11-28-2021, 02:52 AM
GROUPS DRAWN FOR 2022 WORLD CUP, VENUES MADE OFFICIAL
We now have the official group roll for next year's World Cup in the Akan Empire - the first held in Africa although the FIFOB World Cup was held in what is now Namibia and the Afrikaner Republic during the Robertian Era - and also a look at the venues.
Group A - Stade Olympique, Abidjan
What better a stadium to host the defending champs than the largest in the country? Renovated in 2016-17, this thoroughly modern stadium has a whopping 65 500 seats, and made its post-Robertian debut in a qualifying match against regional archrivals the Mande Republic in 2017. The group only has a single African team - KwaZulu, who are sure to be a fan favourite - and joining them and Germany are Gold Cup runners-up Cascadia, defending Asian Nations Cup champs Siberia, surprising Finland, and first-timers Vietnam. It's expected that, save Vietnam, everyone will have a shot at a spot in the last sixteen, but Germany is expected to win the group
Group B - Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro
An ambitious stadium completed in 2017. Experts say this group could be a doozy. Yes, second-ranked France are technically favoured to win, but in terms of skill, neither Chile nor Russia are that far behind. Don't underestimate the other three teams, either. While only Persia has the continental stats to back them up, having made it to the semis of the Asian Nations Cup, Mbundu and the Mayans - the latter of whom pulled an upset over the New Americans before losing bronze to Canada at last year's Gold Cup - are not to be trifled with, either, even if Mbundu is a bit lacking in scoring punch.
The stadium is a smaller one, coming in around twenty-two thousand seats. It will only see group-stage action.
Group C - Stade Cocody, Abidjan
The "smaller" of the two Abidjan stadiums, it is still fairly large at around thirty-nine thousand seats. There are two African teams in its group, but don't expect any love for regional archrivals Gurland! It is instead the more distant Calvinia who will probably get more love from the locals here. There are actually two European group winners in this one - the Netherlands, who took third place at EURO 2020, and Nordland, who stunned Castille on stage-closing day to win Group I - which will make for an interesting dynamic. Uruguay may be a shadow of the team that they could have had in the Robertian Era, but Edinson Cavani alone still makes them a threat. The same can be said of Poland and Robert Lewandowski - they did best Castille in the playoffs, after all!
Group D - Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi
This 42-thousand-seater hosts a group with a whopping three African teams - Cup of African Nations champs the Maghreb Union, fun-to-watch Adamawa, and the surprising Zambezi Republic, who held off an "on-paper superior" Mbundu side to win the group, although it was close. Joining them, we have the always entertaining Brazil, who are trying to get Neymar to dive less on account of the fact that his antics almost cost Brazil the Copa América, the New Confederacy, who rebounded from losing to Canada in the quarters of last year's Gold Cup to best Costa Rica and make the bigs, and consistent if somewhat mechanical Japan.
Group E - Accra Sports Stadium, Accra
Originally set to be held in Obuasi, this group was shunted to the 42-thousand seat Accra Sports Stadium when the organizers realized the drawing power of who was in the group. Sport inventors England (who placed third in 2018) and always well-supported Croatia lead the pack here, plus friendly archrivals Mande Republic and the massively-populated East African Union as well. Rounding out the six are Colombia and Australia.
Group F - Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi
The smallest of the eight stadiums, Clay will only see group-stage action. But you can be assured that its twenty-one thousand seats will be packed to the rafters, given that the group's top seed is football-mad Uralica, the second seed is equally football-mad Mexico, and three of the remaining four teams are African! Yes, Yorubaland, Senegal, and Egypt are all in this group, which will make for plenty of fine football! China is not expected to make waves, though. Yes, they did win their group, but it was against one of the two second-place teams that weren't afforded byes, and said team - the Malay Federation - actually lost their opening playoff match against the UAE, who had placed third in their group (Group C, with Korea and New Zealand - boy was that a fun one to watch!).
Group G - Atlantic Stadium, Cape Coast
The newest and second-smallest of the eight, Atlantic Stadium's first match will literally be the first game of the group, between two teams that have a lot of offensive firepower, no less! Catalonia and Korea will be there to entertain the 23 500 ticket holders, and they are expected to be the top two from the group, with the balance of the group being struggling Italy, offensively-lacking Slovenia, balanced but "on-paper inferior" Ngunia, and CONCACAF Group of Death survivors Jamaica, who bested Trinidad and Tobago and Panama (and also Nicaragua and relative pushovers, the Cayman Islands) to make the big dance.
Group H - Nkrumah‒Houphouët-Boigny Memorial Stadium, Accra
Of course the home team is going to go in the biggest stadium! The Akan Empire has its capital and its largest stadium, the 72-thousand-seat monstrosity that is NHB Memorial, named after the presidents that took Ghana and the Ivory Coast out of colonialism. And the triumphant Cup of African Nations champions are the group's top seed, hosting Argentina, third-time lucky Castille, Austro-Bavaria, gritty Gold Cup bronze medallists and CONCACAF upset kings Canada (who gave eventual champs Mexico one hell of a fight even in losing to them! Not only that, but they toppled the New USA with surprising ease in the group stage!) and top AFC second-placers New Zealand. While on paper it's the Akans and the Castillians expected to win by most pundits, Argentina, Austro-Bavaria, and even Canada are expected to be pains in the backside.
We now have the official group roll for next year's World Cup in the Akan Empire - the first held in Africa although the FIFOB World Cup was held in what is now Namibia and the Afrikaner Republic during the Robertian Era - and also a look at the venues.
