Group D - Matchday 9 & 10 - 18-21st November, 2023

[Stan]

Who could you face in the playoffs @Bluebird Hewitt? 

[Stan]

Nevermind, just heard. Finland, Ukraine or Iceland apparently. 

Then Poland or Estonia if they beat one of the above. 

[Bluebird Hewitt]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

Nevermind, just heard. Finland, Ukraine or Iceland apparently. 

Then Poland or Estonia if they beat one of the above. 

Yeah, wasn't 100% sure myself.

Best possible path is either Finland or Iceland, with Estonia in the final.

However, I'll be amazed if Poland lose to Estonia, so expect it to be Ukraine and Poland for us to qualify.

[Michael]

40 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

If we did play each other again, you'd win without question. We were very lucky to win when we played in the play offs finals for the World Cup and we've considerably weakened since. 

Well, yeah, Ukraine did dominate that game in Cardiff, creating many scoring chances. But the Welsh fans were great, I couldn't fault them, it was an amazing atmosphere, both in the stadium during the match and outside the stadium on the streets of Cardiff.

Unfortunately, with Bale now retired and with Ramsey injury prone these days, Wales do look weaker. Ramsey will also be 33 when the play-offs come round. Bale in particular was a real inspiration to the team and I think he gave them a lot of confidence as a team, as well as performing excellently on a regular basis.

[Michael]

33 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

Yeah, wasn't 100% sure myself.

Best possible path is either Finland or Iceland, with Estonia in the final.

However, I'll be amazed if Poland lose to Estonia, so expect it to be Ukraine and Poland for us to qualify.

When will we know who Ukraine, Finland and Iceland play in the play-offs?

So far, I know the following matches in the play-offs:

Path A

Poland v Estonia

Wales v ? 

Path B

Israel v ?

Bosnia v ? 

Path C

Georgia v Luxembourg

Georgia v Kazakhstan

 

[Bluebird Hewitt]

10 hours ago, Michael said:

When will we know who Ukraine, Finland and Iceland play in the play-offs?

So far, I know the following matches in the play-offs:

Path A

Poland v Estonia

Wales v ? 

Path B

Israel v ?

Bosnia v ? 

Path C

Georgia v Luxembourg

Georgia v Kazakhstan

 

2nd December I read. 

[Gunnersaurus]

I don't entirely get this final draw. On Wikipedia it is saying 3rd and 4th best played teams will go into the draw. But if that is the case it would of already been decided so not sure if it's a typo. The rest of the draw is relatively simple once you look at it. The group winners from each group go into the playoffs but if they have already qualified it goes to the next best placed teams. I really want Luxembourg to qualify. Be great to see historic minnows qualify for a tournament 

[Gunnersaurus]

Couldn't be bothered to start a new thread. @Bluebird Hewitt probably about as good a draw as you could of got, apart from maybe having Iceland in the group. Two home games if you beat Finland. I think Wales are just favourites to qualify. Although Poland are only just behind 

[Michael]

The play-off draw pitted Wales against Finland in Cardiff in Path A. I am sure the Welsh fans will be happy that they will be playing Finland. I am pretty sure that Wales should be able to get past Finland in Cardiff, even though Finland are not an easy side to play against, I think Wales should beat them. Wales will most likely play Poland in the final, as Poland should get past Estonia relatively easily in their play-off semi final. Wales v Poland should be a cracker of a final, but I think it's quite hard to call, even though Poland have not been playing too well lately. Wales should have the edge against Poland, seeing as that final will be played in Cardiff, if both these sides meet. Either way, it should be a very entertaining final, if both teams as expected get there.

In Path B, Ukraine were drawn away to Bosnia & Herzegovina and the match will be played in the Bosnian city of Zenica. Even though Bosnia is never an easy place to play in, I still expect Ukraine to have too much to Bosnia and defeat them. But it is certainly a very tricky tie for Ukraine and they can expect to be playing in front of a hostile crowd. But I think that Ukraine just have too much quality to slip up here and I expect them to be in the final.

