Might sound wierd but there is still a sense of pride in the NT left, I can see that each time they lose a match and get shittier after each loss. I can see the body language and how much the losses hurt them.
Examples are the last minute draw against Bangladesh, Loss to Palestine in Kochi after leading the 1st half and loss to Afganistan.
I still see a lot of players really dissapointed when losing esp chettri. He is absolutely distraught despite being on a scoring spree. Indian NT have there backs against the wall, They will deliver. They will move to the second round and lose with some pride intact. A lot of people dont give a shit, They are our (or my) boys in the field and even if they are 250th or 300th i will still support them. Not being jingoistic here, But i have a lot of faith on the boys in the field than the ones working on the desks to get out of this current rutt.
@ArsenalFan700 ; This is not AFC fault for scheduling the Round 1 on conflicting dates with AFC Cup. If you look at the countries in Round 1, I dont think they have clubs in AFC Cup. So this problemis unique to India.
2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying: AFC draw dates and seeding leaked As usual with AFC, it's very hard to get information regarding their competitions. In 7 years, they have replied only once to my e-mails.
However, the United Arab Emirates FA have posted the draw dates on their website. Use Google Translate if your Arabic grasp is lacking.
Preliminary round draw: 10 February Group stage draw: 11 April
The April date is also confirmed by an English article on the Japan FA website.
AFC have announced the schedule. The preliminary round games are scheduled for 12 and 17 March, while the first two group stage match days are set for 11 and 16 June.
The format is already known - a preliminary round to get to 40 teams, followed by the group stage - 8 groups of 5 teams each.
First all of all, AFC teams won't be involved in the main draw set for 25 July, because at that time they will have played 2 matches in the group stage. Can't quite imagine FIFA going for this, but you never know.
Now, you might ask how will AFC determine the teams involved in the preliminary round. Will they use the FIFA ranking? If they do, does the January ranking change things?
I will answer the second question first. No, it makes no difference.
Going by the FIFA ranking (December 2014 or January 2015), these would be the pots:
Pot 1: India, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Timor-Leste Pot 2: Nepal, Macau, Pakistan, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan
However, one of my sources in Asia told me AFC won't use the FIFA ranking. They chose their recently released AFC MA ranking.
If this is correct, it will mean good news for India, Nepal and Pakistan.
India will avoid the preliminary round, while Nepal and Pakistan will be seeded.
It will be bad news for Bangladesh (now involved in the preliminary round), Cambodia and Chinese Taipei - losing seeded status.
Pot 1: Yemen, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Timor-Leste Pot 2: Macau, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan
Of course, some withdrawals are expected and Yemen, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh stand a good chance of going directly to the group stage.
I have no information regarding the seeding for the group stage draw.
Comments
Examples are the last minute draw against Bangladesh, Loss to Palestine in Kochi after leading the 1st half and loss to Afganistan.
I still see a lot of players really dissapointed when losing esp chettri. He is absolutely distraught despite being on a scoring spree.
Indian NT have there backs against the wall, They will deliver. They will move to the second round and lose with some pride intact. A lot of people dont give a shit, They are our (or my) boys in the field and even if they are 250th or 300th i will still support them.
Not being jingoistic here, But i have a lot of faith on the boys in the field than the ones working on the desks to get out of this current rutt.
As usual with AFC, it's very hard to get information regarding their competitions. In 7 years, they have replied only once to my e-mails.
However, the United Arab Emirates FA have posted the draw dates on their website. Use Google Translate if your Arabic grasp is lacking.
Preliminary round draw: 10 February
Group stage draw: 11 April
The April date is also confirmed by an English article on the Japan FA website.
AFC have announced the schedule. The preliminary round games are scheduled for 12 and 17 March, while the first two group stage match days are set for 11 and 16 June.
The format is already known - a preliminary round to get to 40 teams, followed by the group stage - 8 groups of 5 teams each.
First all of all, AFC teams won't be involved in the main draw set for 25 July, because at that time they will have played 2 matches in the group stage. Can't quite imagine FIFA going for this, but you never know.
Now, you might ask how will AFC determine the teams involved in the preliminary round. Will they use the FIFA ranking? If they do, does the January ranking change things?
I will answer the second question first. No, it makes no difference.
Going by the FIFA ranking (December 2014 or January 2015), these would be the pots:
Pot 1: India, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Timor-Leste
Pot 2: Nepal, Macau, Pakistan, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan
However, one of my sources in Asia told me AFC won't use the FIFA ranking. They chose their recently released AFC MA ranking.
If this is correct, it will mean good news for India, Nepal and Pakistan.
India will avoid the preliminary round, while Nepal and Pakistan will be seeded.
It will be bad news for Bangladesh (now involved in the preliminary round), Cambodia and Chinese Taipei - losing seeded status.
Pot 1: Yemen, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Timor-Leste
Pot 2: Macau, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan
Of course, some withdrawals are expected and Yemen, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh stand a good chance of going directly to the group stage.
I have no information regarding the seeding for the group stage draw.
Good to hear a chance for us to avoid preliminary round...
Though personally would have loved a chance to get some easy FIFA ranking points