JoshMartini007

Pool B looks to be quite simple for  and  meanwhile Pool C may end up being a blood bath with four Top 8 nations

Should have placed the UEFA play-off teams in Pot 3, would have made things a lot fairer

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I feel all the bobsleds should be the same. They did it with the women's monobob in 2022 and from a spectator point of view it looked as if the best drivers performed the best.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I feel all the bobsleds should be the same. They did it with the women's monobob in 2022 and from a spectator point of view it looked as if the best drivers performed the best.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I feel all the bobsleds should be the same. They did it with the women's monobob in 2022 and from a spectator point of view it looked as if the best drivers performed the best.

Let's just invite all of the remaining teams and move straight to a 64-team tournament  

Let's just invite all of the remaining teams and move straight to a 64-team tournament  

will also return for the first time since 1998

Here's the second placed teams based on the October World Rankings
 
 - I - 9th
 - C - 20th
 - E - 26th
 - D  - 27th
----
 - G - 33rd
 - J - 34th
 - L - 44th
 - A - 46th
----
 - K - 61st
 - F - 62nd
 - H - 75th
 - B - 84th
 
Given the gaps I don't think anyone will move up/down a pot.
 
The Pot 4 teams will be as follows
 
 - B - 40th
 - H - 47th
 - J - 65th
 - A - 69th

will also return for the first time since 1998

will also return for the first time since 1998

Here's the second placed teams based on the October World Rankings
 
 - I - 9th
 - C - 20th
 - E - 26th
 - D  - 27th
----
 - G - 33rd
 - J - 34th
 - L - 44th
 - A - 46th
----
 - K - 61st
 - F - 62nd
 - H - 75th
 - B - 84th
 
Given the gaps I don't think anyone will move up/down a pot.
 
The Pot 4 teams will be as follows
 
 - B - 40th
 - H - 47th
 - J - 65th
 - A - 69th

Here's what the inter-continental play-offs look like among eligible nations, Top 2 will get a bye to the final:
 
 - 31st
 - 45th
 - 57th
 - 60th
 - 64th
 - 67th
 - 68th
 - 76th
 - 82nd
 - 88th
 - 126th
 - 150th
 
Bolivia and New Caledonia cannot finish in the top 2. DR Congo will be watching the Asian qualifier and hoping UAE wins so they can clinch top 2 as it is impossible for both Panama and Costa Rica to advance together to the inter-continental round. An Iraq win means they will finish top 2.
 
CONCACAF as you can see is still a big mess with 7/12 nations not only eligible to finish second, but also outright qualify to the World Cup. It's quite possible for someone to finish with 11 points and still fail to make the play-off. Considering the amount of draws we've seen this round, a draw for anyone except Curacao (who will qualify to the World Cup outright) means they will have to watch the other results and hope things go their way.

Looking towards the second round for Europe, the runner-ups will be seeded based on their November World Rankings. Pot 4 will contain the nations who qualified from the Nation's League. Here are the October rankings of teams which are likely to finish second in their group:
 
 - I - 9th
 - A - 10th
 - C - 20th
 - H - 24th
 - E - 26th
 - D  - 27th
 - G - 33rd
 - J - 34th
 - F - 37th
 - C - 38th
 - L - 44th
 - A - 46th
 - K - 61st
 - F - 62nd
 - J - 65th
 - D - 74th
 - H - 75th
 - B - 84th
 
The bolded nations are the ones which will (>99%) finish second in their respective groups. There's still a lot to be decided. Of the six nations which will finish second; Italy will be in Pot 1, Turkey and Poland could be in Pots 1 or 2, Czechia and Albania could be in Pots 2 or 3 and Kosovo will be in Pot 3.
 
Given that Pot 4 will have the likes of Sweden (40th), Romania (47th), Northern Ireland (69th) and one of Wales (34th) or North Macedonia (65th) you might have an easier first opponent if you are in Pot 2 rather than Pot 1

Today's results discussion
 
Group B
 v  will determine the World Cup quota, but Kosovo needs to win by 6 goals.  will advance to the next round through the Nation's League ranking.
 
Group C
Not a good day for  or . Denmark needs a win or draw to qualify to the World Cup, a loss means Scotland qualifies instead.
 
Group E
 v  will determine the World Cup quota, but Turkiye needs to win by 7 goals.
 
Group H
 v  will determine the World Cup quota with Austria qualifying should they draw.  will advance to the next round through the Nation's League ranking.
 
Group J
 just needs to defeat  to qualify to the World Cup, a draw will likely be enough unless  v  ends in a blowout. Speaking of that match, the winner could qualify to the World Cup if Liechtenstein does the unthinkable. In reality, both nations will advance to the next round, one as the second place team and the other through the Nation's League ranking.
 
 
In summary,  are qualified via the Nation's League and the final spot will go to either  or .
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Going into the final set of matches only 3/12 groups have been decided. To be fair, six of the nine remaining groups the leader either has to lose by a massive margin or lose to a minnow, thus  are probably safe which leaves  v ,  v , and  v  as the true deciding matches.

Just for fun, here's what  needs to advance to the second round through the Nations League Ranking:
 
Group B
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 
Additionally to the above, one of the games need to have a winner of 2 goals or more.
 
Group H
If  defeats  then, there are multiple ways, the simplest being  defeats  by a larger margin than  defeats  (Bosnia drawing/losing means Romania just needs to win by any amount). Alternatively, if  defeats  then the margin also doesn't matter.
 
If  draws  then,
 defeats  
 defeats  
One of those two results must contain a 2 goal victory or more.
 
Group J
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 draws  
 
Additionally, Belgium's goal differential would have to drop below Wales and North Macedonia
 
 
Also those results would mean  will advance to the second round.

Just for fun, here's what  needs to advance to the second round through the Nations League Ranking:
 
Group B
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 
Additionally to the above, one of the games need to have a winner of 2 goals or more.
 
Group H
If  defeats  then, there are multiple ways, the simplest being  defeats  by a larger margin than  defeats  (Bosnia drawing/losing means Romania just needs to win by any amount). Alternatively, if  defeats  then the margin also doesn't matter.
 
If  draws  then,
 defeats  
 defeats  
One of those two results must contain a 2 goal victory or more.
 
Group J
 defeats  
 defeats  
 defeats  
 draws  
 
Additionally, Belgium's goal differential would have to drop below Wales and North Macedonia
 
 
Also those results would mean  will advance to the second round.

Quite possible that no Central American teams qualify to the World Cup, definitely did not expect that.

Quite possible that no Central American teams qualify to the World Cup, definitely did not expect that.

Didn't you see the updated program? We now have:
 
Test Cricket
One Day International Cricket
Twenty20 Cricket
100-ball Cricket
T10 Cricket
 
They tried to implement a "six runs derby", but it didn't go through
 
 

She's planning to compete in 5 individual events and should be at least a medal threat in all of them.
 
If fatigue wasn't a thing she could outright compete and be a medal threat in 8 individual events (though 200m back would be very small). She'd probably also hit the OQT in the 100m free, 100m fly and 200m breast, but probably won't be competitive.

Quite the final day for Panama to win 10 gold medals to surpass El Salvador

Yeah, unless something changes, I feel we've reached our peak. Things like Summer McIntosh's individual performance and medals in the optional sports (lacrosse is basically 2 guaranteed medals plus we could win something in softball and flag football) will mask the decline somewhat in 2028, but eventually our sporting state will be in full view.

Honestly there isn't that much money in swimming and once the novelty runs out (and possibly someone dying) then I feel this experiment will die out.

Lia Monica Fontaine won silver in the women's vault. It's her first year at the senior level so hopefully we'll see more of her.