Luxembourg: historical WC qualification victory vs Switzerland at Zurich

On Wednesday, Luxembourg beat Switzerland 1-2 in Zurich, clinching their first victory in World Cup qualification since 1972.

Since beating Turkey 2-0 on 22 October 1972, Luxembourg played 73 World Cup qualification matches, drawing twice and losing 71.

It has been by far the longest winless streak among European countries in World Cup qualification, according to Infostrada.

San Marino currently have the longest running winless streak as they have not won in World Cup qualification since September 1992, a 37-match run.

Longest winless streaks in World Cup qualification – European countries
# Nation Drawn Lost Start date Match that ended streak

73 Luxembourg 2 71 10 Dec 1972 Switzerland - Luxembourg (10 Sep 2008) 1-2
39 Malta 4 35 14 Nov 1971 Estonia - Malta (12 May 1993) 0-1
37 San Marino 2 35 09 Sep 1992
34 Malta 4 30 19 Jun 1993
31 Cyprus 1 30 08 May 1973 Faroe Islands - Cyprus (16 Jun 1992) 0-2
21 Liechtenstein 1 20 24 Apr 1996 Luxembourg - Liechtenstein (13 Oct 2004) 0-4
19 Finland 2 17 16 Jun 1937 Finland - Poland (26 Sep 1965) 2-0
18 Turkey 2 16 24 Sep 1980 Turkey - East Germany (30 Nov 1988) 3-1
17 Latvia 6 11 05 Oct 1937 Latvia - Belarus (30 Apr 1997) 2-0
17 Armenia 6 11 10 Sep 1997 Armenia - Andorra (26 Mar 2005) 2-1
17 Albania 3 14 09 Sep 1992 Albania - Northern Ireland (10 Sep 1997) 1-0
17 Luxembourg 0 17 11 Mar 1934 Luxembourg - Portugal (08 Oct 1961) 4-2

Bold: streak still running

Croatia 1 England 4: Theo Walcott hat trick gives England win in Zagreb

Screen capture: The Sun

Spain – Armenia: Xabi Alonso goes for 50 caps

Today Spain is the favourite team of the match, again. They are in one of the best moment of the history and are in a great streak on WC qualifying. Now they will host Armenia who lost last match against Turkey at home on Saturday.

Prediction: Spain will win scoring al least two goals.

If Xabi Alonso plays, he will reach 50 official matches wearing “A” Spanish t-shirt.

Spain – Armenia Head to Head:

Erevan 11/10/2003 ARM 0:4 (0:1) ESP Euro qualifying
Leon 02/04/2003 ESP 3:0 (0:0) ARM Euro qualifying
Sevilla 07/06/1995 ESP 1:0 (0:0) ARM Euro qualifying
Erevan 26/04/1995 ARM 0:2 (0:0) ESP Euro qualifying

Turkey – Belgium: winners duel thinking about South Africa 2010

Turkey and Belgium will be face to face on Wednesday. Both teams won three points (against Armenia and Estonia) and will be the main opponents of Spain at Group 5. The one that will be able to win could be the main enemy of the European champions. It seems that Turkish team is the favourite one and will earn a victory in Istanbul.

Turkey – Belgium Head to Head

Genk 24/05/2006 BEL 3:3 (2:2) TUR Friendly
Brussels 28/04/2004 BEL 2:3 (1:1) TUR Friendly
Brussels 19/06/2000 TUR 2:0 (1:0) BEL Euro
Istanbul 30/04/1997 TUR 1:3 (1:3) BEL World Cup Qualifying
Brussels 31/08/1996 BEL 2:1 (2:0) TUR World Cup Qualifying
Brussels 26/10/1958 BEL 1:1 (0:0) TUR Friendly
Ankara 08/12/1957 TUR 1:1 (1:1) BEL Friendly

Complete coverage: http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

France – Serbia: searching South Africa while Raymond Domenech doubt

This match is so important for France: Raymond Domenech could say goodbye if his team lost. After a remarkable defeat at Austria, the French team must win at Stade de France, Paris, if they desire to reach World Cup. Serbia didn’t have any problem to beat Faroe Islands and is just waiting for this significant meeting.