Group A - Stade Olympique, Abidjan
What better a stadium to host the defending champs than the largest in the country? Renovated in 2016-17, this thoroughly modern stadium has a whopping 65 500 seats, and made its post-Robertian debut in a qualifying match against regional archrivals the Mande Republic in 2017. The group only has a single African team - KwaZulu, who are sure to be a fan favourite - and joining them and Germany are Gold Cup runners-up Cascadia, defending Asian Nations Cup champs Siberia, surprising Finland, and first-timers Vietnam. It's expected that, save Vietnam, everyone will have a shot at a spot in the last sixteen, but Germany is expected to win the group
Group B - Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro
An ambitious stadium completed in 2017. Experts say this group could be a doozy. Yes, second-ranked France are technically favoured to win, but in terms of skill, neither Chile nor Russia are that far behind. Don't underestimate the other three teams, either. While only Persia has the continental stats to back them up, having made it to the semis of the Asian Nations Cup, Mbundu and the Mayans - the latter of whom pulled an upset over the New Americans before losing bronze to Canada at last year's Gold Cup - are not to be trifled with, either, even if Mbundu is a bit lacking in scoring punch.
The stadium is a smaller one, coming in around twenty-two thousand seats. It will only see group-stage action.
Group C - Stade Cocody, Abidjan
The "smaller" of the two Abidjan stadiums, it is still fairly large at around thirty-nine thousand seats. There are two African teams in its group, but don't expect any love for regional archrivals Gurland! It is instead the more distant Calvinia who will probably get more love from the locals here. There are actually two European group winners in this one - the Netherlands, who took third place at EURO 2020, and Nordland, who stunned Castille on stage-closing day to win Group I - which will make for an interesting dynamic. Uruguay may be a shadow of the team that they could have had in the Robertian Era, but Edinson Cavani alone still makes them a threat. The same can be said of Poland and Robert Lewandowski - they did best Castille in the playoffs, after all!
Group D - Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi
This 42-thousand-seater hosts a group with a whopping three African teams - Cup of African Nations champs the Maghreb Union, fun-to-watch Adamawa, and the surprising Zambezi Republic, who held off an "on-paper superior" Mbundu side to win the group, although it was close. Joining them, we have the always entertaining Brazil, who are trying to get Neymar to dive less on account of the fact that his antics almost cost Brazil the Copa América, the New Confederacy, who rebounded from losing to Canada in the quarters of last year's Gold Cup to best Costa Rica and make the bigs, and consistent if somewhat mechanical Japan.
Group E - Accra Sports Stadium, Accra
Originally set to be held in Obuasi, this group was shunted to the 42-thousand seat Accra Sports Stadium when the organizers realized the drawing power of who was in the group. Sport inventors England (who placed third in 2018) and always well-supported Croatia lead the pack here, plus friendly archrivals Mande Republic and the massively-populated East African Union as well. Rounding out the six are Colombia and Australia.
Group F - Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi
The smallest of the eight stadiums, Clay will only see group-stage action. But you can be assured that its twenty-one thousand seats will be packed to the rafters, given that the group's top seed is football-mad Uralica, the second seed is equally football-mad Mexico, and three of the remaining four teams are African! Yes, Yorubaland, Senegal, and Egypt are all in this group, which will make for plenty of fine football! China is not expected to make waves, though. Yes, they did win their group, but it was against one of the two second-place teams that weren't afforded byes, and said team - the Malay Federation - actually lost their opening playoff match against the UAE, who had placed third in their group (Group C, with Korea and New Zealand - boy was that a fun one to watch!).
Group G - Atlantic Stadium, Cape Coast
The newest and second-smallest of the eight, Atlantic Stadium's first match will literally be the first game of the group, between two teams that have a lot of offensive firepower, no less! Catalonia and Korea will be there to entertain the 23 500 ticket holders, and they are expected to be the top two from the group, with the balance of the group being struggling Italy, offensively-lacking Slovenia, balanced but "on-paper inferior" Ngunia, and CONCACAF Group of Death survivors Jamaica, who bested Trinidad and Tobago and Panama (and also Nicaragua and relative pushovers, the Cayman Islands) to make the big dance.
Group H - Nkrumah‒Houphouët-Boigny Memorial Stadium, Accra
Of course the home team is going to go in the biggest stadium! The Akan Empire has its capital and its largest stadium, the 72-thousand-seat monstrosity that is NHB Memorial, named after the presidents that took Ghana and the Ivory Coast out of colonialism. And the triumphant Cup of African Nations champions are the group's top seed, hosting Argentina, third-time lucky Castille, Austro-Bavaria, gritty Gold Cup bronze medallists and CONCACAF upset kings Canada (who gave eventual champs Mexico one hell of a fight even in losing to them! Not only that, but they toppled the New USA with surprising ease in the group stage!) and top AFC second-placers New Zealand. While on paper it's the Akans and the Castillians expected to win by most pundits, Argentina, Austro-Bavaria, and even Canada are expected to be pains in the backside.
Spammers Beware! I will destroy you by the POWAH of the JARK SIDE! ALL SPAMMERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED ON SIGHT.
Spammers EXTERMINATED: 120
(06-11-2022, 10:13 PM)Kyng Wrote: I love how [Abacab] has a track with a section named "Lurker", when the album title itself looks like Lurker's attempt to spell "Abacus" or something .
My Items