In the other semi-final in Path B, Israel play Iceland. Israel will be playing on home soil and I think that will be a significant advantage for them. Because I think both these nations are geographically, the two furthest nations apart in Europe in terms of distance. There's a huge distance between the countries and the weather and the conditions of the match are going to be completely different to anything played in Iceland. I think Israel will probably edge this match, because of that reason and also because Iceland are not quite the very good team they were a few years ago. So assuming both Ukraine and Israel win their semi-finals, they will both meet in the final and they will likely play in Israel. Ukraine should still win that potential final, in my opinion.

In Path C, Georgia will play Luxembourg and I think this will be a very tough match, as Luxembourg seem to be one of the most improved teams in Europe. However, I think Georgia, might just have too much for Luxembourg. In the other semi-final, Greece play Kazakhstan and I expect the Greeks to win this one. In a potential final between Greece and Georgia, I'd back the Greeks to win that one.

Path A

Poland vs Estonia

Wales vs Finland

 

Path B

Israel vs Iceland

Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Ukraine

 

Path C

Georgia vs Luxembourg

Greece vs Kazakhstan

 

[Bluebird Hewitt]

4 hours ago, Gunnersaurus said:

Couldn't be bothered to start a new thread. @Bluebird Hewitt probably about as good a draw as you could of got, apart from maybe having Iceland in the group. Two home games if you beat Finland. I think Wales are just favourites to qualify. Although Poland are only just behind 

Just glad it's not Ukraine in all honesty. That would have been the toughest tie of the three and after last year where we got battered but got very lucky, I don't think we'd get away with that twice.

Finland is a favourable tie, but as @Michael mentioned above, it won't be easy as they're still a tricky team to face regardless and Pukki, despite his age, knows where the net is. Poland however will be very tough and I feel we won't beat them, even with home advantage, but my biggest concern is with Page, as he has been very hit and miss tactically, as evidenced by the fact we took 4 points from Croatia, but only took 1 point from Armenia, as well as our performance in the World Cup.

[Michael]

59 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

Just glad it's not Ukraine in all honesty. That would have been the toughest tie of the three and after last year where we got battered but got very lucky, I don't think we'd get away with that twice.

Finland is a favourable tie, but as @Michael mentioned above, it won't be easy as they're still a tricky team to face regardless and Pukki, despite his age, knows where the net is. Poland however will be very tough and I feel we won't beat them, even with home advantage, but my biggest concern is with Page, as he has been very hit and miss tactically, as evidenced by the fact we took 4 points from Croatia, but only took 1 point from Armenia, as well as our performance in the World Cup.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping that Wales would be drawn against Ukraine, so that I could go back to Cardiff and watch Wales v Ukraine Part  2. Cardiff isn't that far from London, it is less than 2 hours ride on the fast train. I could've rekindled the memories of the atmosphere of that day, but with a different final result in favour of Ukraine, haha. Ukraine dominated Wales on that day in the summer of 2022 and while you've suggested Wales have become weaker since then, I actually believe that Ukraine have become stronger since that match. I just think it would have been an entertaining spectacle and rematch either way.

As it is, Wales face Finland and I am very confident that you guys can beat Finland. I thought Wales were very unlucky against Turkey, as Wales were the better team on the day in my opinion. Wales have got a lot of regular Premier League players in your squad, which should stand you in good stead. If you have Ramsey fit, that could be a real boost and if Brennan Johnson continues his good form, that would also be a huge benefit to the team. Moore, Wilson, Ampadu, Daniel James, Brooks, Williams, Rodon and of course Davies, are also all very decent players.

For Finland, as you mentioned, Pukki can be a real danger with his nose for goal, but also the injury prone forward, Pohjanpalo, can also be a real threat up-front. He was one of the few Finnish players that stood out at the last Euros. But honestly, apart from Kamara, who is a very good midfielder, I think that Wales can dominate the midfield against Finland. Having said that, Finland are no mugs, only this month they beat Northern Ireland 4-0 in Helsinki, but I still think that Wales will be too strong for them.

However, a potential final against Poland, will be extremely tough for Wales. Although Poland have been very erratic with their results over the past year. But if Lewandowski plays and Poland manage to field all their other top players, then I think that the potential match in Cardiff will probably be a 50/50 contest. It will likely go to the stadium to watch that match, if both these teams make the play-off final.