - Dominic Oduro (CLB)
1 - Gershon Koffie (VAN)

Liberia
1 - Darlington Nagbe (POR)