Head to Head Official Matches: France – Serbia (Yugoslavia)

Paris 29/04/1989 FRA 0:0 YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 19/11/1988 YUG 3:2 (1:1) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 16/11/1985 FRA 2:0 (1:0) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Sarajevo 03/04/1985 YUG 0:0 FRA World Cup Qualifying
St. Etienne 19/06/1984 FRA 3:2 (0:1) YUG Euro Final round
Belgrade 24/04/1968 YUG 5:1 (4:1) FRA Euro Quarter-finals
Marseille 06/04/1968 FRA 1:1 (0:0) YUG Euro Quarter-finals
Paris 09/10/1965 FRA 1:0 (0:0) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 18/04/1965 YUG 1:0 (0:0) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 06/07/1960 FRA 4:5 (0:0) YUG Euro Semi-finals
Vasteras 11/06/1958 YUG 3:2 (1:1) FRA World Cup
Lausanne 16/06/1954 YUG 1:0 (1:0) FRA World Cup
Florence 11/12/1949 YUG 3:2 a.e.t. (2:2, 1:1) FRA World Cup Qualifying
Paris 30/10/1949 FRA 1:1 (1:1) YUG World Cup Qualifying
Belgrade 09/10/1949 YUG 1:1 (1:0) FRA World Cup Qualifying

South Africa 2010: Croatia - England: Football match revenge

England couldn’t qualify to Euro 2008: so they have the obligation to qualify to next World Cup. What a better way to follow the way to South Africa against the team that has eliminated them before?

On Wednesday, Croatia and England will be face to face again. The road to 2010 is large, sure; but only Croatia or England will qualify to World Cup in a straight line when Group 6 will finish.

Let’s see what happen. Prediction? Hmmm very, very difficult. A draw doesn’t pay too much...

England - Croatia Head to Head:

London 21/11/2007 ENG 2:3 (0:2) CRO Euro Q
Zagreb 11/10/2006 CRO 2:0 (0:0) ENG Euro Q
Lisbon 21/06/2004 CRO 2:4 (1:2) ENG Euro
Ipswich 20/08/2003 ENG 3:1 (1:0) CRO Friendly
London 24/04/1996 ENG 0:0 CRO Friendly

Italy – Georgia: another chance to improve the performance

Italy coach Marcello Lippi is set to ring the changes for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Georgia after the world champions scraped through their opener against Cyprus at the weekend.

Poor form is not the only problem for the Italian coach, who lost defenders Alessandro Gamberini and Fabio Grosso to injury in Saturday's 2-1 win, and Gennaro Gattuso, who hurt his wrist in training on Sunday.

The 2006 World Cup-winning coach has drafted Palermo's Antonio Nocerino into the squad for the AC Milan midfielder, who came on as a substitute in the Group Eight opener.

Possible teams:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon; Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Nicola Legrottaglie, Andrea Dossena; Mauro Camoranesi, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani; Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino, Antonio Di Natale.

Georgia: George Loria; Ucha Lobjanidze, Zurab Khizanishvili, Kakha Kaladze, George Shashiashvili; Levan Kobiashvili, David Odikadze, Zurab Menteshashvili, Levan Kenia; Aleksandr Iashvili, Levan Mchedlidze.

Italy - Georgia Head to Head:
Italy won: 5
Draw: 1
Georgia won: 0

Genoa 13/10/2007 ITA 2:0 (1:0) GEO Euro Qualifying
Tbilisi 11/10/2006 GEO 1:3 (1:1) ITA Euro Qualifying
Tbilisi 02/06/2001 GEO 1:2 (0:1) ITA World Cup Qualifying
Ancona 11/10/2000 ITA 2:0 (0:0) GEO World Cup Qualifying
Tbilisi 10/09/1997 GEO 0:0 ITA World Cup Qualifying
Perugia 09/10/1996 ITA 1:0 (1:0) GEO World Cup Qualifying

Portugal – Denmark: second step to South Africa

World Cup Qualifying continues. At Alvalade Stadium, Portugal will host Denmark on Wednesday. On Saturday, while Portugal beat Malta 4-0, Denmark has problem in the visit in Hungary (0-0).

During previous matches Portugal have won seven matches (20 goals) while Denmark won only one (nine goals). Denmark never won an official match, but they won the last one played at Brondby.

What is the sensation? It is not the best Danish instant. Portuguese history and Portuguese great moment say that they can beat Denmark at home. By the way Lusitans know that Denmark is better than Malta, of course.

Head to Head: previous matches

Brondby 01/09/2006 DEN 4:2 (2:1) POR Friendly
Lisbon 29/03/2000 POR 2:1 (1:1) DEN Friendly
Sheffield 09/06/1996 DEN 1:1 (1:0) POR Euro Group matches
Toronto 29/01/1995 POR 1:0 (0:0) DEN Friendly
Copenhagen 09/10/1977 DEN 2:4 (1:2) POR World Cup Qualifying
Lisbon 17/11/1976 POR 1:0 (0:0) DEN World Cup Qualifying
Porto 12/05/1971 POR 5:0 (2:0) DEN Euro Qualifying
Copenhagen 14/10/1970 DEN 0:1 (0:1) POR Euro Qualifying
Esbjerg 21/06/1966 DEN 1:3 (0:1) POR Friendly

Finland – Germany: Teutons need another victory at Olympiastadion

At historical Olympiastadion, Helsinki; Finland will receive Germany. This match will be the Finnish debut searching South Africa 2010 qualification, while Germany didn’t have problem to beat Liechtenstein 6-0.

During the whole history, Germany and Finland played 20 matches and the difference between them are huge: Germany won 15 matches (76 goals) and Finland won only one (15 goals). Germany is the favorite team but the last two official matches were draws.

Finland – Germany Head to Head (official matches, don’t include friendlies):

Gelsenkirchen 06/10/2001 GER 0:0 FIN World Cup Q First stage
Helsinki 02/06/2001 FIN 2:2 (2:0) GER World Cup Q First stage
Helsinki 04/09/1999 FIN 1:2 GER Euro Preliminary round
Nuremberg 31/03/1999 GER 2:0 FIN Euro Preliminary round
Dortmund 04/10/1989 FRG 6:1 (1:0) FIN World Cup Q First stage
Helsinki 31/08/1988 FIN 0:4 (0:2) FRG World Cup Q First stage
Bochum 23/09/1981 FRG 7:1 (2:1) FIN World Cup Q First stage
Lahti 24/05/1981 FIN 0:4 (0:3) FRG World Cup Q First stage
Helsinki 29/06/1937 FIN 0:2 (0:2) GER World Cup Q First stage

South Africa 2010: Macedonia - Netherlands: the orange debut

Ryan Babel

The first appearance of The Netherlands in the road to South Africa 2010 seems to be easy. But be careful: during the last two matches they couldn’t defeated Macedonia. This “karma” consists in two draws.

On Wednesday, we will see coach Bert van Marwijk first official game in charge for the Dutch team. Netherlands are considered as favorites by the bookmakers and 1.40 is the approximate price that bookies pay for their win, while Macedonia are underdogs - but this time big underdogs. 7 times the investment is what you can get if you bet on Macedonia and they celebrate once again. Kick-off is scheduled for 20.30 CET and TV Sitel will be broadcasting this match.

Holland - FYR Macedonia Head to head:

Amsterdam 12/10/2005 NED 0:0 MKD World Cup Q
Skopje 09/10/2004 MKD 2:2 (1:1) NED World Cup Q